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

she sailed across the gym in the last cheer and did two cartwheels and a back flip and then a split, she was quite simply a sensation.
    By then everyone was applauding, except Jessica, who pretended to be busy marking the list of names.
    Annie leaped up, blushing prettily at the applause, and dashed straight to the one person who was unimpressed.
    "How'd I do?" Annie asked eagerly, still not realizing she was asking the wrong person.
    Jessica forced a weak smile. "We'll see," she said.
    Ricky Capaldo ran over to Annie at the same time and congratulated her. Annie was radiant; she knew she had done well.
    After the rest of the girls had gone through their cheers and left the gym, Ricky handed out the scoring sheets to Robin, Helen, Jean West, Maria Santelli, and Jessica. Jessica was sure everything was arranged. She had not let a day go by without telling the other cheerleaders that
    Cara and Sandy were right for the team and that Annie most emphatically was not.
    "She's not our type." Jessica had never missed an opportunity to drum it into their heads.
    The squad sat down and made up their lists, and then Ricky read off the top eight.
    Cara Walker and Sandra Bacon were on it, as Jessica had planned.
    But heading the list was the name that almost made her choke.
    Annie Whitman!
    "There must be a mistake," Jessica cried.
    Ricky checked the vote tallies. "No, no mistake," he said.
    Jessica felt her toes getting red, and then her legs and her body and finally her head. She thought she would explode! How could they be so blind to the kind of person Annie was? Jessica wondered angrily. In spite of everything, she had not yet gotten across the message. But, fortunately, it wasn't too late.
    Ricky Capaldo took a lot of teasing as manager of the cheerleaders. "Seven girls at a time, Capaldo," the guys said.
    "Only five at the moment," said Ricky, blushing like crazy.
    "Poor kid," they would say. "Only five!"
    But the truth was, Ricky was very shy and hardly spoke to any of the girls in school except the cheerleaders. And that was more or less business. He kept pretty much to himself, except
    when he was racing wildly around the basketball court or football field helping the cheerleaders during games and practices. And even though he was quite close to the cheerleaders, Ricky would never have dreamed of asking one of them out. It was enough that he could be around them and be their friend.
    But something was happening to Ricky lately. He was beginning to feel differently about one of the cheerleaders. Or at least, a girl who he felt sure would be a cheerleader very soon.
    And that's why he was so happy the next day when he slipped a note to Annie Whitman in Spanish class. Annie shot a quick, excited look at Ricky and slipped the note into her Spanish book.
    When class finally ended, a million years later, Annie darted outside, tore the book open, and devoured the note. "Congratulations on being one of the eight finalists," it read.
    The corridor was full of Sweet Valley students on their way from one class to another. They were all treated to an explosive shriek of joy from Annie. They saw her grab Ricky Capaldo and hug him long and hard while dancing him around the hall.
    "Heyyyyyyy!" Ricky laughed, red as a beet.
    "Oh, Rickeeeee!" Annie yelled.
    And for days after that, every time Ricky Capaldo walked into a classroom or the lunchroom, he was greeted by his fellow students with a loud chorus:
    "Oh, Rickeeeee!"
    Ricky could only shake his head and blush and laugh. He felt happier than he could ever remember.
    Annie Whitman also felt happier than she could ever remember. She could feel her life changing day by day. Something brand new was happening to her. For one thing, her grades were climbing, and she now knew she could do as well as anybody else. For that, she had Elizabeth to thank.
    But there was more to it than that. When she was doing cheers, and doing them well, she felt confident. She felt liked. Admired.
    Elizabeth joined her