Free Switched by Sienna Mercer Page B

“Hello, Olivia.”
    Right
away, Olivia’s heart sank. She sat down, ready to learn that they wouldn’t be
having the All Hallows’ Ball at Ivy’s house after all. “Your dad said no, didn’t
he?” she said with a sigh.
    Ivy
shook her head. “He said yes.”
    “Yes?”
Olivia cried.
    “Yes,”
Ivy confirmed, her face breaking into a smile.
    “That’s
awesome!” Olivia declared.
    “And
everything’s going to be fine,” Ivy added lightly.
    Wait
a minute, Olivia
thought. This doesn’t sound like Ivy. She looked at her sister
skeptically. “I thought you thought this was a terrible idea.”
    “I do.”
Ivy nodded. “But I’ve figured out how to fix it.”
    “You’re
going to burn me at the stake?” Olivia joked.
    Ivy
grinned. “Close,” she said. “Hereafter, you will pretend to be me for all ball
planning meetings and decorating activities.”
    Olivia
blinked. “You mean you want to switch again?”
    Ivy
nodded.
    Suddenly
the waitress appeared. Ivy ordered a burger, and Olivia asked for a Greek salad
with extra tomatoes.
    After
the waitress was gone, Olivia said, “What happened to ‘you’ll never make it
past my friends’?”
    “I’m
willing to take that risk,” said Ivy. “Apparently, my friends don’t know me
very well anyway. Head of decorations? ” She rolled her eyes.
    Olivia
thought for a moment. She had to admit, being Ivy at yesterday’s meeting had
been great fun.
    Ivy
said, “There are only two more meetings, right?”
    “Uh-huh,
plus the actual decorating before the ball.” This could work, she
thought.
    “Then
that’s the plan,” Ivy said decisively. She flashed that fake mean squint of hers.
“You better make me look good.”
    “For
sure,” Olivia said distractedly. She was already thinking about how she needed
to get started on ideas for the next meeting on Friday.
    Friday! she thought with a
jolt. “I can’t do it!” she blurted. “The meetings are on Fridays, and I have
cheerleading practice on Fridays!”
    “I
know,” said Ivy, nodding calmly.
    “Please,
Ivy. I mean, I know I messed up, but if I don’t show at the practices I’ll
never make the squad!”
    “I know ,”
Ivy repeated.
    “I
really, really, really, really, really want to be a Devils cheerleader,”
Olivia said. “You—”
    “Olivia,”
Ivy interrupted, “I’m going to go to your cheerleading practices for you.”
    Olivia
was shocked. “You’re kidding,” she said at last.
    “I’m
dead serious,” Ivy replied, and she looked it.
    That’s
a terrible idea! thought
Olivia. She shook her head briskly. “Talking to a jock at lunch and fooling
Charlotte is easy compared to cheering, Ivy. Girls train all year for tryouts.
I mean, cheering is totally hard.”
    “Who
made the squad in sixth grade?” Ivy demanded.
    The
waitress set their food down on the table. “Besides,” Ivy went on, “it’s not as
if it would be for the actual tryout. You’ll still get to make the squad all on
your own.”
    Olivia
hesitated.
    Ivy
leaned forward, her burger in one hand. “Olivia, you got me into this mess,”
she said in a low voice. “Now you have to get me out of it.”
    “But—”
Olivia began.
    “The
only butt,” interrupted Ivy, “is going to be yours, in the seat, at those
meetings.” She took a big bite of her burger.
    “But I
thought you hated cheerleading,” Olivia persisted.
    “I do,”
admitted Ivy with her mouth full. “But I hate party planning more.”
    Olivia
thought about it while she started eating her salad. It was her fault
that Ivy was on the planning committee, and she owed it to her sister to make
things right. “I’ll do it,” she said at last, “but only if you’ll practice with
me every day after school. We’re going to train together.”
    “Absolutely,”
said Ivy without hesitating.
    “I
mean it,” Olivia said seriously. “You’ve got to be squad material if you’re
going to pretend to be me.”
    “You
bet,” Ivy agreed.
    While
Ivy clearly