Okay everyone! Here's chapter 8! This chapter continues with Jeanette and Brittany. By the way, after I'm done this story, I'll be writing another based off another candy apple book called "Making waves" and it will be co-written by Wendy. Anyway, here's chapter 8!

The following week, Jeanette was standing at her locker, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around-and shrieked.

A giant mule face with crossed eyes and buck teeth was hovering just inches away from her nose.

"Gooooo, Mules!" Brittany shouted from inside the head.

"Gosh Britt, you scared me," Jeanette said. She put a hand over her fast beating heart.

Brittany pulled the costume off her head. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I acted the other night."

Jeanette smiled. "It's okay Brittany. I'm sorry too."

The sisters hugged each other, although it was hard with Brittany's mule head.

"And I know, the costume is frightening," Brittany said. "Ms. Charge couldn't let me into the equipment room after school, so I had to get this now. It doesn't even fit in my locker. I'm going to have to carry it around until the game this afternoon. Of course," she added, eyeing Jeanette's uniform, "It's no match for your outfit. Isn't that skirt against school regulations?"

Jeanette blushed as she tugged the hem of her pleated cheerleading skirt. Brittany was right. School rules said that skirts and shorts couldn't be more than two inches above the knee. But when Jeanette held her hands at her sides, her skirt barely reached her fingertips.

"I guess they make an exception for cheerleading uniforms," Jeanette said unhappily. "Please don't make a big deal about it. It's embarrassing enough as it is."

If Jeanette had ever had second thoughts about cheerleading, she was having them now. It was one thing to spend your afternoons tumbling and practicing cheers. It was another to show up for math class wearing a skirt so short it required matching underwear.

Brittany leaned against the locker next to Jeanette's and stared across the hallway and sighed.

"I never get to talk to him alone. He's always with all of us or with the stupid football players," Brittany complained.

Jeanette didn't even need to ask who Brittany was talking about. She glanced over at Alvin. "He's not with anyone now," Jeanette said, "Why don't you go talk to him?"

"What do I say? 'Marry me?'"

"I was thinking more like, 'Hi, how's it going?'" said Jeanette.

Brittany's face brightened. "Okay! I'll do it!" Brittany started to rush to Alvin.

"Oh, wait! Britt?" Jeanette said stopping her.

Brittany turned. "What?"

"Maybe you should leave the mule head here."

Brittany blushed. "Oh, right."

As Brittany set off to make her love connection, Jeanette started to search for her math book in her locker.

"Hey Jeanette."

Jeanette looked up. Simon was standing by her locker door. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Um, fine." Dang! Jeanette thought. Of all the people in the school, Simon was the last person she wanted to see her in her cheerleading uniform.

"So, are you ready for your first game?" he asked.

She shrugged. Thinking about the game made her even more nervous. "Yeah, I guess. Whatever," she mumbled.

Simon's smile dimmed a notch. "Oh. Well, I just wanted to let you know I'll be there."

Simon was coming to the game? Simon was going to watch her cheer? Whenever she'd pictured herself actually cheering, it had always been in front of a faceless crowd. But of course, that was dumb. The people who would be at the game would be all kids she knew. Like Simon.

"Cool," Jeanette said unenthusiastically.

Meanwhile, with Brittany. . .

Brittany slowly waked to Alvin's locker. "Hi, Alvin."

Alvin turned around. "Oh, hey Brittany."

There was an awkward silence between the two. "So. . . How's it going?" Brittany asked.

"Not bad, actually. I'm excited for our first game tonight."

Brittany groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Aw, someone's not a happy donkey!" Alvin joked.

Brittany kicked him in the shins.

"Ow! I was only kidding." Alvin said, "I actually think you'd be a great mascot."

Brittany's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah." Alvin smiled at her.

The moment lasted between them until a football player called Alvin. "Yo, Alvin! Come on!"

Alvin sighed. "I gotta go."

"Oh, okay." Brittany faked a smile.

"See you at the game!" Alvin shouted while walking away.

"Right." Brittany said to herself. "The game."

After school, Jeanette and the other cheerleaders set up for their first cheer of the game.

"Let's get fired up!"

Clap-clap-clap-clap.

"We are fired up!"

Clap-clap-clap-clap.

As the football players took the field, the Meridan Middle School cheerleaders tried to get the crowd energized by clapping their hands.

"Really fired up!"

Clap-clap-clap-clap.

As the crowd cheered, Jeanette ran her eyes over the crowd in the bleachers. She told herself she wasn't looking for Simon. She was just looking. But when she spotted him sitting with a few other members of the chess club, her stomach did a little flip.

"Let's go mules!"

Brittany stood to the side of the cheerleaders wearing her huge mule head and a fuzzy brown jumpsuit. When the cheerleaders hit their final pose, she ran in, slid to stop on one knee, and threw out her arms as if to say "Ta-da!"

One or two kids in the crowd clapped listlessly. Someone offered a thin whistle.

Muffy yelled at the cheerleaders to get into formation again. For the next forty-five minutes, they ran through cheer after cheer. They did defense cheers when the other team had the ball and offense cheers when Meridan got it back.

The whole time, Jeanette kept one anxious eye on Muffy. Jeanette didn't know much about football, and she was afraid she'd cheer for the wrong team if she wasn't careful.

By halftime, Jeanette's voice was hoarse from shouting. Her cheeks hurt from forcing a smile she didn't really feel.

The Meridan marching band strode onto the field, playing a wobbly version of "Stars and Stripes Forever."

A plump, chipmunk holding a pair of cymbals brought up the rear. Every few steps he happily bashed the cymbals together.

"Theodore? I never knew you were in the marching band!" Jeanette asked him after the song.

"I'm new to the band. It's actually really fun," Theodore replied.

Jeanette giggled for no reason.

"Jenny!" Muffy yelled. "Back to your position!"

Jeanette walked over to where she was supposed to be.

Jeanette began to giggle again. Suddenly, the whole situation seemed upside down. Shy Jeanette had become a cheerleader. Styling Brittany was a mule. And Theodore was in the band.

It was all one big accident. The idea struck her as funny. At that moment, the cymbals crashed again, making Jeanette giggle harder.

She glanced at Brittany. She was running in front of the bleachers, trying to get the crowd to do the wave. Everyone ignored her.

Jeanette's smile faded. She couldn't see Brittany's face inside the mule head, but from her slumped shoulders, Jeanette could tell she wasn't having a good time.

For the rest of the game, when she wasn't watching Muffy, Jeanette watched Brittany. When Meridan got the ball, the mascot jumped up and down. She tried again to get the crowd to do the wave. But as the game went on, Brittany jumped less and less. Soon her feet barely left the ground.

Meridan lost the game, 14-7. Jeanette was headed over to commiserate with Brittany when she spotted Miss Miller coming down the bleachers toward her.

"Miss Miller!" exclaimed Jeanette. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to pick us up until five-thirty."

"Well, I didn't want to miss your first game." Miss Miller put her arm around Jeanette. "You were wonderful sweetheart. All those high kicks. And some of those cheers were very. . . clever. Like little poems."

Jeanette smiled. She had the feeling this was the first football game Miss Miller had ever been to. Miss Miller wasn't exactly the sports-going type.

Eleanor ran up to them. Her hair was drowned with sweat.

"Great game Eleanor!" Jeanette exclaimed to her sister.

"Thanks. Hopefully, we win the next game." Eleanor replied.

Eleanor was the only girl on the Meridan football team. At first, nobody on the team thought she would be good enough, but Alvin knew she was athletic because she was on his soccer team. Eventually, Alvin convinced everyone on the team and Eleanor was now a football player.

"You were wonderful, too, Brittany," Miss Miller added as Brittany walked up holding her mule head.

"Thanks, Miss Miller," Brittany said dispiritedly. "But I know I stank."

"Well, I don't know much about mascots, but I thought you were terrific," Dave said, walking up to the chipettes and Miss Miller.

Dave was the chipmunks adoptive father. Dave also wrote songs for the chipmunks to sing and occasionally, he wrote a few songs for the chipettes as well.

The chipmunks were right behind Dave. "And since it was Jeanette's first time cheerleading, Alvin and Eleanor's first game of the season, Theodore's first time in the school band, and Brittany's first time as mascot, I'm taking you all for ice cream to celebrate," Dave decided.

"Oh! That would be lovely David!" Miss Miller exclaimed.

Everyone seemed excited, except for Brittany. "Thanks, Dave," she said, "but I'm not really hungry. I think I'm just going to walk home."

"Brittany, you know how I feel about you walking home alone," Miss Miller said.

Brittany sighed.

"I'll walk her home," Alvin suddenly said.

Everyone was shocked. Alvin never seemed to reject ice cream for anything. EVER.

Brittany's frown turned into a smile.

"That's very kind of you Alvin," Miss Miller said sweetly.

Jeanette was happy that Alvin was there for Brittany. She knew Brittany was upset about the game, but she knew that Alvin would easily cheer Brittany up.

Alvin and Brittany started their way to the chipettes house.

"Shall we go now?" said Dave.

Jeanette, Simon, Theodore and Eleanor all nodded.

"Ice cream, here we come!"

So there you have it! Chapter 8! Sorry it took long to update, I was pretty busy. Anyway, I'll update soon and PLEASE review!