Okay here is chapter 5. I hope you guys like it!

"A mule!" Brittany moaned.

Brittany, Jeanette, Simon, Theodore, Eleanor, and Alvin were sitting at one of the outdoor tables in the school quad, eating lunch. Brittany had just finished filling everyone in on the results of the tryouts.

"I mean, do I seem like I'd be a good mule?"

Jeanette hesitated, thinking of the donkeylike kick Brittany had done in her backyard the day before the tryouts. Brittany gave her a wounded look.

"No," Jeanette said quickly. "You're nothing like a mule."

"There's nothing mulelike about you. Except for your hooves. And your long ears. And your stubborn personality," Alvin teased.

Brittany stuck her tongue out at him. "I went to Ms. Charge after first period," she told them. "And I was like, 'Why am I a mule?' she said it was because I was funny at tryouts. They liked my spirit. She acted like that was a good thing."

"Being funny and spirited are good things, Brittany," Eleanor pointed out.

Brittany sulked. "What a stupid mascot. Why can't it be the Meridan jaguar? Or the Meridan eagles? Or. . . or the Meridan goddesses!"

"They don't make goddesses into mascots," Simon told her.

"But it's a good idea, right?" said Brittany, "I mean, I'm not just thinking of me."

"Oh, of course you're not," Alvin said sarcastically.

"Having a mule as a mascot makes the entire school look dumb," Brittany said.

"Mules are strong. They're hardworking. They never give up," Jeanette pointed out.

"They're also ugly," Brittany grumbled.

"But in a cute way," said Alvin.

Brittany plucked two French fries from her lunch tray, swapped them around in a pool of ketchup, and popped them in her mouth. She chewed for a moment, then pushed her tray away.

"Ugh. I'm not hungry. This whole mule thing ruined my appetite. Here, you guys have my fries."

"Oh, Thank you Brittany! Now your forgiven for taking the potato chips!" Theodore said happily.

Brittany gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Oh, never mind."

Simon and Jeanette reached for fries at the same moment, and their fingers touched. Jeanette felt an electric sort of tingle her fingertips. Quickly, she pulled her hand away.

"Anyway, I'm not going," Brittany decided, "Forget this stuff. I tried out to be a cheerleader, not a mule."

"But"-Jeanette was aghast- "but we're supposed to be doing this together! You promised!"

"Well, you don't have to go either," Brittany pointed out. "You don't even want to be a cheerleader. In fact, why don't you just quit? Give the spot to someone who really wants it."

"No!" Jeanette exclaimed, louder than she intended. Everyone at the table looked at her. She blushed and lowered her voice. "No. We can't just not show up. We tried out and we made it and now we have to do it. That's just how it is." Jeanette always followed her commitments. And she wasn't going to stop now just because Brittany didn't feel like being a mule.

"Fine," said Brittany, a little huffily. "I'll go to practice. Jeez."

Later that day, Brittany kept her promise and went to practice.

"STAR. That's the word I want you to remember. You are all Meridan Middle School STARS.

Madeline Charge stood before her cheerleaders, hands on her hips. Today her T-shirt read THERE IS NO "I" IN "TEAM."

The girls sat on the outdoor bleachers, shielding their eyes against the afternoon sunlight. They could hear the boys' (and Eleanor's) team practicing at the far end of the football team.

"Can one of you explain to our new teammates what STAR means?" the cheerleading coach asked, addressing the eighth-graders.

Courtney put up her hand. "Studies. Teamwork. Athleticism. Responsibility," she said primly. She smiled like the teachers pet.

"Thank you Courtney. That's right. Studies. Teamwork. Athleticism. Responsibility." Ms. Charge ticked them off one by one on her fingers. "These are the things that you have to focus on to be the best cheerleaders you can be."

Brittany sensed a lecture coming on. She tried to make herself more comfortable on the hard metal seat.

"First of all, Studies," Ms. Charge boomed. "You all must maintain a C average. We do grade checks once a week. If anyone falls below a C in any class, we have a conference with your teacher. If you don't pull your grade up within a month, you're off the team. Got it?"

The cheerleaders nodded.

"Teamwork." Madeline paced back and forth in front of them like a drill sergeant.

"Cheerleading is not about one person being the center of attention. When you're all in a pyramid, the person at the bottom is just as important as the person at the top."

Blah blah blah. Brittany hated lectures, especially now when everything she says reminds her of cheerleaders and it makes Brittany feel bad. Brittany only heard lectures at school, where the adults acted like kids were social morons. Miss Miller never lectured. If she was disappointed in her, she said, "How do you think you could have done that better?"

Next to Jeanette, Brittany snapped her gum. She'd been fidgeting the whole time Ms. Charge was talking. Jeanette noticed that Brittany didn't seem to find the coach as interesting as she had been at the tryouts.

"Athleticism," the coach went on, "You girls are athletes, and I want you to think of yourselves that way. It's fine to wave pom-poms, but your kicks better be up to your ears or no one cares."

Harsh, Jeanette thought. I can't kick that high yet.

"Responsibility," Ms. Charge went on in her megaphone voice. "You're expected to show up at practice on time and ready to cheer. If you have to miss a practice, I want to know before. Don't come to me with excuses later. I don't want to hear them."

Ms. Charge looked from one space to the next. "You are the STARs of Meridan. But you are part of the same constellation. One STAR shouldn't outshine the others."

Brittany pretended to stick her finger down her throat. She made a retching noise just loud enough for Jeanette to hear.

"Okay. Enough talk," Madeline said, "Now, are you ready to cheer?"

"Yeah!" the other girls cried.

"Uh, Ms. Charge?" Brittany raised her hand. "What do I do while everyone else is. . . Cheering?"

"Oh, Brittany, our multitalented mascot. You can run drills with the rest of the girls today if you like," said Ms. Charge. "Come see me after practice, and we'll set up a time for you to get your costume."

As the girls got up from the bleachers, Muffy sidled over to Brittany. As usual, Courtney followed at her side.

"I just wanted to say I think you will be a great mascot," Muffy told Brittany.

"Really?" Brittany looked pleased.

Muffy nodded. "You were hysterical yesterday at tryouts. It took a lot of nerve. I mean, I could never have gotten up there and embarrassed myself like that in front of a bunch of people. But you made it look totally natural."

Courtney put her hand over her mouth as she giggled.

Brittany's smile froze. "Thanks," she said uncertainly.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that." With a little smile, Muffy and Courtney walked over to the other cheerleaders to warm up.

"Brittany turned to Jeanette. "I embarrassed myself yesterday?"

"I'm sure that's not what she meant," Jeanette said quickly. "She probably just meant your somersault was. . . . uh. . . . original."

Brittany glanced at Muffy's retreating back. "She had a nice way of saying it."

The girls spent the next hour doing strengthening exercises. They ran stairs on the bleachers. They did sit-ups and stretches, and they worked on their high kicks, cartwheels, and jumps.

By the time they were ready to start learning a cheer, Jeanette was sweating. It felt good. She realized how much she'd missed working out since she'd stopped doing gymnastics.

Ms. Charge, who had gone to the equipment room to get pom-poms, left Muffy in charge of teaching the cheer. As the girls got into rows, Muffy singled out Brittany. "Not you," she said. "You can't stand in the front row."

"Why not?" asked Brittany.

"Because you're not a cheerleader," said Courtney, coming next to Muffy.

"But I'm here, I might as well learn the cheer. What if you need a sub or something?" Brittany pointed out.

Muffy wrinkled her nose as if Brittany were something stuck at the bottom of her shoe. "Only the cheerleaders do the cheers. That's why they call them cheerleaders."

Brittany pressed her lips together. She didn't move.

Jeanette glanced around at the other girls. They were watching. Alyssa, one of the eighth-graders, had her arms folded and a look of disgust on her face, but Jeanette couldn't tell if she were disgusted with Brittany or Muffy.

Muffy gave an exaggerated sigh. "If you really want to learn the cheers, you can stand over there." She pointed to a spot behind the back row.

Brittany looked at Muffy for a second. Then, tossing her auburn hair, she lifted her chin and walked to the spot where Muffy was pointing. Jeanette started to follow.

"Not you," Muffy said, stopping her. "You have to stand in front. Otherwise, you won't be able to see anything. You're so small."

Jeanette gave Brittany an apologetic look and returned to front row.

Muffy and Courtney taught a short cheer. Jeanette, who was standing between Amy and Angie, was surprised they already knew it.

"Hi, I'm Angie," Angie said, holding out a hand. Jeanette grabbed Angie's hand and shook it.

"I'm Jeanette."

"Stop, talking!" Muffy barked. Angie and Jeanette hushed at once.

Finally, Ms. Charge reappeared and announced, "That's it for today. See you girls tomorrow!"

As Jeanette and Brittany headed over to the bleachers to collect their things, Brittany said, "Cheerleading is harder than I thought."

Jeanette grinned. "Before you know it, you'll be doing back handsprings."

"If I come back," Brittany reminded her.

"Brittany!" Ms. Charge walked over to them. "I wanted to find time for you to try on your costume. Can you come be the equipment room next Monday after school?"

Brittany hesitated. At the moment, she saw Jeanette give her a pleading look.

"Okay," Brittany said.

"Okay, see you next week then." Ms Charge smiled her toothbrush commercial smile and walked away.

"Wait! Don't we have practice tomorrow?" asked Brittany.

"You don't need to. You don't need to learn every routine. Mostly improvise. Run around. Make the crowd laugh."

"Make the crowd laugh," Brittany repeated. "Right."

When Ms. Charge was gone, Jeanette turned to Brittany. "But if you don't come to practice," she began, "that means. . ."

Jeanette looked over at the other cheerleaders with a sinking feeling. That means I'm on my own.

Yay! Done chapter 5! Oh! I also enabled anoymous reviews so you can review as many times as you want. Oh, and by the way, I made the sisters a lot less, well, I don't make them say "darling" or anything just so you know. Anyway, I will update soon and PLEASE review!