"So, Sarah, you're being nice to me because you want to be friends with me?"
"Well, sort of. It's really because I want you to join the cheerleading team."
"Oh, come on," replied Jon. "That's silly."
"How's it silly?" asked Sarah. "Obviously you never did it before, but then as a guy you didn't get a chance. Maybe you'd enjoy it."
"No, Sarah. First, it's girl stuff. Second, for all I know you're just trying to make fun of me. Or maybe you made a bet with your friends over who could get me to do something girly first."
"Don't be so paranoid, Jon," said Sarah. "I mean sheesh. Fine. If you change your mind, come find me."
Jon asked around about the strange incident. Strangely enough, or not so strangely, most of the guys seemed a lot friendlier with Jon today.
"They really do need cheerleaders," said his friend Chad. Fortunately, Chad couldn't easily get stoned at school. "They weren't that big a team and then they lost two members when the Pointer Sisters moved out of town. I heard from Julie that the Coach is offering a prize for the first girl to recruit someone. That's probably why Sarah asked you. She didn't really care about you, but she wasn't trying to hurt you either."
And the next day he ran into Julie. It seemed that girls were more eager to talk too. Maybe because they liked gossip, maybe because they really were just trying to see how the "new girl" would fit into their life.
"Hey, Julie," said Jon. "I heard that Sarah's asking lots of people about being cheerleaders."
"Yeah, Jon. She even asked me, but if I wanted to be one I would have already. She isn't going to find a whole lot of people in the middle of the semester."
So Sarah's offer was real, thought Jon. But did he really want to become a cheerleader? The good part is that he'd be surrounded by all those attractive girls, and that a crowd that usually hated him might actually start liking him. The bad part is that he'd be one of them. It didn't seem like that good an idea, but he had to give his answer soon....
