Free Always, Abigail by Nancy J. Cavanaugh Page A

it would be so much fun to tell a story to little kids. I shouldn’t really have been surprised because it kind of reminded me how much I loved babysitting—I guess I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.
    2. As we hurried to our lockers so we wouldn’t be late for first period, I heard someone call out, “Hey, Abigail!”
    It was AlliCam. They were standing by the drinking fountain outside the library.
    â€œYou’re not going to believe this!” they said, sprinting toward me. “Guess what we just found out in homeroom?”
    3. When they got to where Gabby and I were standing, they each grabbed one of my arms.
    â€œAlicia Brenton broke her leg last night at gymnastics class,” Cami said.
    â€œJackie told us that her sister Janay, who’s friends with Alicia’s sister, said that Alicia’s probably out for the rest of the season,” Alli continued in a rush.
    â€œYou know what that means?!” Cami asked.
    â€œYou’re a pom-pom girl!” they both squealed, jumping up and down.
    4. At first I only jumped along with them because they were still squeezing my arms. But as their excitement pumped through my body, the words sunk in: “You’re a pom-pom girl!”
    I was a pom-pom girl! For real. This was it! I wasn’t an alternate anymore. My dream had come true!

Three Things That Happened after Mrs. Landers, the Librarian, Stuck Her Head Out in the Hallway and Told Us All to Be Quiet
    1. Gabby said, “Congratulations, Abigail.”
    2. AlliCam rolled their eyes.
    3. I cleared my throat and felt a Gabby Guilt migraine coming on.

Eight Reasons I Couldn’t Fall Asleep That Night
    1. I practiced each pom-pom routine in the bathroom in front of the mirror exactly six times, which is exactly half of the number of times that my mom yelled at me to turn down the music and get to bed.
    By the time I actually did get into bed, my heart was pounding faster than the beat of the music. I was wired.
    2. So I got out of bed and tried on my pom-pom uniform again . I had picked it up from Ms. Jenson’s office immediately after finding out about Alicia. I couldn’t believe how great it felt standing in front of the mirror looking at myself in that uniform.

    But while I was admiring myself, I heard my mom coming upstairs to check on me, so I switched out the light, jumped into bed with my uniform on, and pulled up the covers. By the time she peeked in, I lay in bed with my eyes closed, breathing hard, since I had just done the ten-yard dash into bed. It looked like I’d been asleep for hours.
    3. Once my mom left, I got up and practiced my smile in the dresser mirror. I wanted it to be perfect for the pom squad yearbook photo.
    4. Finally, when my cheeks were tired from all that smiling, I took off my uniform and put on my pj’s again. By this time, I was more wide awake than a rooster at five a.m.
    5. That’s when the headache that had started earlier that day in the hallway at school came back in full force. My head hurt so bad it felt like that five a.m. rooster was inside my brain trying to peck its way out.
    6. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw myself jumping up and down in the hallway. Sometimes I was jumping up and down with Gabby. Sometimes I was jumping up and down with AlliCam.
    7. One thing I was worried about. Now that I would officially be a pom, would J&M be nicer to me?
    8. Every time I opened my eyes, I looked at my alarm clock. Each minute that blinked by was closer to seven a.m., when my alarm would go off. Each minute closer to seven a.m. made me feel further and further away from sleep.

The Note I Found on the Kitchen Counter the Next Morning
    Hey Abs,
    Congrats about poms!
    There’s a celebration doughnut in your lunch.
    Love,
    Dad

Ten Things AlliCam and I Talked About on the Bus
    1. How exciting it was that I was finally a real pom-pom girl!
    2. Ditto
    3. Ditto
    4. Ditto
    5. Ditto
    6. Ditto
    7. Ditto
    8.