Chapter 7

“Well, I do care!” Amber says stubbornly. “I can’t stand stuck-up people, especially ones with bad memories. I like the Golden Eagles, and personally, I want them to win. But I’ll be on Palmer’s side. At least he didn’t spend all this time pretending to be my friend. Just wait,” my friend smiles dreamily again, “once I find out who he’s dating, I’ll stir up such intrigue in the paper. Such intrigue. Frog Kate will split with rage! Maybe she’ll be elected school queen, but she definitely won’t be the only one people are talking about. Oh, my hands are itching!”

Before returning to the newsroom to Zachary and Roan, we still need to stop by the gym and do a small report on the school cheerleading team, the Red Foxes. Nothing unusual, just a story about how wonderful and popular they are, to draw students’ and Sandfield Rock residents’ attention to Ellison as an institution and to the new sports season.

Neither Amber nor I want to go to the gym, but work comes first, and we call Phoebe over. This whole time, she has been shamelessly staring at the guys, frozen at the edge of the field with her notebook…

“What, girls, time to go into the snake terrarium?” she blurts, running up to us and stretching out her curious little face. “We’re pretending to be cobra trainers, right?”

“Phoebe!” Amber says in reproachful surprise, but not convincingly enough for anyone to believe the reproach. “What are you talking about? They’re just sweet little foxes.”

“Ahem!” I clear my throat, but Phoebe is already waving it off.

“Oh, come on, girls. I heard everything in the newsroom, and I don’t mind at all. After Cynthia called me a blind sheep when I accidentally bumped into her in the hallway, I don’t like those vanilla hags either. They act like Disney princesses, but really they’re…”

“Frogs!” Ambi finishes carefully. “Slimy and gross. Di-isgusting…”

“Exactly! Brrr!” Phoebe nods happily, shuddering, and I smile without much humor, realizing Zachary wasn’t wrong about the new intern.

“See, Couch, at least someone in this life can be trusted. Come on, trainer!” I say to the sophomore, heading down the path toward the gym. “Just make sure,” I laugh, “that when you enter the terrarium, you don’t lose all that courage. You’ll need it at the paper.”

The gym doors are open, and the Red Foxes’ practice has already started. Music is playing, and curious spectators sit on the low bleachers. There aren’t many of them yet, but they’re all new upperclassmen who want to try out and make the team. Being a member of the Golden Eagles’ cheer squad is prestigious, and here, unlike the chess club, there’s never any shortage of girls who want to become popular at school.

The Foxes are coached by Miss Reese, but she isn’t in the gym right now, and Kate isn’t doing a great job commanding her girls. Snakes are snakes, even in a terrarium, and they’ll still sting each other.

“Sharper, stronger, higher! Nancy, what is wrong with your flexibility? I told you to stretch more, and you’re still not ready. Maybe you don’t have any ligaments at all and you’re taking someone else’s place here? Then take Baker’s camera and run around the field all you want. It doesn’t take much brainpower out there. I need proper kicks! Attention, Foxes! Everyone, high touchdown! Front kick, side kick. Lock the knee! Oh my God, Leslie, I can’t look at your body fat. When are you going to stop confusing your mouth with a garbage disposal? Should I give you a scale with a red mark that says ‘Stop eating’? Or send you to Baker for a badge too? You and Couch will get along great. Poor thing, nobody will give her a scale like that either!”

Clearly, they’ve already noticed us, and Kate has decided to show off her wit in front of her entourage.

Cute. Except no one is laughing, and we’re used to her poison. Today she has already done everything she could, and I’m not expecting any more surprises from her. I’ll survive the little jabs somehow.

We enter confidently. For the press at Ellison, every door is open. We aren’t welcome here, but they don’t have the right to kick us out either. Still, we won’t linger on our own, and Amber decides to make that clear right away by going up to the coach’s table and announcing loudly into the microphone:

“Fat Amber Couch and best photojournalist Ashley Wilson, ‘Ellison News’! One minute of PR, Foxies. Who’s giving the interview?”

Amber has turned off the music, and the girls turn around. The gym is quiet, we’re the center of attention, and when my stepsister’s best friends see us, they pretend they’ve only just noticed us.

“Hey, Kate! Looks like we have uninvited guests.”

“Just look who showed up. Pumbaa dragged Simba in. And who’s this with you, losers?” They look over frozen Phoebe. “A new jungle resident? Hey, little girl, don’t hide. We don’t bite. We only sting. Bzzzz… Like wasps. But you won’t come dangerously close to us, will you? Don’t even try.”

There are plenty of curious eyes in the bleachers, and most of them are watching the most popular girls in school, in short skirts and tops, with admiration as they decide to put some upstarts who dared to barge into the gym in their place. Tamara and Cynthia understand that perfectly, so they hurry to stand beside their captain and impress the newcomers.

They fold their arms over their chests, looking at us mockingly.

I don’t know what kind of encounter Phoebe was prepared for, but definitely not ending up at the center of attention of the cool senior girls. She’s uncomfortable, and she backs up, hiding her notebook behind her back while looking around at the sports equipment in the room. She isn’t ready for public ridicule, and I step in front of her, trying not to blush or show how much my nickname embarrasses me.

“Leave her alone, Miller,” I say to Cynthia. “She’s an intern, and she’s doing her job. And we’re doing ours. You’re not wasps. You’re more like vipers, but we’ll pretend nobody sees that. So are we giving an interview, or should we ask Secretary Moran to do it for us? She likes to lure wasps in with pieces of sugar and then…”

“And then pull out their stingers with her bare hands!” Amber chimes in, fluttering her lashes theatrically. “She’s great at it, especially in Principal Gibson’s office. Anyone who violates Ellison school rules is subject to disinfection! Girls,” Ambi widens her eyes, “didn’t you know that?”

Kate has already tossed her blond ponytail and stepped forward, planting her hands on her skinny hips. She juts out one hip, meeting my gaze.

If I could, I would leave right now so I wouldn’t have to see the mockery and triumph in her blue eyes. Eyes as big and cold as her mother’s. The same, but without the parental intelligence and insight.

“You again?” Kate says with fake surprise. “Baker really couldn’t send someone else? Someone prettier?”

“No! We just wanted…” Phoebe tries to answer brightly, but the blonde immediately points a finger at her, silencing her.

“And nobody asked you anything, nobody! You interrupted my practice, so you’d better not yap, losers. You’re not in your own little chicken coop. You could have waited until you were called.”