Ann Martin - Stacey And The Cheerleaders

"Uh, Tiffany, maybe you should think of going a little slower, picking one thing — "

"I can'tl" Tiffany got up from the sofa. She began stalking around the room, kicking things aside. "I can tell when I'm bad at something. I have to find a hobby I can win at."

"Win? Who are you trying to beat?"

"My sisters! Didn't Mary Anne tell you that?

That's why I'm doing this. Mary Anne told me to."

"Wait a minute," Claudia said. "I don't think Mary Anne meant that you should try to compete with your sisters."

"She did! Ask her! We can call her up — "

"No, that's okay. Look, Tiffany, this isn't making you happy, is it?"

Tiffany moped over to the couch again and sank into the cushion. "No."

"I think you may be doing this the wrong way. I mean, a hobby is something you should enjoy. It doesn't matter how good you are at it. It's not supposed to be, like, a weapon against your sisters."

Tiffany mumbled something.

"You know," Claudia continued, "my older sister, Janine, is so smart it's disgusting."

"Shannon is like that!"

"Well, I felt so inferior to Janine that I used to escape to my room all the time and just draw pictures. It made me forget how stupid I felt. Then I got into painting, and papier-mache, jewelry-making. Now I've become pretty good at all of it, and I want to be an artist for a living someday. I didn't try to be better than my sister. I stuck to the thing I liked."

Tiffany looked deep in thought. (Either that

or bored out of her mind. Claudia wasn't sure which.)

"Tiffany," Claudia said, "what do you like? What really interests you? Come on, first thing that comes to your mind."

For a moment, Tiffany said nothing. Then she looked up at Claudia and said in a tiny voice, "Flowers."

"Flowers?"

"I guess."

"You like looking at them?"

Tiffany's face lost all its gloominess. "I like everything about them — planting, watering, watching them grow, arranging them, and drying the petals to make sachets."

It wasn't what Claudia had expected. But boy, was she glad to see Tiffany excited about something.

"That's a great hobby, Tiffany!" Claudia said. "Maybe your parents can let you grow a garden in the spring. I mean, there's not much you can do now, but — "

"Sure there is, silly!" Tiffany bolted from the couch and ran out of the room, slipping over all her junk. Moments later she returned with a stack of magazines and an encyclopedia. "We get House and Garden. I always look at the pictures when Mom and Dad are through. See, I can use these pictures to plan my garden. Then I can look up the plants and flowers I

don't know in the encyclopedia."

"How about mapping it out on paper?" Claudia asked.

Tiffany squealed with delight. "Ooh, then I can draw it with colored pencils!"

She ran off again, this time returning with pencils and huge sheets of paper.

Claudia said Tiffany worked on her garden plan the rest of the afternoon. When Mrs. Kil-bourne came home she couldn't believe the change. She offered to adopt Claudia (jokingly, I think).

As Claudia left, she could see Tiffany and Maria staking out a corner of the backyard. They were gesturing at the dirt and talking a mile a minute.

Chapter 13.

I don't know how I kept food down. But there I was, in the SMS cafeteria on Thursday, somehow eating a Salisbury steak. (I wish someone would tell me why they call a hamburger with old brown sauce "Salisbury steak." Did someone named Salisbury invent the sauce? If so, he should have been arrested.)

My eyes kept darting over to The Group's table. They were jabbering away about something. Jason Fox was standing next to them, probably giving Marty some homework answers.

I looked away. Seeing them only made me feel worse.

The tryouts had been held two days earlier. Results weren't going to be announced until the next day. I had to walk the same halls as the cheerleaders, go to some of the same classes, eat the same Salisbury steak.

Nervous? Me? Why do you ask?

I tried to analyze Sheila's tone of voice when she said "Good morning" in homeroom. When Penny smiled at me in the hallway, I was convinced I was going to make the squad. When Darcy seemed hassled after school I was sure I'd been rejected.

Robert was being awfully nice to me. He tried to make me laugh, which always helped — briefly.

My concentration was shot. Three huge pimples had burst onto my face. My stomach was making noises loud enough to stop conversations.

And the worst thing was, everyone else was so calm!

"Shannon told me Tiffany wants to plant ivy along the side of the house," Claudia was saying. "She even knows the kind. Her mom thinks it's okay, but her dad says it'll weaken the walls."

Tiffany was the hot topic at lunch. Shannon had called Claudia Wednesday night, marveling at the change in her sister.

Bits of Claudia's conversation were breaking through the mush in my brain. One thing stuck with me, though. Something about choosing a hobby for the right reason. It made such good sense. I don't know if I would have thought to tell that to Tiffany.

"Stacey? Are you okay?" Mary Anne asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm just thinking about . . . you know."

"Hey, don't worry," Kristy said. "Just try to forget about it."

"That's easy for you to say," I replied.

Mmmmmmrrraawwwiv. . . .

I had never heard a sound like that escape from my belly. It was like a yawning lion. Maybe the Salisbury steak had woken it up.

"That's easy for you to say," Kristy remarked.

Suddenly I wasn't feeling very well. "Um . . . I'm going to go to the girls' room," I said.

Suddenly my friends looked tense and concerned. "Do you need help?" Claudia asked.

I knew what they were thinking. "It's not the diabetes. Just an upset stomach."

I grabbed my shoulder bag and stood up. The girls' room was across the hall. I rushed inside and closed myself in a stall. I hate hate hate HATE barfing, but I'd rather do it in private if I have to.

I took a few deep breaths. My stomach seemed to be settling. The lion must have shifted and gone back to sleep. I promised myself not to eat any more lunch.

That was when I heard the bathroom door slam open. "Aaagh! I can't believe you kissed him, right in front of everybody!"

It was Penny's voice. Laughter bounced off the tile walls. She was with a few other cheerleaders.

The lion stirred.

"Did you see the lipstick on his cheek?" Margie cried.

"No," Darcy replied, "because his face turned the same color!"

More laughter. Corinne's voice chanted, "Margie and Jason, Margie and Jason ..."

"Oh, for sure, Corinne," Margie said. "Every day."

I was petrified. I wanted to leave the stall, but I must have- looked terrible. Quickly I pulled a comb out of my shoulder bag. I let out a silent burp, which made me feel much better.

Outside the stall I could hear purses opening and makeup clattering. The girls were now standing by the sinks, presumably looking in the mirrors.

I prepared myself for my entrance.

"I can't wait for this tryout meeting to be over," Penny said.

"Really!" Margie exclaimed. "I hate having to face those girls in the hallway. Did you see Stacey today?"

"The poor thing looked like she was going to faint," Darcy said.

My hand froze on the latch. Should I burst

in on a conversation about me? How embarrassing! But if I stayed where I was, and they found out I'd been there, they'd know I'd been eavesdropping. I wasn't sure what to do.

"Well, I don't know why she's going mental about it," Margie said. "She did great."

"Yeah,",Penny agreed.

I decided to postpone my entrance.

"Where did she learn all that stuff?" Penny asked.

"From the Baby-sitters Club," Corinne answered.