Free SVH10-Wrong Kind of Girl by Francine Pascal Page A

won't."
    "Well," Robin Wilson said, smiling. "Then it looks like we have three votes for Annie Whitman. She's in."
    "Wait a minute," Jessica declared, her face red and trembling. "We've all been tippytoeing around the most important thing here, and you know it! Why do you think I want to keep Annie off this squad? Because if we take her, everybody will think we're just like her. Everyone will think we're as bad as Easy Annie."
    Jessica's words filled the gym. Annie's extraordinary talent had overshadowed all the rumors about her, but now Jessica was dragging them out into the open, demanding they be looked at and weighed and judged.
    Ricky Capaldo felt an unbearable pain searing his insides as Jessica made her accusation.
    He closed his eyes and tried not to listen. But Jessica wasn't through yet.
    "We've voted Cara Walker onto the squad. That's fine. Now we vote for Sandra Bacon or for Annie Whitman. I just want everybody to know that if you vote for Annie, you'll have to find another cheerleader as well. Because you won't have me anymore. Jessica Wakefield will not be on a cheerleading squad with Easy Annie."
    "But, Jess!" wailed a distraught Helen Bradley. "You're the heart and soul of the squad. Without you, it wouldn't be the Sweet Valley cheerleaders at all!"
    "Make your choice," Jessica said. "It's either me or Easy Annie."
     

Eight
     
    As soon as she heard the front door slam, Elizabeth tossed aside her history book and jumped up from her bed. Like a shot, she was out of the room and down the stairs.
    "Jess!"
    Jessica was in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of milk when her sister reached her.
    "What happened?" Elizabeth asked eagerly.
    Jessica smiled innocently. "What happened where?"
    "Come on, Jess, out with it."
    "Well," Jessica said, talking a gulp of milk, "we voted."
    "And?"
    "And I dropped off the list of the new cheerleaders in the box at the Oracle office, as I promised."
    "Jessica Wakefield!" Elizabeth wailed. "You know I won't see your note until tomorrow morning. Now tell me who got picked?"
    Jessica cocked her head as though in surprise. "But, Elizabeth, you don't want to know in advance, do you?"
    "It isn't in advance anymore. Who was chosen?"
    Jessica giggled. "That's for me to know and you to find out."
    "Oh, are you asking for it!" Elizabeth fumed.
    Jessica smiled maddeningly. "The best ones were selected."
    "Really?" Elizabeth asked hopefully. Did that mean that Jessica had come to her senses and voted for Annie? "Well, who did you vote for?"
    "It took a lot of thought," Jessica said with studied seriousness. "Finally, I voted for Pat Benetar!"
    "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Elizabeth exploded and was advancing around the counter toward her tormentor when they heard a car door slam.
    "There's Mom and Dad," Elizabeth said. "Did you see their note? They want to talk to us as soon as possible."
    "What's doing?"
    Elizabeth shrugged. "Got me."
    Ned and Alice Wakefield were talking excitedly as they entered the house. When they reached the kitchen area, they both stopped and looked at the twins and then at each other.
    "OK, who tells them?" Ned Wakefield asked.
    "You can."
    "Girls, we've got some news."
    "You're going to love it," said their mother, jumping in. "Wait till you hear."
    "What?" Jessica asked eagerly.
    "What's going on?" Elizabeth urged.
    "Actually, it's going to be kind of a difficult choice," Alice Wakefield said. "Ned, you tell them."
    "I'm trying to," said their father. "OK--"
    "We're going to have a house guest," Mrs. Wakefield interrupted.
    "I thought you wanted me to tell them," Ned Wakefield reminded his wife.
    "You take too long," Alice Wakefield said.
    "A house guest?" Jessica cried. "Anybody terrific like--a rock star?"
    "You wish," their father drawled.
    Their mother laughed. "Now, Jess, be serious. You remember your father talking about Tom Devlin, his roommate at college who became a diplomat?"
    "An ambassador is coming to stay?" said Elizabeth.
    "Not Tom, honey, his daughter