First Evil (2 page)

She stopped on the landing and stared up at the hall railing. It took her a while to realize that she was staring at her sister.

“Bobbi!” she called.

Bobbi was dangling over the wooden railing, motionless, her arms hanging down. Her eyes were wide open in an unseeing stare, her mouth twisted in a wide O of horror.

“Bobbi!” Corky repeated, calling in a shrill voice she didn't recognize. “Bobbi!”

But her sister didn't move. Didn't blink.

Didn't breathe.

“B
obbi!”

Her heart in her throat, Corky lurched up the final stairs to her sister.

Bobbi raised her head, blinked, and an amused smile formed on her face. “Gotcha,” she said softly. Pushing with both hands against the railing, she raised herself to a standing position.

“Bobbi—you rat!” Corky cried, her heart still thudding.

“
You
weren't supposed to find me,” Bobbi said, still grinning delightedly that her little joke had worked so well. “Sean was supposed to come upstairs first.”

“Don't ever do that again!” Corky cried, giving her sister a playful but hard punch on the shoulder. “You
know
I'm nervous about this house and trying out for cheerleading and everything.”

“Nervous?” said Bobbi, following her sister into the room they shared. “Come on, Cork—lighten up. I mean, what's there to be nervous about?”

♦ ♦ ♦

Her friends at Shadyside High were always telling Jennifer Daly that she looked like the movie star Julia Roberts. In fact, Jennifer did have the actress's large, dark eyes and sensual full lips. She was also tall and slender and moved with an easy grace.

A friendly girl with a soft voice and high, tinkling laugh, Jennifer had been the popular choice for captain of the Shadyside High Tigers cheerleading squad. She and Kimmy Bass, the squad's energetic assistant captain, had been good friends since elementary school. But Jennifer also got along well with the other cheerleaders. She was so easy to know and to like, and as Kimmy put it, “She isn't stuck up about anything.”

Kimmy buzzed around Jennifer like a frenetic bumblebee. With her round face topped by a mop of crimped black hair, her full cheeks that always seemed to be pink, and her slightly chunky shape, she proved a striking contrast to her friend.

Their personalities were quite different too. While Jennifer was soft-spoken, serene, and graceful, Kimmy was loud, enthusiastic, and so full of energy that she seemed unable to stand still.

Standing under the basketball backboard, Jennifer straightened her T-shirt over her gray sweatpants and waited for the other members of the squad to enter the gym. She glanced up at the big clock next to the scoreboard. Three-twenty. School had just let out. Time for cheerleading practice to begin.

Kimmy was the next to arrive, the swinging double doors banging behind her as she hurried across the gym floor, waving to Jennifer. The bright overhead lights gave Kimmy's face a greenish tinge, Jennifer noticed. And as Kimmy drew closer, Jennifer saw that she had tiny beads of perspiration above her upper lip, a sure sign that Kimmy was worked up about something.

Jennifer didn't have to guess what Kimmy was upset about. It had to be the two Corcoran sisters, who, Jennifer noticed, had slipped into the gym and were huddled together on the far side of the floor near a section of wooden bleachers that had been lowered during the last gym class.

“I just don't think it's right!” Kimmy exclaimed, tossing her backpack to the floor, her round cheeks pink with excitement. “We already have our squad, Jennifer. We've practiced all summer. They can't just barge in. I don't care who they are!”

Jennifer closed her eyes briefly. Evidently Kimmy didn't realize how far her voice could travel in the big, empty gym. Or perhaps she didn't care. But she was talking loudly enough for the Corcoran sisters to overhear every word.

“Sshh,” Jennifer whispered, gesturing with her eyes to the bleachers.

Kimmy turned quickly, following Jennifer's gaze. “I don't care,” she repeated just as loudly as before. She shook her mop of hair, as if shaking away Jennifer's warning. “We can't let them try out, Jen. We can't. It just isn't fair.”

The other cheerleaders were filing into the gym now, dropping their books and backpacks beside the
wall, greeting one another in low tones, leaning against the tile wall to stretch out. Kimmy's friend Debra Kern entered and gave Kimmy a quick wave. She was followed by Heather Diehl and Megan Carman, who were best friends and always together. Entering last was Veronica (Ronnie) Mitchell, the only freshman to make the squad.

“Kimmy—they can
hear
you!” Jennifer repeated, embarrassed. She turned to the bleachers, where the Corcorans were now sitting side by side on the bottom bench, their hands clasped tensely in their laps. “You know, they're supposed to be terrific cheerleaders.”

“Says who?” Kimmy snapped, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“They were all-state back in their old hometown,” Jennifer told her. “And you know that cheerleading competition that's on ESPN every year?”

“Yeah. We watched it together, remember?” Kimmy said almost grudgingly.

“Well, their cheerleading team won it last year. That's how good the Corcorans are.”

“But who cares, Jen?” Kimmy cried emotionally, uncrossing her arms and gesturing with her hands. “We have a
great
team, don't we? We work together so well. We've practiced together for so long and—”

“But maybe they can make our team even better,” Jennifer said, refusing to raise her voice. “After all, we want the very best girls we can get, don't we? I mean, maybe we could be all-state this year. Or be on ESPN or something.”

“I agree with Kimmy,” Debra broke in, stepping up beside her friend. She was beautiful but cold looking, with straight blond hair cut very short and icy blue
eyes. Debra was an unlikely cheerleader. Short and thin, almost too thin, she seldom smiled. The only time she ever really seemed to come alive was when she was performing a cheer or a routine.

“Look at them,” Jennifer said softly, turning her eyes to Corky and Bobbi. “They're here. We can at least let them do their stuff, don't you think? It won't hurt to watch them.”

“But we had tryouts last spring,” Kimmy insisted.

“Yeah,” Debra chimed in. “We can't hold tryouts every week, you know.” She fixed Jennifer with an icy stare.

“Is this a cheerleading squad or a debating team?” a harsh voice rang out loudly.

All of the cheerleaders turned to see Miss Green, their advisor, step quickly from her small office in the corner and move toward them with long, quick strides. Dressed in tight white tennis shorts, a gray short-sleeved T-shirt, and black high-tops, Miss Green was a compact woman with frizzy brown hair, a plain face that naturally seemed to fall into an angry expression, and a husky voice that always sounded as if she had a bad case of laryngitis.

She taught health and phys. ed., and had a reputation for being tough—a well-deserved reputation.

“We have three new routines to learn by Friday night,” she called out loudly, her voice echoing off the tile walls of the vast gym. “So what's holding things up? Or have you learned the new routines already?”

“We're trying to decide about
them
,” Kimmy said, glancing first at Jennifer, then pointing to the Corcoran sisters, who had climbed to their feet.

“It's up to Jennifer,” Miss Green said, staring at Jennifer. “The captain decides.”

Kimmy, obviously miffed, made a face.

“I'd like to see what they can do,” Jennifer said, staring defiantly at Kimmy. “I really think we should give them a chance.”

“Okay. End of debate,” Miss Green said brusquely. She waved to Corky and Bobbi. “Okay, you two!” she shouted. “You're on!”

“I don't believe this,” Kimmy muttered darkly to Debra as they went to join the other girls against the wall. They stood beside Ronnie, and the three girls whispered among themselves, their expressions unhappy, as Corky and Bobbi made their way across the gym.

“Are you nervous?” Corky whispered to Bobbi, her eyes on the cheerleaders huddled against the wall.

“Who?
Me?
” Bobbi replied with a peal of nervous laughter. “Hey, come on. Why should
we
be nervous, Cork? We know we're good!”

“Tell that to my shaking knees!” Corky exclaimed.

Their sneakers squeaked as they hurried across the gleaming wood floor. The gym suddenly grew silent. The air felt heavy and hot.

“Show us whatever you like,” Jennifer told them, flashing them an encouraging smile.

Corky and Bobbi each took a deep breath, glanced at each other for luck, stepped to the center of the floor, and huddled together.

“What should we do first?” Corky asked her older sister.

“Let's start with some synchronized walkovers,”
Bobbi suggested. “Then let's show them our double cartwheel.”

“Why are they staring at us like that?” Corky asked, glancing over Bobbi's shoulder at the silent cheerleaders. “Like they hate us or something.”

“Let's give them something to stare at,” Bobbi replied, grinning.

“Break a leg,” Corky said.

“O
hh!”

The cry from one of the cheerleaders told Bobbi that her spread eagle was as spectacular as she had planned.

Up, up, she leapt until she felt as if she could take off and fly. And then she shot out both legs, raising them up until they were perfectly straight. And then in her most startling move, Bobbi kept her legs outstretched as she gracefully floated down, hands high above her head like a diving bird, into a perfect split.

Then, before her stunned audience had recovered, she and Corky were into a powerhouse chant:

“First and ten,

Do it again!

First and ten,

Do it again!

Go Tigers!”

It's going okay, Bobbi thought. At least they're not glaring at us anymore.

She glanced at her sister, gave her a quick nod, their signal for their big finish, and jumped.

Onto Corky's back. A perfect pony mount.

Then one swift move. Up. Arms up. And up again. Into the shoulder stand they had practiced day after day until their shoulders and backs were red and sore.

Good, Bobbi thought, standing straight and tall on Corky's shoulders, feeling Corky's hot hands lock onto the back of her legs. She smiled confidently, hands on hips. Then, without losing her smile, she suddenly dived off Corky's shoulders.

The cheerleaders gasped as she plummeted straight out. She completed a perfect flip and landed, standing on both feet. And then the sisters moved into a repeat of their double cartwheel. Corky grasped Bobbi's ankles as Bobbi grasped Corky's ankles, and the two girls rolled across the floor. They stood up with a final shout: “Go Tigers!”

The two sisters ran off clapping. Bobbi smiled at Corky as they leaned against the wall, catching their breath.

“Wow! They're incredible!” she heard one of the cheerleaders exclaim.

“How'd they do that?” she heard another ask in a loud whisper.

“You're putting on weight,” Corky grumbled, rubbing her shoulders.

♦ ♦ ♦

“Wow, that was great!” Jennifer said, smiling warmly, her dark eyes lighting up with genuine excitement.

“Thanks,” Corky and Bobbi said in unison, smiling back at her.

They were standing awkwardly in Miss Green's office, a small glassed-in enclosure in the corner of the gym. Seated at the wooden desk, Miss Green was searching the top drawer for some forms.

The routine had been one of their best ever, Bobbi thought. Sometimes she and Corky just clicked, and that day had been one of those days.