“What voll girl?” asked Chase.

“It's a girl who plays volleyball,” said Tiffers.

This didn't help. “What voll?” attempted Chase.

“It's a sport,” said Melissa C. “There's a net, a ball, and a lot of girls in short shorts jumping around.”

Chase pictured this, and a peaceful smile crossed her face. “That sound like cheer!”

“Chase, I know you meant that in a nice way, but you shouldn't compare us to those craven things,” said Heather.

“Aw, c'mon you guys, the volleyball girls aren't craven things,” said Alicia. “Sure, their bake sale just happens to be on the same day as ours, but it's just an innocent mistake! I doubt they're intentionally trying to one-up us!”

Two guys looked at them as they passed by. “Oh, hey, it's that cheerleader bake sale those volleyball girls mentioned,” commented one of them. “Wanna check it out?”

“Nah,” said the second one. “Those girls said their bake sale was way better than the cheerleader bake sale, and that the cheerleaders' baked goods would make us sick, and frankly, I believe them.”

“Why those stuck up little...” growled Lindsey.

“Our baked goods?! Giving someone a stomachache?! Never!” gasped Alicia, offended.

Not hearing them, the first guy casually continued his conversation. “Yeah, we definitely don't want to risk it,” he said, as they disappeared around the corner. “Despite decades of medical advances, AIDS still isn't fully treatable.”

“WHAT?!” demanded the cheerleaders.

“Those dirty rotten bitches!” shouted Lindsey. “I'll rip their volleyball spikin' arms off!”

Alicia put a hand on her shoulder and laughed uneasily. “Now now, Lindsey, take it easy.”

“What did we ever do to them?” asked Heather, annoyed.

“Insecurity is what it is,” said Victoria in a dismissive manner, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “It probably stems from them being so tall.”

“Somehow, I doubt they're insecure about anything,” said Caitlin.

“Yeah,” agreed Rebecca. “I mean, let's be real here. They had four in the top ten.”

“Top ten what?” asked Alicia.

“You mean you didn't know?” asked Lindsey. “All the guys in school voted on who they think the hottest girls are.”

“Wait, seriously?” asked Caitlin with a frown. “Ugh. That's so disgusting.”

Lindsey took off her backpack, unzipped it, and dug into it. “I think I have it here...Ah, there we go.” She pulled out a copy of the Sunnycrest High school paper and handed it to Alicia. “Turn to the society pages.”

“Wait, our school paper PRINTED it?!” asked Caitlin with disbelief.

“Well, yeah. They're the ones who conducted the study,” said Lindsey.

“That isn't a study!” Caitlin argued. But she peeked over Alicia's shoulder all the same.

1. London Costas (Volleyball) (Senior)

2. Alicia Alcott (Cheerleader) (Junior)

3. Lindsey Ericson (Cheerleader) (Junior)

4. Sydney Meyers (Volleyball) (Junior)

5. Chase Campbell (Cheerleader) (Junior)

6. Denver Hightower (Volleyball) (Senior)

7. Courtney Peters (Tennis) (Senior)

8. Brooklyn Greer (Volleyball) (Senior)

9. Maxine Petruzzi (No Club) (Senior)

10. Melissa Chacksfield (Cheerleader) (Senior)

“What the fuck? They really do have four in the top ten!” counted Nicole.

“So do we,” Caitlin pointed out.

“Well, yeah! But I would expect that! We're cheerleaders!” Nicole replied.

“I mean, I was thinking we'd have at least seven in the top ten, I'm not gonna lie,” agreed Lindsey.

“And there's only six girls on a varsity volleyball team!” added Heather. “That means they have more than half their team in the top ten! Their average must be way higher than ours!”

Victoria snatched it out of Alicia's hands. “Let me see that!” she snarled. Her eyes quickly dropped down the list. “SEVENTEEN? Why am I all the way down at seventeen?! This is an outrage! No, worse than that! It's libel! How dare they publish this egregious, poorly researched hit piece on me?”

“I think you guys are taking this too seriously,” said Alicia calmly.

“That's easy for you to say, number two!” said Victoria, hurt.

“Yeah, how about a little sensitivity, Alicia?” agreed Lindsey, equally hurt.

“You're that dissatisfied with number three?! You shut up too!” shouted Victoria.

“Why am I up there?” asked Melissa C. with a humble laugh.

Chase looked confused. “Why my name on list?”

“Because the guys in school think you're hot,” explained Alicia.

“Hot?”

“You know, good looking. Sexy,” said Lindsey.

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“Oh. Sex. Know what that is,” lied Chase. “Hear word and know what mean.”

“Good,” said Lindsey. “So you get it then. You're pretty. Guys want to date you.”

Chase did understand what pretty meant. That was what Alicia, Caitlin and Lindsey were, as well as her other friends. But she didn't know that was what she was too. Did this mean she was beginning to fit in better at school?

“Want date?” she asked, confused. “But I date Tor, right? That what go to films is, right?”

“Yeah. Going to the movies with Torey is a date,” confirmed Caitlin. “You're dating him.”

“Then why more guys want date?”

“Well...”

Victoria handed the paper back to Alicia with a scoff. “You know what? Forget the volleyball girls for a second. I'm much more curious about how that freak scary kid got into the top ten!”

Alicia looked over the list again. “Who, Maxine?” she asked.

“If that's the scary kid I think she is...she's pretty hot, Victoria,” said Brittany.

“She's the one,” confirmed Lindsey.

“Plus, a lot of guys are into that,” said Rebecca. “They want a big titty goth gf. Didn't you know that?”

“A what?” demanded Victoria, feeling personally attacked by certain aspects of that description. “Gross!”

“Yeah,” said Lindsey. “And there aren't really any other girls in our school who are going for that edgy look or whatever. So even if it's not that many guys who are into it, she doesn't have any competition.”

“I see. So she's gaming the system,” said Samantha. “Sneaky.”

“Hmm,” said Victoria thoughtfully. She put her hands on her hips and smugly turned her nose up at the paper. “Yes, very sneaky indeed. Her numbers are inflated by a flawed statistical metric. So really, she isn't that hot at all. I mean, imagine it. A girl like that, a freak scary kid, making it into the top ten by legitimate means. It's laughable. What a loser.”

THE NEXT DAY

“For the last time, it's NOT a phase,” said Victoria, dressed all in black and smothered in black makeup.

“Yes, it fucking is,” Lindsey replied.

Victoria scoffed and folded her arms. She wore a black tanktop printed with an unreadable band name, a black skirt, and fishnets on her twiglike legs. It was morning, before the first bell. She stood at her locker, casually grabbing her books for first period. When Alicia, Lindsey, Caitlin and Chase spotted her, they were forced to go over to her and see what the hell was going on. “You just don't understand the depths of my pain.”

“Vic dress as Max!” beamed Chase. “Look much nice!”

“I'm not 'dressing as Maxine,' savage!” said Victoria, annoyed. “This is an honest expression of who I am, I'm not a conformist follower like you guys.”

Alicia sighed. “Victoria,” she said in a pacifying voice, “don't you think you're taking the results of that poll a bit too seriously?”

“Yeah, you're Victoria,” nodded Caitlin. “You're not a goth, you're a cheerleader. You don't have to be something you're not just because the guys didn't put you in the top ten.”

Victoria frowned at her. “Maybe YOU'RE content with being outside the top ten, Boyd, but I'm NOT! VICTORIA C.H. BASSETT is NOT! I should be number one!” She realized she let her true motives show for a moment, then put a pained hand to her heart. “And that is just a small bit of the pain I carry. Oooh.”

“Well, this stupid getup isn't going to help you,” said Lindsey, poking her in the chest. “The meme is that guys want a big titty goth gf! BIG TITTY! YOU only have half the equation!”

“Hmph!” said Victoria. “I'm not gonna change myself just to fit SOCIETY'S fascist standards of beauty! You think that just because guys like big tits I'm gonna try to put stress balls in my shirt, and then give up when I can't make them stay in place?! HAH! NEVER!”

“That seems like an oddly specific denial,” Caitlin replied.

Victoria spotted Flor, Willard and Maxine across the hall, chatting with each other.

“Whatever! You just don't understand! Nobody understands!” Victoria lamented. “Now if you'll excuse me, I must join my people!”

She walked over to the trio and waved. They looked at her as she approached, shocked. Flor grabbed Willard's arm for support. “Grim morning to you,” Victoria told them.

“Holy shit,” said Willard.

“V...Victoria? Is that...you?” asked Flor, very concerned.

Maxine looked down at Victoria and gave a somewhat snorting chuckle. “Pgfff. What the hell are you supposed to be?”

“This is an expression of my true self,” said Victoria. “Finally the darkness I feel inside is reflected on the outside.” She smirked. “What's the matter? Afraid of a little competition? You're not the only goth gf in school anymore, sweetie. You may have monopolized the niche before, but we'll see how you stack up against a true beauty.”

“I really wish we could smoke in school,” said Maxine. “It sucks when you wanna blow a big puff of smoke in somebody's face, and you just can't.”

The other cheerleaders caught up with Victoria. “Now Victoria, why don't you leave the nice scary kids alone...” said Caitlin nervously, taking Victoria's hand and gently trying to tug her away.

“Look, Max!” shouted Chase cheerfully, gesturing at Victoria. “Now there TWO Max!”

Maxine cringed and glanced at Victoria again. “Ew. No.”

“Aww, it's true, Maxine. Now you have a Mini Maxine. How cute,” smiled Flor. She took out her phone. “Let me get a picture of-”

The loudspeaker rang out through the crowded hallway, cutting her off. “Attention,” came the principal's voice. “There will be an emergency assembly in the gymnasium. Instead of your first period, I ask that everyone please go to the gymnasium. Again, all students and staff, please go to the gymnasium for an emergency assembly.”

His voice was terse and serious. A feeling of apprehension smothered the cheerleaders' conversation. They heard the same happen to the other students around them. Emergency assembly? They'd never had one of those before. Sunnycrest didn't have many emergencies in general.

“What this?” whispered Chase, as they began to make their way to the gym, joining the flow of students heading in the same direction. “Why go to gym?” As far as she knew, the gym was for cheerleading practice. But cheerleading practice was a happy time, and she could sense that her friends and the people around her seemed more confused than happy.

“I don't know,” said Alicia.

“Maybe there was a bomb threat or something,” said Lindsey.

“If there was a bomb threat they'd take us outside, not to the gym,” replied Caitlin.

When they entered the gym, their eyes went to the center of the basketball court for a clue as to what sort of presentation they were about to witness. There was not much to see. A podium had been wheeled out to about the half court line. That was it; no attempt was made to put together a semblance of a stage. It looked very hasty. The vice principal stood by the podium, lips pursed.

As the girls climbed the bleachers and found an open area to sit, the principal entered the gym and began walking to the podium. A cop was with him.

“Caitlin, who's that guy?” asked Alicia. Caitlin was familiar with most of the cops in town due to her mom being on the force. Alicia had never seen this one before. Neither had Lindsey, and she was familiar with most of the cops in town too.

The principal stopped and asked the cop something they couldn't hear, and the cop answered him. The principal nodded, and they kept walking. “That's the acting police chief,” said Caitlin. “He transferred in from Otsego County to be McBride's replacement until the next election.”

McBride. Chase felt like she hadn't heard that name in a while, even though she'd only fought him a few months ago. So much had happened since then. Her life had been a whirlwind. And something about this situation told her another storm was brewing. She could feel danger in the air, could see it on the faces of the three men now standing by the podium.

Once all the teens were seated, the principal spoke into the microphone. “Hello, students. Thank you for being here.” His voice was just as sober as it had been over the loudspeaker. “This is something of a surprise assembly to me as well, so I haven't prepared anything to say. Some of you may have already heard the news and may suspect what this assembly is about. If you haven't, Police Chief Sweeney is here to speak with you about something very important, and so I will defer to him.”

The principal stepped aside, and Sweeney took his place. He had a short stack of papers with him, which he placed on the podium.

“Hello, students of Sunnycrest High,” the man said, reading off the papers. “I would like to ask all of you to refrain from asking questions until I'm done telling you what I know. I'd also like you to keep in mind that this presentation concerns an open investigation. Many facts of the case are still being determined by our department, and there are some questions I won't be able to answer.”

He looked down at his papers, took a breath, and said, “Last night, at 1:30 a.m., a body was discovered in the woods out the north end of town by a Sunnycrest Police Officer responding to a noise complaint. This is still an active investigation, and as such there is not much I can tell you about the crime scene or the condition of the body. It is still too early to determine a cause of death, but obvious signs of excessive...trauma have lead us to treat this as a murder investigation. I am not at liberty to disclose the victim's identity at this time, but the victim was a student at Catherine Storr Elementary.”

The crowd let out a horrified murmur. A kid.