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silver was slightly tarnished, but I could make out some sort of symbol in the middle of the pendant.
    She came back up with a couple of granola bars. I quickly averted my eyes from her necklace. She didn't seem to notice my interest.
    Instead, she handed me one of the bars. "Cheerleaders are prepared for any emergency. We can't have you fainting in class."
    "Thanks," I said, surprised.
    Now that I was alone with Sam, I finally got up the nerve to ask her something I'd been wondering about for a while. "What's up with all the black clothes?"
    "Since when are you the fashion police?" she snapped. "I can dress however I want, Daisy."
    "I know, but it's just so different from the way you used to look," I said. "Did anything happen this summer that brought on the change?"
    For a brief moment, Samantha looked vulnerable, almost like the girl who I used to call my friend, but in an instant, her mask of cool was back. "No," she said. "I just wanted a change, okay?"
    "And the pendant?" Now that I was up close and personal with Her Deadness, I could finally get a good look at the symbol on it. "Is that an ankh?" All I knew about the ankh symbol was that it was Egyptian. And that was only because we studied Egypt in seventh grade.
    "Yes," she answered, now beyond testy. "God, Daisy, what's with all the questions? I don't have time for this." And with that, she stormed off, her coffin trailing behind her.
    "See you later," I called.
    "Yes, you will," she replied. I wasn't sure if that was good news or bad news.
     
     
    After school, I spotted Ryan hanging out by my locker. He was deep in conversation with Samantha's boyfriend, Sean.
    The sight of Ryan set my heart thumping. I watched him out of the corner of my eye while I grabbed the books I'd need for homework later.
    He broke off his conversation and hurried over. "Hey, Daisy, where have you been? I looked for you in the cafeteria at lunch."
    I turned to speak to him, leaving my locker door open.
    "What do you want, Ryan?" Despite my best efforts to control it, my voice was noticeably cool.
    "Sean, Samantha, and I want to take you out tonight," he said.
    I whirled around, furious. I didn't need a consolation dinner. It was bad enough that Ryan didn't think I was the cheerleader type. There was no need to rub my abysmal tryout in my face.
    My locker door slammed shut, but I hadn't touched it. In fact, I found out later that every open door in the school slammed shut. Including Sam Tsai's, who still had his hand in his locker at the time.
    "Why exactly would you want to do that?" I hissed. Igloos were warmer than my voice.
    "I thought you might want to celebrate," Ryan said. His voice matched mine, ice chip for ice chip. "Do you want to go out or not? I mentioned to Sean and Samantha that we might be heading for the Black Opal tonight, and Samantha thought it might be a great way to congratulate the newest cheerleader."
    "Celebrate? Cheerleader? Do you mean...?"
    "Didn't you know?" he grinned at me, finally catching on to my utter cluelessness. "You made the cheerleading team."
    My life was becoming surreal. I looked around for the cameras but didn't see any. Yesterday, plain old Daisy Giordano. Today, Daisy Giordano, cheerleader, who was going to a trendy club with the hottest guy in school (even if it was to catch an evildoer). I thought it seemed too good to be true—and it turned out I was absolutely right.

Chapter Six
    I wondered if Ryan still would have asked me out if I hadn't made the squad. I wanted to go out with Ryan on a real date. Badly. But this wasn't a real date. It was an investigation, a way to help my mom with the case.
    I worried that Ryan, too, could have an ulterior motive for this date. Maybe I was just his camouflage and he was really trying to get closer to Samantha, so he could snake her right out from under Sean's cute but less-than-bright nose. It didn't sound like the Ryan I knew, but wiser men than he had done some crazy stuff in the name of love. Ryan