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The Faltering Fate of Jennifer Mosely

Chapter 1; Cheerleading and Sneaky Exits

I closed my locker door shut and frowned. I half-expected to see my wooden locker door. But, I was greeted with cold metal. I really did miss James K. Polk.

"Hey Jennifer!" said my 'friend' Suzie Crabgrass, who was just about as cold as my locker door.

"Hey Suzie," I said, trying my best to match her false cheerfulness. Suzie may be one of my best friends, but the competition was still there. "What's up?"

"Well, not much… But cheerleading is starting up again soon, and I'm soooo worried I might not make it!" She said in a blubbering mess. "All the freshmen are really good this year!"

"I'm sure you'll do fine," I tried to say encouragingly. Giving advice wasn't really my thing, that was Ned's. For the next few minutes I just tuned Suzie out and made sure to nod at appropriate times. This was all Suzie had been talking about for weeks, and, frankly, I was sick of it the second day. We all knew she was going to make it. She seemed to be putting on a show; acting like she wouldn't make it just so we would all feel sorry for her. She had a way of manipulating others. Most of the guys hardly seemed to notice this, awestruck by her 'natural' beauty and confidence. Hah, yeah right! Ned was too smart to fall for something like that (again), but Cookie I'm not so sure about, he always had a way of worrying me.

The next thing that Suzie said had nothing to do with cheerleading, and that wasn't the shocking thing about it. It brought me so quickly from my thoughts, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"Oh, and I think I like Ned. Again."

"Really? Are you sure?" I managed to squeak.

"Well, yeah? Why wouldn't I?" Suzie said happily. "He's so smart, and caring. And not to mention how cute he is!"

Great. It's not like I didn't already know all that stuff! Ned and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember.

And I already knew he was cute, too.

"Do you think he likes me, too?" She asked hopefully.

"I don't know," I said bluntly. "Ned doesn't tell me who he likes anymore." Suzie let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well, that's no help at all!" She said annoyed. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything more. No way did I want to discuss her newfound love for Ned.

"Haven't we been through this once?" I finally said, beginning to walk towards our next class, which we have together (Whoopee.).

"That was eighth grade," She told me firmly. "We are more mature now, and I know that I really want him."

That sentence right there just made my day. I was now officially having the worst school day of my life.

But oh, how life loved to mock me.

"Jennifer! Look at this!" I heard Suzie's excited cry. I turned to see the poster she was fretting over.

Oh, no. No, no, no, no!

"Isn't this great! I could ask Ned! A turnabout dance! How awesome!" She said happily. I plastered on a smile and nodded.

"Yaaaaay."

And look, here comes Ned now! Isn't this day turning out great?

"Hey ladies, what's shakin'?" He asked. Suzie let out a girlish, 'flirty' giggle.

"Oh, Ned! I'm soooo glad you're here! I was just wondering… would you like to go-"

"One second please!" I say quickly, pulling Suzie away. Suzie looked positively shocked.

"Jennifer! What are you doing?!" She hissed at me. I put on a dazzling (hopefully!) smile.

"Suzie, think about it! Ned is my best friend. What if I asked him if he likes you that way you know he won't say no!" I said, a devious plot forming in my head to get her out of my hair (and giving me some alone time with Ned!).

"What, you think he's going to say no?" She pouted.

"No! This way we'll be sure he won't." She brightened.

"Jennifer, you're brilliant!" She squealed and hurried away. I smirked and walked back over to Ned.

"Finally, she's gone! I thought there'd be no end to the cheerleading talk!" I said to him. "I almost want to shoot myself."

"Don't do that! Then who would I talk to everyday?" He said playfully. I was basically glowing after that statement.

Maybe today wasn't that bad.
"What exactly did you tell her to get her to leave so quickly?"

"Well, I-uh, see, here's the thing…" I stammered, looking down at my shoes. "Suzie said that she likes you again. How funny is that? I mean like you could ever like her again." I began to nervously laugh. "Pretty ridiculous, right?"

"Huh? Yea, pretty ridiculous," He stated, a certain gleam in his eye.

Just one look at him and I knew he would have said yes to Suzie's question.

"Don't tell me you like her again!" I groaned. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

"Yea, I remember, but I think things would be different this time around. We're more mature now."

My jaw dropped. Did he seriously just say that? Suzie said that, like, 5 minutes ago. I think I may have just entered the Twilight Zone.

"R-really?" I stuttered. I quickly walked away.

"Moze?! Aww, jeez…" I heard Ned say after me.

Crap. Now he probably thinks I like him, too. Smoooth. This was playing out wonderfully.

I got off the bus as quickly as possible. I didn't want to talk to Ned again. I've successfully avoided him all day so far, and I wasn't about to ruin that.

I didn't really talk to anyone after that run-in. Only a few sentences to Suzie when she asked me what he said.

I told her he said no.

So, on top of my anger, grief, and annoyance, I was guilty, too.

"Wait up!" I heard someone call out from behind me. That someone was, of course, Ned.

I let out an exasperated breath. I grudgingly looked over my shoulder at him. My eyes were caught on his face. He looked so forlorn. I looked forward again and was upset with myself. How can I not talk to him now? He's got the lost puppy quality going on, that all girls seem to fall for.

I could feel myself beginning to cave, as I stopped in my tracks. He caught up to me quickly.

"Listen Moze, I'm sorry if what I said today made you upset. I'm not really sure what I did to offend you, but I hate the fact that you're angry with me." He gave me a small smile, that quickly disappeared when I scowled at him.

"What? I apologized!"

"You don't get it do you?" I snapped.

"What is there to get? I thought you liked Suzie," Ned said.

"Don't you think that if I liked her, I wouldn't have gotten her to leave?" I questioned him. His face fell.

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Exactly," I said, then began to walk faster, away from him.

I don't know why I was being so difficult, but he was, too! Why couldn't he just go out with me, and call it a day? It would make things a whole lot easier.

Yaay for first chapters! It's finally here!!

We know it took some, well, a LOT of time to be posted, but at least we did it, right?!

And probably it will take a while to post each one, so don't go and get your undies in a bunch 'cause we haven't posted in a week. That's not going to happen.

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That it is all.

-Country Gurlie and Freak-a-Zoid