Being the head cheerleader is really hard. A lot people thing that cheerleading is easy and that we are nothing but football groupies, but they're wrong. It's not easy lifting a girl who weighs between 100 and 130 pounds over your head. Plus if someone goes wrong and someone falls, we can get seriously hurt or even die.
I should back up a little. My name is Isabella Swan, but everyone calls me Bella because it's easier to say. I don't mind. Another thing is cheerleaders are not dumb. Maybe we care about our appearances more than the average girl, but we're not a bunch of bimbos.
We were currently getting ready for practice.
"Hey, Jane that hair is adorbz." I told one of my fellow cheerleaders. She had her hair tied into a pair of braids. So maybe we do talk like valley girls sometimes, but we kind of like to fool people into thinking that we're dumb. It's actually a good way to see if someone really wants to get to know us.
"Thanks, Bella." Jane replied. "So I heard that you had new neighbors moving in today. Do you know if they have a cute teenaged son by any chance?"
"I don't know anything about them, but I'll make sure to check out when I get home." I promised. "But I get first dibs."
"That's not really fair." Jane pointed out.
"My neighbor, I get first dibs." I argued with a smile. "So how are you cartwheels going?"
"I'm still working on the fourth one." She replied.
"Well I need you to be able to do the fourth one." I told her. "You don't need to be distracting yourself with boys. Winning is our top priority."
"Chill out, Bella, I'll make sure to get it done." She declared, before muttering. "Someone needs to get laid."
"What was that?" I asked her.
"I said I'm glad you like my braids." She responded quickly.
"I thought so." I responded before I gave her a light slap on the butt. "Now get to work on those cartwheels."
"Yes, Mistress." She snarked. I rolled my eyes as she began to cartwheel. So after school, I changed back into my dress. I saw that my father Carlisle was home. He was British and my mom was American, just like Lily Collins, except my mom was dead.
"Hey, Dad." I said as I gave him a hug. "Have the new neighbors got here yet?"
"They got here about an hour ago." Dad replied. "Do you want to go introduce yourself? They have a daughter about your age and one who is a bit older."
So there wasn't a son. That was a bit disappointing, but I guess I could go over anyway. It wouldn't hurt to have someone else that I could share clothes with.
I went over and knocked on the door. I smiled as it was opened. A woman with brown hair stood in the doorway.
"Hi, I'm Bella and I live next door." I told her. "I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."
"Come inside." She invited. "I'm Esme Brandon. Alice, Cynthia we have a guest."
I watched as the two girls walked into the living room. Both had brown hair. One was taller with longer and dressed kind of preppy. I could that she was the older one. The other had her hair in a short pixie cut and her clothes were not very flattering at all. She wore a black tank top and a long black skirt with a good deal of makeup and a frown on her face. The thing is it actually worked for her. She looked really pretty.
"These are my daughters Cynthia and Alice." Esme introduced. "This is Bella. She lives next door."
"Hi, I'm Cynthia." The preppy one said as she held her hand out for me to shake. I shook it.
"I like your nail polish." I told her.
"Alice, can you at least pretend to be more civil?" Esme asked her other daughter in frustration.
"Like, omigod, it's like so nice to see you." Alice replied with a pert smile. I think she was mocking me. "No, I can't."
I frowned at her.
"So I was wondering if you had any plans tonight." I asked Esme.
"No, we don't." Esme replied.
"Well maybe you would like to come to dinner with my dad and me." I suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea." Esme responded. "What do you say, Girls?"
Cynthia smiled, but Alice didn't look too thrilled.
"So do you want to meet us at Chili's at 6:30?" I asked.
"That sounds great." Esme replied. "We look forward to meeting your father."
I nodded and went back to my own house to see Dad had finished getting changed. He was a doctor that worked mostly during the day.
"So I went over invited them to dinner." I told him as I sat down at the table. "The mother is really pretty."
"Bella…" He replied.
"Dad, it's been four years since Mom died." I pointed out. "You should at least be looking. Besides, you don't have to date her. I just want to give a chance to get to know her."
"So how are her daughters?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Well the older one, Cynthia, seems nice, but Alice seems kind of anti-social." I explained. "She was frowning the whole time."
"Well not everyone is as happy as you." He pointed.
"Well if she's sad, I want to find out why." I declared. "I just have to figure out how to get her to open up to me."
Dad just sighed at that.
"So I told them that we'd be there at 6:30." I stated.
We arrived at the restaurant around 6:20. We decided to make a reservation while we waited for the three of them to arrive. I was wearing a nice pink dress. The three of them arrived at exactly 6:32. They were all wearing nicer clothes, but Alice didn't look happy about it. I wonder if anything made her happy.
"This is my dad, Dr. Carlisle Cullen." I explained. I had changed my name to my mom's when she died. "And this is Esme, Cynthia, and Alice."
We were all seated at a table. I had my dad on my left and Alice was on my right. The waitress came by. Her name was Jessica. She was in a few of my classes and also knew us because we came here pretty often.
"Hi, Bella, hi Dr. Cullen." Jessica greeted us. "And who is with you tonight?"
"I'm Esme Brandon and these are my daughters Cynthia and Alice." The woman responded. "We just moved here."
"Well my name is Jessica, and I'll be taking care of you tonight." The waitress declared. "Let's start off with drink orders."
"I'll have some vodka." Alice replied. Jessica blinked a few times.
"She's kidding." Esme replied. I wasn't sure if she was. "Iced tea for her."
After taking the rest of our orders, including Cynthia's who was 21, Jessica left us to get to know each other better.
"So, Alice, how old are you?" Dad asked the younger daughter.
"17." Alice answered simply. She didn't seem like she liked to talk very much.
"That's the same age as Bella." He noted. "Maybe you'll be in some of the same classes at school."
"Maybe." Alice remarked. I wondered if I could get a sentence of more than five words out of her.
"I have to go to the bathroom." I announced. At that time, Cynthia got up and walked there with me. Well maybe I could talk to her about her sister.
We headed to the bathroom and I began to wash my hands. I looked over to her as she was working on her makeup.
"So your sister doesn't say much, does she?" I asked her.
"No, she's been like this since our father left us a few years ago." Cynthia explained. "She used to be happier and more talkative, like you."
"Does she have any friends?" I questioned the older sibling.
"No, and I don't think that she's really looking to make any." She responded. "So you're a cheerleader aren't you?"
"Yeah, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that she doesn't really like cheerleaders." I replied. "So has your mom been dating that much recently?"
"No." She answered. "Are you trying to set her up with your dad or something?"
"Well my mom died four years ago, and I just think it's time for him to move on." I explained. "I also want to figure out a way to get your sister to smile."
I was good at getting people to smile even when they were having bad days. Admittedly, I think it was because most of them were guys that liked to look at my cleavage, but I was happy to see them smile no matter what it took. I just had to get her to let me in.
"Good luck with that." Cynthia replied before we went back out to the restaurant.
So I wanted to try something different and give Alice and Bella much of a personality swap except with each one a little further down the spectrum. Cynthia is played by Troian Bellisario. So how long is going to take Alice to open up to Bella? Please don't forget to review.