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giggling again. Sheila whispered to Darcy, "You tell her."
    "Why do I have to?" Darcy replied.
    "She's your friend, Sheila," Penny said.
    "You guys are such babies!" Sheila exhaled with frustration. "Okay. Come here, Stacey. I don't want the whole world to know."
    I walked over to them. They looked as if they were ready to burst with excitement.
    "Robert likes you," Sheila said.
    My brain did not handle the sentence. It was as if Sheila had said, "Your hair is blue," or "Yesterday is tomorrow," or "Life is a cheeseburger." No logic, no sense.
    "What?" was my response.
    Giggles again.
    "He noticed you on Friday night," Darcy said. "At the Pizza Express."
    "Remember, when your slices stuck together?" Sheila added.
    "Love at first bite!" Penny covered her mouth and laughed at her own joke.
    "Well — but — how — " My brain was now rediscovering the English language, but slowly. "What about Corinne?" I finally asked.
    "What about her?" Penny asked.
    "Robert is interested in her, isn't he?"
    The girls exchanged a knowing glance. "Cor-
    inne is the only one who thinks Robert is interested in her," Darcy replied.
    Robert? Interested in me? Oh, please. He didn't know me. I wasn't one of The Group.
    "His dad gave a bunch of us a ride home that night," Sheila said. "I was the last person he dropped off, so Robert and I had a few minutes in the car together. We were talking about the game, and then he said to me, and I quote, 'You seem to know Stacey pretty well. Is she going steady with RJ?' Just like that, out of the clear blue sky." Sheila paused for effect. I caught my breath. "Now, I didn't know the answer for sure. But I remembered you said you didn't like the movie. And I got the feeling you guys didn't . . . you know . . . kiss or anything. And you and RJ weren't exactly acting like lovebirds. So I decided to tell him you weren't. Was that okay?"
    "I wasn't what?" I asked.
    "Going steady with RJ!" Sheila answered with exasperation. "You're not, are you?"
    "No!" I answered too loudly. I could feel myself blushing. "I mean, you were right to say that."
    "Lucky," Penny said. "Robert is a real nine-one-one."
    I looked at her blankly. "A nine-one-one?"
    "You've never heard that expression?" She
    shook her head in disbelief. "It's like calling nine-one-one because you're about to die from excitement? You know?"
    "Right," I said. (I guessed that was a "Group" expression.)
    "Well, I don't blame him," Sheila remarked. "He has good taste."
    "Oh, groan," Darcy said. Then she looked at me and added quickly, "Really, he's also the nicest guy, Stacey. Sometimes the good-looking ones are jerks, but Robert's different."
    "Anyway, I said he should call you," Sheila added. "And he said he would. So be prepared."
    Boy, was I smiling. "You guys, I don't know what to say. Thanks for telling me."
    "That's what friends are for," Sheila replied with a warm smile.
    Darcy looked at her watch. "Oops, almost time for our practice," she said to Penny. Both girls laughed. I didn't get the joke.
    "Sheila," Penny said, "did you tell Stacey about . . . you know what?"
    I laughed. "Another secret?"
    "Well, not exactly a secret/' Penny replied. "It's just that one of the cheerleaders is moving. We're going to hold tryouts to replace her, but we haven't set a date. We figured we'd let you know early, in case you want to start working out."
    "If you're interested," Darcy added.
    "Me?" I squeaked.
    "Why not?" Sheila asked.
    "Well, I don't know."
    "You're definitely pretty enough to be on the squad," Darcy went on. "You just have to know how to do the usual stuff — splits, jumps, cartwheels — plus be able to pick up a combination."
    "Splits?" I said. Just thinking about them hurt. And what did she mean, I was pretty enough to be on the squad?
    "Splits aren't as hard as you think," Darcy said. "Besides, you have plenty of time to practice."
    Riinnnnggg!
    "Uh-oh! See you!" Penny cried.
    She and Darcy raced away. Sheila practically had to pull me into