The charismatic young man checked himself in his rear-view mirror, clearing his throat and brushing lint out of his hair, before hopping out of his red-hot sports car and strolling up to the house he had parked in front of. As he walked behind his car, he took a quick look at his vanity plate: 'JHN RLZ'

'Huh, been a while since I've been down THIS block.' John thought, walking up to the door. He frowned for a moment when he saw a sign with bright red letters on the front door, but smiled again when he read it.

"'Knocker out of order; Please ring bell.' Heh. Those two have lost their touch."

As soon as his fingers touched the metal knocker on the door, John felt a powerful surge of electricity rush through his body, causing him to babble loudly and crazily before falling backwards, dazed.

"Yes! It worked! Cut the current!" yelled a triumphant young voice from behind the door. It swung open, and Kel looked down at the paralyzed body that lay, twitching, on the steps. The other side of the door was lined with glued-on metal bars and electric clamps attached to the bars and the circuit breaker.

"Help me drag him in, Kay!" Kel yelled. A few moments later, the other half of the Twin Terrors appeared at the door and grabbed one of John's leg while Kel grabbed the other, and together, the dragged him into the house. Before closing the door, Kel peeked her head out and looked around to make sure no one had seen.

"Quick, Kay! Find his wallet before Howard comes!"

Kay frantically looked through John's pockets before standing up and kicking his arm.

"This cheap-o didn't bring his wallet!"

"Kay, Kel, what's going on?" called a voice from up the steps.

"Quick! Hide him!" Kay whispered. "The bathroom is right down the hall!"

"No, no! The closet is closer!" Kel suggested, grabbing one leg. Kay grabbed the other and the two began a power struggle.

"Do you really think a football player will stay secure in a closet?"

"Do you really think a football player won't have the strength to break out of a bathroom?"

Kel panicked when she heard footsteps coming down.

"Quick, the closet!"

"The bathroom!"

"THE CLOSET!"

"What the heck is all this yelling abou- Is… Is that John?" Howard asked with a frown, then a look of surprise, when he saw his little twin sisters about to rip his best friend in half.

"Maybe…" Kel said, dropping his leg.

"What is John doing here, unconscious?" Howard asked, storming up to the twins with an extremely cross face.

"I think a better question is, 'What happened to your belt, and why do you have lipstick on your neck?'"

"Oh, Hoooward!" called a suggestive singsong voice from upstairs.

"So, how about we forget this whole thing ever happened, so you can get back up to your nasty cootie cave?" Kay said.

Howard looked around and saw the booby-trapped door, then turned back crossly to the twins.

"Please tell me you didn't rig the door again…"

"We didn't rig the door again." Kay said innocently.

"I swear, you're going to kill someone with that one of these days."

"Is something wrong, Howard?" asked the voice again. The sound of footsteps came again, and Zoe appeared on the stairs, her hair let down and her bottom lip and neck riddled with red marks. She gasped when she saw John's twitching body on the floor.

"This isn't what it looks like, I promise!" Kel said.

"Oh, really? Well, what is it? Because it sure looks like you knocked him out to steal his money." Howard scolded.

"Wrong! We weren't stealing it! We were collecting our dues! He's owed us this money since last year!"

While Kay, Kel, and Howard continued arguing, Zoe dragged John to the living room and struggled to get him on the couch.

"Uhh… Five more minutes, mom…" he muttered, turning over and beginning to snore.

"I think he'll be fine, Howard." Zoe called.

"…and you two are going to apologize once he wakes up." Howard finished, his lecture coming to a close as Zoe approached.

"Yeah, yeah." Kel said boredly.

"I only wish Mom and Dad were here and not out of town so they could straighten you out."

"Well, they aren't, so you can't make us do anything!" Kel yelled defiantly.

"Girls, if you don't behave better, I'll… I'll…"

"You'll do what?" Kay and Kel said at the same time.

After a moment of thinking, Howard spun around and grabbed Zoe's shoulders before dipping her and giving her a deep, passionate kiss.

"EW!"

"GROSS!"

The twins voiced their disgust and disapproval soundly, until Howard lifted Zoe back up. Shocked and out of breath, she leaned against the wall, her legs jiggling.

"If you guys don't promise to behave better until Mom and Dad get back, Zoe and I will make out in front of you like that every day until they do."

"Are you threatening us?" Kel asked.

"Is the threat the same thing as a promise?" Howard asked, looking hard at both of the twins.

Kay and Kel looked at each other with frustrated frowns, before turning back to Howard.

"Okay, we'll be good…" Kel said with defeat in her voice.

"Just don't ever do that again; it was gross!" Kay seconded before the twins scampered off.

"Aw, we won't get to make out like that again?" Zoe said disappointedly.

"When did I say that?" Howard asked with a smile, grabbing Zoe's shoulders and dipping her again. "We just won't get to do it in front of THEM."

Zoe giggled, and the two were about to lock lips again, when Zoe's cell phone buzzed in her pocket. Howard picked her up so she could look at it.

"It's from Taylor… 'Urgnt cheer mttng my hse'. I should go." Zoe said, going for the door.

"One more kiss first?" Howard asked.

Zoe smiled and was about to comply, but her phone buzzed again. It was another text from Taylor, which read 'NOW'.

"Sorry, Howard. This is really important. I'll call you later."

Howard waved as Zoe precariously opened the door and stepped out.

"Tough luck, dude." said John's voice. Howard turned around to see him sitting up.

"Sorry about my sisters, dude. They're hung up over some money you owe them."

"I figured. That's why I 'forgot' my wallet." John said with smile, standing.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"What, no 'Hey, John. How's it going?'"

"Hey, John. How's it going, and what are you doing here?"

"That works, I guess." John said, scratching the back of his head. "Well, things aren't really going so well right now, and I'm here because I need your help."

"With what?"

"Beth and Dinah have vanished. I think they've been kidnapped." John said direly, his cool exterior beginning to crack.

000

Zoe sat in an awkward circle in Taylor's room, placed between Amanda and Astrid. Amanda seemed more distracted than usual, casting occasional worried glances to Hector.

"Girls, we have an emergency." Taylor announced.

"Yeah, we kind of figured from your text." Hector said dryly. "What is it this time?"

"I don't like your tone, Hector. I suggest you cool your jets and hear me out."

Hector scowled at Taylor, who scowled right back.

"Is there a problem?"

Hector opened his mouth, but noticed Amanda slowly shaking her head at him.

"No, there's no problem. Sorry, Taylor."

"Much better. Now, down to business. We're running low on funds, and before next week ends, we're going to be in the red if we don't do something."

"Do we have a plan?"

"Shapiro already suggested one…" Taylor said, reaching into her closet and pulling out a colorful box. She opened the box to reveal-

"Cookies!" Amanda cheered.

"Yes, unfortunately. Shapiro is forcing us to sell these carb nukes to raise money for the squad. I'm seriously gaining ounces just looking at them… Now here's the kicker. The top seller of these monstrosities will be one spot closer to the center when we're cheering. The lowest seller is off the squad."

"WHAT?" was the resounding protest.

"Shush! You heard me just fine! The person who sells the lowest amount of cookies is off. The. Squad."

"But why?" Zoe asked.

"Because for the first time in Centerscore history, talent scouts are looking for squads in THIS local area to audition to compete for the U.S Cheer-athlon, and the limit is only TEN members per squad. We're battling against Wilson High, Monarch Prep, Spartan Academy, AND Centerscore University for this spot, so I can only have the BEST on my squad."

"But Taylor, you're going about this the wrong way." Zoe protested.

"Did I hear that correctly? Did you just QUESTION my authority?"

"Just hear me out for a second. Wouldn't it be better to just host our own mini-competition among ourselves to decide who's off the squad, rather than basing it on something almost completely unrelated?"

Taylor was silent for a few moments, making Zoe a little scared if she had angered her.

"I can see your point, Zoe. And I've actually considered this… However, the only thing keeping me from agreeing with you is one small detail that I neglected to mention: the auditions are on next Wednesday."

"But that's only a week and a half…" Zoe said forlornly.

"Exactly. It would take too long to hold a competition among ourselves AND sell our cookies, which is priority one, then expect me to come up with and help you guys perfect a good cheer for the auditions." Taylor said with a sad sigh. "I know it seems kind of tyrannical, but it's in the best interest of the school's reputation if I kill both of these birds with one stone."

"I understand." Zoe said.

"Good to hear. Now, we're getting a shipment of these carb nukes tomorrow. Good luck, girls."

"Why do you keep calling them that?" Nicole asked.

Taylor tipped the box and showed Nicole the label, showing that the cookies were actually called 'CarbNUKEZ!'

"Shockingly, even with that horrible name, they're Kim's newest bestseller… Alright, girls! And Keith and Hector. Dismissed!"

000

In first period the next day, English was taking a little longer to start than normal.

"What's the deal, Ms. Prez? We waiting for something?" Colt asked, fiddling with a toothpick in his mouth.

"Actually, yes, Colt. A new student should be arriving any moment. She-"

As Ms. Prez talked, she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"That should be her. Now, students, I normally don't have to tell you this, but when you see Ms. Artemis, please don't freak out and make a huge clatter."

"What's wrong with her?" Spencer asked bluntly.

"N-Nothing. Nothing's wrong with her… However, she's going through a couple of things right now, and… Just see for yourselves." Ms. Prez said as she opened the classroom door.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Ms. Prez. I was sick this morning… Again."

As the owner of the attractive female voice entered, almost everyone's jaw dropped at once. Artemis was very pretty, with long, light brown hair, a tall build, and pretty blue eyes, but that's not what everyone was focused on.

The object of interest was Artemis's swelled stomach, clearly not a result of obesity. Just by looking at her, one could easily tell that Artemis was pregnant.

Spencer and Colt gaped in shock. Howard gasped, and Zoe clamped a hand over her mouth, furling her brows.

Seeing the reaction of her new classmates made Artemis frown a little.

"What? Did I, uh, forget to brush my teeth?" she said with a weak smile.

"I apologize for my students, Artemis. They're-"

"Not used to seeing my 'condition'; I understand. It's fine, guys."

"I still apologize. Please, take a seat. There is a free seat behind Colt."

Artemis nodded and walked to her seat, carefully settling down.

It took all of Colt's strength not to look oddly at the pregnant girl behind him. He kept centered and let the weird feeling that came over him settle low in his stomach. It was going to be a long second semester…

(A/N: Thanks for reading, guys! Tell me if there are any requests or future plot lines you'd like to see.

Quick recap! Beth and Dinah are missing! Things are heating up with the cheerleaders, and we have an interesting new character! That looks like a great start to an SHS story to me, but I'm just the author… Tell me what YOU think! ^^)