Read First Evil for Free Online

harder, swirled by the wind. The ambulance siren started with a cough. Then the shrill wail corkscrewed through the rustling trees. The ambulance roared away.
    â€œHow will we get home?” Ronnie was asking, still flanked by Kimmy and Debra.
    â€œWhat about the game?” Heather asked.
    â€œWe have to get home! ” Ronnie insisted.
    â€œWill Jennifer be okay?”
    â€œHas anyone called our parents?”
    â€œSomeone should call Miss Green”
    â€œShe’s probably at the game.”
    â€œThey won’t play in this rain.”
    Let it rain, Bobbi thought, raising her face to it. Let the rain wash everything away. Everything.
    She turned, startled to see Kimmy standing beside her, a cold, grim expression on her face, her eyes locked on Bobbi’s.
    â€œKimmy—?” Bobbi started.
    â€œThis is all your fault,” Kimmy said, speaking through clenched teeth. Her hands were balled into tight fists at her sides. The rain had matted her black hair against her forehead.
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œAll your fault,” Kimmy repeated, continuing to glare at Bobbi. “If you hadn’t made us turn onto Fear Street—”
    â€œNow, wait a minute!” Bobbi cried. “That isn’t fair!”
    She realized the other cheerleaders were all staring at her, their faces grim and unhappy, lit by the flashes of red light.
    â€œKimmy, that’s not fair,” Corky cried, rushing forward to join her sister.
    Kimmy walked quickly back to Ronnie and Debra.
    â€œThat’s not fair!” Corky repeated.
    The rain fell harder, making it difficult to see. The ambulance carrying Jennifer was far in the distance now, its siren a lingering cry that refused to fade away.

PART TWO

The Fall

Chapter 7

The New Captain
    T he cheers thundered down from the bleachers as the cheerleaders ran out onto the floor. As the seven girls bounded across the gym, the noise rose and echoed until it felt as if the roof might be blown off.
    Kimmy led the girls onto the floor, and they immediately went into what they called their clap-clap routine. The girls clapped out a rhythm—and everyone in the bleachers repeated it as loudly as possible.
    As she clapped, Kimmy stared up at the colorful blur of kids filling the bleachers, spilling out onto the gym floor, standing along the walls. The entire school was at the pep rally.
    The hand clapping gave way to foot stomping. The bleachers quaked and trembled. The rhythm picked up. Faster. Louder.
    What a thrill! Kimmy thought, an excited grinspread across her face. What a thrill to perform for the entire school! What a sound! Like an earthquake or the stampede of a thousand elephants!
    She knew she looked great in her new uniform. They all did. The maroon and white was so sharp, the skirt so crisp, and the sweater so bright. Their old uniforms had been ruined that night in the rain.
    But here it was, two weeks later, and everything was fresh and new again. And everyone was cheering. Cheering their lungs out.
    Well . . . almost everyone.
    â€œGive me a T!”
    â€œT!”
    â€œGive me an I!”
    â€œI!”
    â€œGive me a G!”
    â€œG!”
    What a sound! Kimmy thought, her grin growing even wider as her shiny black hair bounced around her face every time she jumped.
    They finished the cheer in a wavelike ripple, the girls going down in splits one after the other. Kimmy glanced down the row of cheerleaders, all so happy, so fresh and excited, as if that terrible night had never happened.
    There was Ronnie down at the end, radiant, shouting her heart out. Her curly red hair, caught in the bright lights, seemed to glow on its own. How happy she’d been to be back on the squad.
    And Debra, normally so cool, so withdrawn, was cheering at the top of her lungs.
    Only cheerleaders, Kimmy thought, know what thisis like. A lot of people put us down. They think we’re wasting our time. Or we’re out-of-date or something.