Free Cheerleading Can Be Murder (Horror High #1) by Carissa Ann Lynch

for the day to be over. I needed to get through tryouts so I could head home to take a long, much needed nap.
    When Ms. Lancioni announced that we were going outside today to run on the track, I was overcome with joy. If any of those four came near me, I’d simply run away from them.
    But I couldn’t avoid Sydney for long, and she caught up with me on my second lap. “I thought everything was cool between us last night. Why are you acting mad at me all of a sudden?” She tried to match my pace. I halted and started jogging in place so Ms. Lancioni wouldn’t yell at me for slacking off.
    “I don’t really want to get into this with you right now,” I warned her.
    “Get into what ?” There was a trace of annoyance in her voice.
    “I know you went and told Genevieve about Amanda and Ronnie. I know that you, or one of Tasha’s minions, wrote that note with my signature on it. And I also know what you guys did to Amanda’s grandma’s house.”
    “What note?” Sydney was biting her lower lip nervously. Out of all the things I’d just said, the only thing that confused her was the part about the note? That’s a telling sign.
    “So, then I guess you’re admitting that you told Tasha and Genevieve, and what you all did to that poor old lady! You’re just lucky you didn’t get shot, Sydney!”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she declared defensively. She turned away huffily and jogged away from me down the track.
    “Good riddance!” I shouted after her.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter
    Twenty-Three
     
     
    When I walked into Study Hall, I was still reeling from the news that Andy had given me at lunch. I couldn’t believe he was on the varsity basketball team! I wondered how well he knew Ronnie. Ugh . I pushed that thought aside and slid into my seat in the back.
    All I had to do was make it through this class and then I could finally go to tryouts. This is what I’d been waiting for all week long. My whole life, actually…
    Even though I was bummed about my fights with Amanda and Sydney, I felt confident about tryouts. I was ready to do the group and individual routines. Because of Teresa’s “accident,” we had to eliminate the stunt at the end altogether. Although that meant the routine was slightly easier for my group, it made me a little worried because I wouldn’t get to showcase my lifting skills like the other two groups. We had decided to end the routine with a simple set of toe touches. It wasn’t our fault that Teresa couldn’t perform, so I didn’t think Coach Davis would hold it against us.
    Actually, the alterations to the routine were somebody’s fault, I thought, looking over at Brittani. I narrowed my eyes at her. She was sitting two rows over from me, and was busy fixing her makeup for tryouts. I pulled out my own compact mirror and a small tube of glitter. I smoothed lotion onto my face and waited several minutes for it to dry. Then I squeezed some glitter onto my finger and started dabbing it onto my cheek bones.
    I’d never been very good at putting on makeup, and when it came to applying glitter, I always struggled with putting it on my eyelids. I dug a cotton swab out of my makeup bag and tried using it to put the glitter on my eyes without any clumping. My hands were shaky, probably because I was nervous about tryouts.
    After I’d finished, I held up the mirror to see how well I’d done. My eyes were a clumpy disaster. I groaned, pulling out a pack of wet wipes and Kleenex to wipe it off. “Please let me help,” Brittani purred, plopping down backwards in the chair in front of me. We were face to face, and I shuddered. I couldn’t help it; she gave me the creeps.
    “I don’t want any more of your help ,” I said, clutching my eye, which now had a piece of glitter inside it. Ouch! Brittani unzipped her makeup bag, and leaned forward with a wet wipe, helping me remove the makeup. Then she applied a thin coat of eye shadow primer by Urban