SVH10-Wrong Kind of Girl by Francine Pascal Read Free Book Online

still fuming as they neared the wide green lawns of the high school. "Did it ever occur to you, Liz, that letting her on the squad would do us all a world of harm?"
    "Not if she's changing, Jess!"
    "Well, she isn't! She's still Easy Annie."
    Jessica left her sister on the front steps and marched off defiantly. As she hurried along to her locker, she felt certain that she'd be able to cut Annie Whitman at the semifinals that afternoon. The first time, Annie had been amazingly lucky. But could she repeat her performance? Jessica wondered. With all the studying she must have been doing recently, not to mention all the dating, she couldn't possibly have had time to practice her cheers. Jessica was confident that Annie wouldn't be prepared.
    The second cut would reduce the number of would-be cheerleaders from twenty-five to eight. Cara Walker and Sandra Bacon were going to be among that eight, Jessica had decided, and Annie Whitman was definitely not going to be.
    She wasn't prejudging Annie, Jessica told
    herself. It was just that she knew the girl would fall on her face.
    Later in the day, Elizabeth sat in the Oracle office, typing her latest "Eyes and Ears" column and congratulating herself on having helped Annie with her studying while still escaping detection. In other words, Jessica hadn't found out, which was a great relief. She was putting the finishing touches on the column when Jessica herself walked into the office with a list of the eight finalists.
    "Already?" asked a surprised Elizabeth. "I thought the tryouts weren't until after school."
    "Well, they aren't," Jessica confessed, "but you won't make your deadline if we wait till then. You can be sure this is the list."
    Elizabeth scanned the names.
    "Jessica!" she scolded.
    Jessica Wakefield's eyes widened--pure innocence personified. "I'm trying to give you a scoop, Liz."
    "I'll take the list-- after the tryouts."
    And then who should dash into the Oracle office but Annie Whitman, all aglow.
    "I made it," she gushed to Jessica. "A B-minus in math! Oh, Liz, how can I ever thank you enough for helping me?"
    Annie gave Elizabeth a huge hug before dashing back out of the office and off to her next class. "See you at the gym!" she told Jessica as she was leaving.
    "So!" declared Jessica as soon as Annie had disappeared.
    Elizabeth turned toward her work.
    "Traitor!"
    Elizabeth typed furiously.
    "I knew somebody was helping that girl," Jessica fumed, "but I never dreamed it would be my very own flesh and blood!"
    Elizabeth stopped and looked pleadingly at her twin. "Give her a chance, Jess, will you?"
    Jessica's answer was to turn and march out of the room.
    Elizabeth lifted her fingers from the keyboard and rested her chin on her hand. "What timing," she muttered. "Why couldn't one of them have come in five minutes later?"
    "Is this a private conversation, or can a mere teacher get in on it?" The words, accompanied by a soft chuckle, startled Elizabeth.
    "What?" she said, turning quickly to see Mr. Collins in the doorway. The good-looking Oracle adviser was grinning at her.
    If another teacher had caught her talking to herself, Elizabeth might have been embarrassed. But Mr. Collins was different. Every girl in Sweet Valley High knew just how different Roger Collins was. In his late twenties, he was one of the youngest teachers on the faculty. Everything about him--his tall, slim build, his strawberry-blond hair, the well-cut sport jackets he wore-- seemed perfect., "He makes the rest of the teachers look like they sleep at the Salvation Army," Jessica had once said.
    But what made Roger Collins really popular with the kids at Sweet Valley--the guys as well
    as the girls--was the way he looked at things. Maybe it was because of his age, but he could always be counted on to see the kids' side of things.
    Mr. Collins walked across the room to where Elizabeth was sitting. "What's got my star reporter talking to herself?" he asked, still smiling at her. "Do you want to talk to