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would have opened up if Janessa hadn't gotten kicked
off, but apparently that didn't matter enough for her to cut me any
slack.
    "Actually
I'm only here because of my sister, Cindi. We usually walk home
together and I thought I'd just sit here and study while I waited for
her. I was just trying to help, but if you don't want any help it's
no skin off of my nose."
    "She's
really your sister? I'd heard rumors, but it's kind of hard to
believe. You know, given how cool and pretty she is and how, well,
you know, ordinary you are."
    I
wanted to say something spiteful, like maybe point out that she was
the girl out there least likely to make it on the squad because she
bungled every third piece of the routine, but I gritted my teeth and
finished writing down the first half of the routine.
    "Yeah,
that's about what I thought. You're all big and bad when it comes to
picking on Janessa when she's vulnerable and strung out, but you
totally back down when somebody stands up to you."
    That
did it. I ripped the sheet of paper I was writing on out of my
notebook and balled it up before throwing it at her feet.
    "Here
you go, it's only the first half of the routine, but based on what I
saw out there you're probably not going to even make it through that.
Don't say I didn't try to help though. I've always tried to be nice
to anyone with special needs."
    I'd
taken things too far and I knew it, but I was just so tired of people
picking on me. The fact that she was here trying out for the cheer
squad didn't make her better than me, it didn't give her license to
be mean.
    Alice
stepped towards me like she was about to attack me too, but Cindi
arrived and cleared her throat.
    "Hi,
girls. What's going on?"
    Alice
bent down to pick up the paper at her feet and then turned towards
Cindi with a sugary-sweet smile on her face. "Your sister just
tried to sabotage my chances to get on the team by writing down the
wrong routine and giving it to me. I really think you should ask her
to leave so that she doesn't cause any more problems."
    Right,
like me leaving three minutes early would make the slightest bit of
difference to Alice or any of the other girls.
    Cindi
took the piece of paper without saying anything and smoothed it out
against her leg, running her hand along the paper and down the blue
material of her skirt. She read down through it and then stopped and
read it again, slower this time. Once she was done she handed it back
to me.
    "Adri,
can you finish this?"
    "So
I can help her ? Not very likely."
    I
got a head shake and a frown. "Please just do it for me?"
    I
rolled my eyes and then jotted down the rest of the routine and
passed the piece of paper back to Cindi.
    Cindi
scanned down through my additions and then turned to Alice. "I
think you owe Adri an apology. This is the exact routine we were just
trying to teach you."
    "Really?
Are you in on it with her or something? Is this about that time I
forgot to invite you out to Crater Lake?"
    Cindi
sighed and handed Alice the paper. "Go check it with one of the
other girls if you want. Or don't, it doesn't really matter to me,
but practice is over so I'm done here."
    Alice
opened her mouth like she was going to argue with Cindi, but my
little sister just gave her the kind of look most of the cheerleaders
gave me and after a second or two Alice grabbed her backpack and
walked back to where the other cheerleaders were answering
last-minute questions from the other hopefuls.
    Cindi
watched her leave and then turned back to me. "How did you do
that, Adri? I didn't think you were paying that much attention."
    "I
wasn't. I don't know, I guess the routines just stuck with me. It's
not like they're difficult. Honestly I don't know why Alice and the
others were having such a hard time remembering the moves. Actually
doing the moves is probably tougher, but memorizing something like
this should be child's play, even for them."
    Cindi
was looking at me like I'd just grown another arm or something.
"Adri,