Free Kelly McClymer-Salem Witch 03 She's A Witch Girl by Kelly McClymer

in the mortal realm.
    I opened the book to the first page and flipped back and forth between the first and second pages. “This is what we have planned. Everybody know what they need to do?”
    It was gratifying to the max to see that everyone’s eyes were on me. Tara’s willingness to back the mortal practice routines had turned me from gold-plate to gold.
    I’d created a few new routines for us, but there were only two that we could do reliably. Celestina still couldn’t be counted on to hit her triple backflip. Which, of course, not being head cheerleader, I left to Tara. I witch-whispered toher, “You want to see how solid Celestina feels before we make the final decision on the triple-triple?”
    “Hey, Celestina, how are you on the triple?” She wasn’t subtle, but then again, we didn’t have time for subtlety. It was competition day.
    Celestina shook her head, her big brown eyes full of tears. “I don’t think I can.”
    “Fine. You think you can hit the double-double, then that’s what we’ll do.” Tara had decided not to risk her flubbing it. If I’d been head cheerleader, I’d have done the same. We’d like to win this, but what we really needed was the invitation to Nationals. Top five would give us that, and a triple-triple that wasn’t solid could lose it for us.
    “That’ll make the triple-triple even more spectacular when we use it at Nationals,” I said. It wouldn’t be good for Celestina to feel like a loser for much longer. We had to compete with everyone on full-speed self-esteem mode.
    Some of the team members might have been inclined to argue, but not here, with the crowded bleachers and the buzz of excitement that was everywhere you looked and in everything we heard.
    We all felt the rush again when we got to the floor and lined up to wait for the team ahead of us to finish up. A before-competition rush is made up of five parts impatience, three parts eagerness, and two parts sheer ego. We were through the roof on the ego meter, I could see it oneveryone’s faces. I probably shouldn’t have felt that we were golden. Whatever. I did.
    “We’re here again,” I said, looking for even more juice. “Are we going to do it?”
    Oops, I hadn’t been looking at Sunita’s face. She needed a boost on the ego meter, because she dared to introduce a downer vibe when it was least needed. “Maybe, if Celestina would just—”
    Tara showed her head cheerleader chops with a sharp, “Hey! No negativity. Save that for Skeletor’s class.” Everyone laughed. Again, I felt a rush—we were in everybody mode. Which meant if I pulled my uniform skirt up and mooned the crowd, everyone on my team would laugh and think it was the kewlest move ever—until the judges tossed us out. There was nothing greater—or more dangerous—than the team phase of “everyone thinking.” I was so glad we were there. I think it might have been a first for the Witches. Yay me.
    Sunita said it best. “It’s more exciting now that we know what to expect.”
    Of course, Charity, Tara’s # 2 girl, was happy to chime in. “And scarier, too.” This wasn’t negative. When you’re about to compete, the fear runs through your veins right along with everything else, fueling the perfection you’re aiming for, as an individual and as a team.
    Two girls responded with, “Chicken.” Everyone laughed, again, which was absolutely glorious.
    Charity veered into ego-ebbing territory, however, when she said, “Hey. I’m not the one who did a backflip into two people acting as bases for a flyer, now, am I?”
    The guilty party—normally mild-mannered Jakeera—said, “I said sorry, and I’m the one with bigger bruises, so why are you complaining?”
    I stopped all the nervous bickering with a solemn pronouncement. “We won’t make any mistakes today. I can feel it in the air.”
    Everyone oohed. I was guru Pru today, and I liked it.
    I only told the truth as I knew it, though, “Competition is going to sharpen