Chapter 16: Power Play

"What do you mean I'm no longer the head cheerleader?" Paulina asked in protest.

"Exactly what it says, Paulina." Star bluntly answered. "You're no longer the head cheerleader. Your unhealthy obsession with Danny Phantom went too far."

"It never bothered you back when we didn't know he's Danny Fenton." Paulina pointed out.

"Paulina, it's one thing to have a crush on some seemingly unreachable celebrity but you should have backed off as soon as you learned he already has a girlfriend." Another cheerleader said. "Do you have no shame?"

"He's my ghost boy." Paulina whined. "I saw him first!"

"And you rejected him way before he even met that monster girl." Star stated. "Either way, I've developed a new cheer routine and the others agreed to practice it. Play along or you're off the squad."

"You win, Star." Paulina replied and then muttered "for now."

It was just a matter of time before the changes with the cheer squad became known to the whole student body. "I'm glad to see the Wicked Witch of the West being knocked off her high horse." Sam commented.

"Or her high heels considering what happened the last time she tried to outdo Clawdeen." Tucker replied and laughed at his own joke.

"I hope Star does a better job than Paulina." Team Phantom heard Dash Baxter comment. "I mean, Paulina is good-looking but that's basically all that she has going for her."

"Star is confident enough to believe she can use her cheerleading to earn a college scholarship." Kwan replied.

"A scholarship for that?" Sam asked in disgust. "Why would any university want cheerleaders that much?"

"To attract boys." Tucker answered like it was obvious. "Don't take it the wrong way. I do want to go to a place where I can learn the most about technology but there's no harm in using extra persuasion. I wouldn't mind going to the same college Paulina's parents buy her way in."

"Disgusting." Sam muttered.

"True." Danny agreed.

"You're only agreeing because you have a girlfriend." Tucker accused Danny.

"As an aspiring astronaut, I want to attend a university that helps me reach my goal regardless of which girls went there or if I have a girlfriend or not." Danny stated in response to Tucker's accusation.

Paulina then approached them. "My ghost boy, I need your help." She said.

"Paulina, I'm not your ghost boy." Danny replied. "And what do you need my help with?"

"I've lost my position as head cheerleader!" She answered. "I need you to date me to increase my popularity or at least overshadow Star to make her make a fool of herself."

"No!" Danny replied in disgust. "You know I have a girlfriend."

"I'm not a monster." Paulina argued.

"Could've fooled me." Sam muttered.

"That doesn't necessarily make you better than Clawdeen, Paulina." Danny stated.

"Come on." Paulina pleaded. "Don't you have any remaining feelings for me?"

"No." Danny answered.

"We'll see about that, my ghost boy." Paulina replied and left.

"When I thought she couldn't sink any lower." Sam commented in disapproval.

"She creeps me off and I fight ghosts." Danny replied.

"Any chances you can talk her into settling for your good-looking best friend?" Tucker asked and his friends glared at him. "What? Even if she's no longer the head cheerleader, she's still beautiful."

"Tucker, even Dash understands that's all she's got." Sam replied.

"That's enough for me." Tucker said.

"Where's the Box Ghost when we need a stress reliever?" Sam asked.

Suddenly some ghost wolves showed up. "That'll do." Danny commented.

Later on, while Danny sent those wolves back to the Ghost Zone, Paulina was trying to persuade her father. "Paulina, what do you expect me to do?" Mr. Sanchez asked.

"Make a huge donation to the school; find some blackmail material on Star; anything, just make me head cheerleader again." Paulina whined.

"No way, Paulina." He replied. "You need to accept that not everything goes the way you want."

"Mom." She moaned.

"Your Dad's right, Paulina." Mrs. Sanchez stated.

"Where did we go wrong with her?" Mr. Sanchez asked his wife.

The next day, Paulina was adding itchy powder to Star's uniform. "Stealing my position as head cheerleader, will you?" The shallow cheerleader asked, hoping to regain the position.

"Sanchez, what do you think you're doing?" Coach Tetslaff firmly asked, having caught Paulina red-handed.

"A zombie ate my brain!" Paulina quickly said.

"Like it'd make a difference." Tetslaff replied. "To the Principal's office!"

News of the incident soon became known to the whole school. "Can you believe Paulina would sink that low?" Danny asked his friends.

"Yes." Both Sam and Tucker answered.

"Sorry, standard question." Danny replied. "But I wonder who will replace her at the cheer squad."

"Maybe I could." Tucker commented and his friends stared at him. "What? It's not like people never heard of boys being cheerleaders. Take Mr. Lancer, for example."

"Honestly, I don't think you look like what people expect from boy cheerleaders." Sam said.

"Do you believe Mr. Lancer ever looked like cheerleader material?" Tucker asked in reply.

"I assure you I did, Mr. Foley." Mr. Lancer answered, revealing he was nearby.

"I agree with Foley." A random student commented. "No way Mr. Lancer ever was cheerleader material."

"Cheerleader?" Another student scoffed. "More like fearleader. Just looking at him makes me afraid I'll look like that when I'm that old."

"Mr. Foley, we'll have a long talk about this." Mr. Lancer stated, making the techno-geek gulp.

"He never knows when to stay quiet." Danny commented.

"Except when your former secret was still a secret." Sam replied. "Makes it surprising that the eventual reveal wasn't his fault."

"Dash, can you really believe Foley's trying to become a cheerleader?" Kwan asked his friend.

"It's the only way he can get close to actual cheerleaders unless he's judging another pageant, Kwan." Dash answered.

"True." Kwan replied.

"Do we really have to let Foley join the tryouts?" One of the cheerleaders asked Star. "He's a boy."

"The law is quite clear about that." Star answered. "The fact that Tucker Foley is a boy cannot be used as grounds to stop him from trying to join us unless Casper High permits the creation of an all-boys cheer squad."

"Would such a squad be allowed?" The cheerleader asked in disgust.

"Assuming the number of boys willing to join that squad meets the minimum requirement as it's demanded from our squad, it will." Star answered. "Some schools that expect their cheerleader boys to be too few use that as a loophole to prevent them from becoming cheerleaders."

"If that's what takes to prevent Foley from joining us, I'm okay with that." The cheerleader commented and the others, Star included, nodded.

"Don't worry, girls." Dash told them. "Do you really think Foley can best every girl trying to take Paulina's spot?"

Every girl was relieved upon hearing Dash's question. "True, there's nothing to worry about." One of them said.

"What do you think Mr. Lancer will do to Tucker?" Danny asked Sam.

"Probably something humiliating but less humiliating than Tucker becoming a cheerleader." Sam replied, not really caring.

Meanwhile, at Mr. Lancer's office, he was berating Tucker. "Mr. Foley, while I like the fact there are boys who want to be cheerleaders, your disrespect mustn't go unpunished." He stated. "If you don't become a cheerleader, you'll have to become a mascot."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tucker screamed in desperation. "Anything but that!"

Afterwards, the rest of the school day was practically uneventful. "Are you really trying to become a cheerleader?" Danny asked Tucker.

"Assuming my parents will sign the permission forms, which will probably be the hardest part of this whole thing, yes." Tucker answered.

Danny then felt his ghost sense. "BEWARE."

"Boxy, you missed your cue." Danny replied.

"I don't know what you mean but, whatever." The Box Ghost stated and left while leaving another "BEWARE."

"Anyway, I'm going home. Actually, I'm going ghost." He turned into Danny Phantom and flew away.

Meanwhile, Star was addressing some girls. "Remember, at least one of you must be a better cheerleader than Tucker Foley."

"No problem." One of them replied, offended by the idea of it not being a given.

After arriving at home, Danny phoned Clawdeen. "Really?" She asked in disbelief. "Tucker Foley wants to be the normie version of a fearleader? I know I haven't hung up around normies very much but I don't think he can do even the basic moves they did under Paulina Sanchez's leadership."

"True but every student with permission from their parents must be allowed to try to join the squad." Danny replied.

"Fair enough but, do you think his parents will give him the permission?" Clawdeen asked.

Meanwhile, at the Foley residence, Tucker was getting his response. "Absolutely NOT!" Mr. Foley firmly said. "I won't let you make even more of a fool of yourself just to get girls!"

"You never minded me being a mascot." Tucker argued.

"It doesn't require cheerleading skills and, if you want girls to like you, you should try to join the football team." Mrs. Foley pointed out. "Your running improved a lot when Sam helped you for the Presidential Fitness Test."

"Please, don't remind me." Tucker pleaded, ashamed of how he fell for Sam's trickery.

"You'd have more chances at going to college with football than cheerleading." Mr. Foley stated.

"But if I don't join the cheer squad Mr. Lancer will make me a mascot for mocking the idea that he used to be a cheerleader." Tucker pleaded.

"We'll have a long talk about it, young man." Mrs. Foley sternly said.

The next day, Tucker Foley met his friends at Casper High. "I see your parents didn't give you permission to try out for cheerleading." Sam commented as she noticed the outfit her friend was wearing.

"Not only do they not believe boys can be cheerleaders, they also didn't like knowing I made fun of Mr. Lancer." Tucker explained.

"Given your reason for trying to join the team, your parents were right not to give you permission." Danny said, making his friend frown.

Dash Baxter approached the group. "Cheer up, Foley. At least being a mascot gives you an excuse to hide your face." The bully said, teasing the techno-geek.

"What are you doing here, Dash?" Danny asked, glaring at the bully.

"Phantom, I came to ask you why you keep hanging out with these losers when you could be an A-lister like me." Dash responded, believing that Danny would accept the opportunity.

"No way, Dash." Danny said. "I'm no longer an immature teenager who values popularity above all else."

"Whatever." Dash responded with a shrug and left.

"I wonder if the monster community accepts boy cheerleaders." Tucker told his friends.

"I hope not." Sam said, disgusted by the idea. "The idea of monster cheerleaders is bad enough with what we already know."

"From what Clawdeen said when I told her about Tucker, I think the monsters accept it." Danny commented.

"Ugh." Sam said. "Can't we talk about something else?"

End chapter