Free The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading by Charity Tahmaseb, Darcy Vance Page B

talking to someone in my dad’s class, and I didn’t need that information printed for all of Prairie Stone High to see.
    Moni rushed up to the table, an open book in her hands. Her eyes were bright, and the reference section of the library was way too quiet when she asked, “Did you know that in ancient Greece the men wrestled naked?”
    The librarian coughed. I clicked off the digital recorder.
    “Listen to this. They anointed wrestlers with olive oil,” Moni read. “After that, they were dusted with powder to make them easier to hold.” She slammed the book shut. “Whoa. Now that’s a sport I can get behind. Too bad they don’t anoint these days.”
    The librarian coughed again.
    “That would so be a cheerleader’s job.” Moni collapsed into the opposite chair like all of it—the oil, anointing, and powder—was just too much.
    “I suppose you’d get Rick Mangers,” I told her, “and I’d have to anoint a bunch of skinny freshmen.”
    The librarian coughed for a third time, and I thought I might have to use the Heimlich maneuver on her.
    Moni flipped through the book’s pages. “Thing is, wrestling? Really complicated. I still don’t get all the rules.”
    “I think the first rule is to use plenty of oil.”
    Moni snorted. I looked over at the librarian, waiting for her to give me the international sign for “I’m choking,” but the kind of torso usually found on Greek gods blocked my view.
    “Oil for what?” a voice asked.
    I didn’t need to look up to tell who’d addressed us. I’d know Jack Paulson’s voice anywhere. Maybe if I turned my eyes back to my column, he’d disappear. Then Moni and I could go back to our ridiculous debate over ancient Greece and skinny freshmen. And maybe I wouldn’t have to employ the international sign for choking, this time for myself.
    A hint of a smile lit Jack’s face. Had he heard the whole thing? “Whatcha reading?” he said.
    “I believe they’re called books.” Rick Mangers appeared. He bopped Jack on the head, then crossed his arms over his chest and focused on Moni.
    “Oh, yeah,” Jack said, “those things that collect dust at the bottom of your locker.”
    Rick used a finger to lift the cover of Moni’s book on wrestling. “What do you say, Paulson? They cheer the whole season and we go double or nothing on that bet?”
    “You’re on.”
    “That’s—” One hundred dollars , I started to say, but we could all do the math. At least I was pretty sure we all could. No one else seemed to think this raising-the-stakes thing mattered, especially not Jack. He just stared at my chest.
    Not that there was much to stare at. Then I remembered my accessory du jour, the SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MASTER DE BATER ! pin that Brian had foisted on me in the hallway outside the library.
    “It’s—,” I started again, but really, there was no explaining something like that. “I mean, I was wondering if you could lend me your copy of The Lord of the Rings ? I need a book for reading today.”
    “I suppose you’ve already read everything else in here,” Jack said.
    Of course. We were in the library. Surrounded by books. Now probably wasn’t the time to admit I’d already read The Lord of the Rings —twice. “Well, there’s this.” I held up a book on basketball. “But technically it’s not a novel.”
    Jack took a step back. “You two are really serious, aren’t you?”
    “We’ve been talking.” I glanced across the table, but Moni was under Rick’s spell and didn’t meet my eyes. “It doesn’t make sense to cheer for something we don’t understand. We think cheerleading tryouts should include a quiz.”
    Rick burst out laughing. “It’s going to be an interesting season. I’ll be seeing you girls later.” Moni watched Rick swagger from the library. When he hesitated near the magazine racks, she hopped up to walk him to the exit.
    Jack gave me that same mysterious look, the one I could never read. He stuck his hands in his pockets,