Sworn Read Online Free PDF Page B

said.
    Rachel’s mom jotted that down on the grocery list she had stuck to the refrigerator door.
    “Thanks Mom!” Rachel said with a smile. Rachel decided she should be nicer to her mom, since she’d been giving her an attitude lately.
    After breakfast, Rachel hurried to the car so she could sit in the front. She tuned the radio to 104.7 Classic Rock. Sarah put her headphones in her ears and started humming loudly. Mark was sitting in the back, scribbling something in his notebook. Rachel figured he was probably doing his homework: he always waited until the last minute to do everything.
    “Wild Horses” came on the radio. Rachel loved the Rolling Stones. The song made her think about the time she and her friends had gone on their overnight school trip to Washington, D.C. They played The Rolling Stones greatest hits album the whole way, sharing iPod headphones.
    Rachel wondered why Dana had been so short with her last night: what could she have been doing? She was looking forward to chatting with Dana on the phone and couldn’t wait until after school so she could tell Dana how much she missed her and about her new life in Bedford, New York.
    As Rachel hopped out of the car, she saw the different sports teams cheering and rallying with excitement. It was almost as if she had entered a pep-rally: the teams were all in their uniforms and handing out flyers trying to recruit the underclassman for their teams.
    Rachel passed the soccer team and suddenly felt a longing to be part of a sports team again. Rachel had always been an athlete, but had also always secretly wanted to try out for cheerleading. Rachel didn’t really considered cheerleading to be a “sport,” but she wanted something different. Cheerleading in Pennsylvania wasn’t a very cool team to be part of, but now, alone and with no friends, Rachel wanted to keep her word to herself and try out. She didn’t know if cheerleading was cool in Bedford or not, but either way, it was worth a shot. What did she have to lose at this point?
    Rachel passed the track, volleyball and then the cheerleading team. The girls on the cheerleading team looked immaculate: perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect nails and perfectly-pressed uniforms.
    Rachel ran her fingers through her hair. She knew she would need to put a brush through it and touch up her makeup before tryouts if she wanted any shot at making the team. For a moment, she thought joining the cheerleading team might be the perfect way for her to reinvent herself. She would become the person she’d always wished she could be.
    Rachel walked slowly up to one cheerleader, who was handing out flyers and cheering, “Yay Yay AHS!” She didn’t notice Rachel, so Rachel put her hand out close to the stack of flyers she was holding. The cheerleader looked Rachel up and down and gave her a shrug. She then handed Rachel a flyer with a look of disapproval.
    “See you at tryouts!” Rachel said in her peppiest voice. The cheerleader nodded and smirked back.
    Rachel felt a rush of excitement thinking about her new life on the cheerleading team. She glanced over and took another quick look at the cheerleaders. She knew they were in the popular crowd and she could already see her big transformation from being a “nobody,” to being one of the coolest girls in school. She knew that if she made the cheerleading team, Rob would definitely notice her and maybe, just maybe, even like her. Rachel walked into room 102 a few minutes before the bell. She didn’t dare be late for the second day in a row. Mr. Allen noticed her and smiled, “On time today, nice work!” he said.
    Rachel looked around the room: she saw an open seat next to the girl who’d smiled at her the day before. She sat down.
    The girl was writing in her notebook and looked up.
“You’re the new girl, right?”
    “Yes, Rachel.”
    “I’m Emily,” Emily smiled back. “It’s crazy out there this morning. I dread tryout days-- too much ra ra and spunk for