Tagline: Give me an H-E-L-P!
Back tagline: Phoebe Yamura loves being a cheerleader.
Summary: And her senior year at Shadyside High couldn’t be more perfect! First she’s voted captain of the squad. And now she’s seeing Ty Sullivan.
But if Phoebe is so perfect, why does somebody want her dead?
First impressions: Love Phoebe from what we already know of her, which isn’t much considering she’s basically been a cameo and I can probably count the amount of times she’s appeared so far in the series on one hand. I’m not looking forward to reading about her relationship with Ty, because he’s been nothing but awful since we met him in the second book. After how he treated Jennifer Fear in the last book, I’m hoping he’ll get his comeuppance and be killed off in this one.
On the cover we’ve got a hook, possibly inspired by the IKWYDLS films, which came out around the same time the Seniors were being published. The inside cover depicts a 6-cheerleader pyramid, with Phoebe Yamura, Dana Palmer and Jade Feldman being the top three, and some unknown girls making up the bottom. It’s possible the middle girl is Greta Bradley, who had a short haircut, but I don’t think the face really matches Greta’s yearbook photo, and she’s dead now anyway.
As for the blurb, it sounds like this will be the typical stalker plot, which I’m neither here nor there about at this point. I usually like the books centred around cheerleaders, maybe because it’s such a teen slasher trope, so I’m hoping this will be a good one. There better be some main character deaths, though. We’ve covered six Seniors books already, and there’s been nowhere near enough murders! But at this point I want Phoebe to survive, because she just seems so sweet. Let’s find out if she makes it!
Recap
We have an update in our roll call now that Greta Bradley’s dead:
Gina – The new girl who’s not happy with just being the alternate cheerleader.
Griffin – The part-time school custodian who also works in the athletic department.
Samantha – Phoebe’s best friend and fellow cheerleader.
Joey and Caitlin – Two more cheerleaders who aren’t detailed enough to warrant separate entries on the roll call.
The book begins with a prologue during cheer practice, which stands out because it’s told in first person rather than third person like the rest of the series. [And this book!] We learn from this bad guy POV that our unknown villain hates head cheerleader Phoebe Yamura, AKA Little Ms. Perfect. This person’s waited so long to make Phoebe pay, and has had a few chances already, but has always hung back, watching and waiting. As the cheerleaders take their places and begin chanting, ‘”Oh, we’re gonna get you! Oh, yeah! We’re gonna catch you!…”‘ our bad guy smiles, because the words are true — ‘”I’m gonna get you,” I joined in. “Oh, yeah. I’m gonna catch you….”‘ [Naturally, the gender of our bad guy isn’t noted, and it’s unclear whether they’re a cheerleader too, or just observing practice. Seems a bit like jealousy, though, and we already know that Jade Feldman and Dana Palmer were upset that Phoebe scored the head cheerleader gig!]
Sometime later, [It doesn’t seem like the same day] Phoebe Yamura meets Ty Sullivan under the bleachers near the football field, where the football team is practicing. Ty’s on the team, so it probably won’t be long before the coach realises his missing, and the cheerleading squad is due for practice on the track field. The girls have been practicing almost every day, which leaves hardly any time for other things, like hanging out with Ty. It also doesn’t help that Phoebe’s parents are old-fashioned and not comfortable with American traditions, since they weren’t born here. They’d blow a fuse if they knew Phoebe was dating, since grades are more important; [Already getting into the stereotypes!] the only reason they allowed her to be cheerleading captain is because she pointed out it would look good on college applications!
The two get to smooching, but Phoebe’s nervous because she hears a few creaks and thinks someone’s watching them. Ty doesn’t care, but Phoebe insists she needs to get back to the squad, and Ty scampers back to the football field. Phoebe heads over to the track field, spotting fellow cheerleaders Joey Allen, Samantha Harper, and Caitlin Lemonda chatting with Griffin Smith, who works in the athletic department and is also a part-time custodian for the school. Jade Feldman and Dana Palmer are huddled together on the second row of the bleachers, whispering, and Phoebe suspects that maybe they were watching her and Ty. She won’t bother asking, though, since they’re always giving her a hard time. Jade’s the main problem, and ‘Dana usually went along with whatever Jade did. What a follower.’
Reaching the other girls on the track, Phoebe learns that Ms. Bell, their advisor, has told the girls that Samantha’s uniform will be ready for Saturday’s game. This is great news, because they need her for their halftime cheers! Samantha’s excited to be on the squad, but admit she feels weird being the replacement of Greta Bradley, who was killed in the last book. [According to book 5, though, Samantha was already a cheerleader? She was seen at Pete’s Pizza sitting with Phoebe and Dana] The cheerleaders are still grieving Greta’s death, as well as Danielle Cortez’s murder, and Caitlin, the shy girl on the squad, reckons Trisha Conrad’s vision about the senior class being doomed is true.
Jade and Dana make their way over and soon their first practice with Samantha begins, but not before Jade says it’s too bad Samantha can’t do a triple backflip. Jade’s the only one who can, and she loves to rub it in. Phoebe points out that everyone has their own specialty, and gets the girls hyped for the state competition in two weeks. Phoebe wants to work on the Victory cheer first, with Samantha doing the spread-eagle jump at the end; Phoebe will boost her, and Jade and Dana will catch her. [I bet they won’t!] Naturally, everything’s going smoothly until Samantha lands in Jade’s and Dana’s arms, and their grip comes loose. Jade falls back, and Samantha falls straight to the ground, landing in an awkward position on the ground. Phoebe thinks she’s dead, but the poor girl’s just winded. She glares at Dana and Jade and demands to know what the hell that was. Dana apologises, eyes wide with fear, but Jade just shrugs and says oops. [Pretty fucked up to deliberately try cause someone serious injury like that]
Samantha accuses Jade of doing it on purpose and lunges at her before Joey pulls her back. Jade, completely unfazed, claims she doesn’t know what went wrong — ‘”Must be that senior curse thing happening again. After all, it happened to Danielle and Greta.”‘ [OK, Jade can die] Phoebe points out that regardless of how it happened, the least Jade can do is apologise, which she finally does. Ms. Bell appears and asks what’s going on, and Jade quickly explains Samantha had an accident and fell on her butt before anyone else can answer. After Samantha confirms she’s alright, Ms. Bell tells the girls she’d rather cut out a stunt than take any chances. Phoebe insists they just need more practice, but Ms. Bell isn’t sold and wants them to focus on lifts this afternoon and see how they go.
Ms. Bell then turns her attention towards Jade, having learned from her chemistry teacher, Mr. Craig, that her grade is slipping. If she doesn’t pass the next test, she’ll be on academic probation and off the squad. Phoebe feels a little sorry for Jade and can totally relate since her parents have basically enforced the same rule. As the girls sit down to do some stretches, Phoebe quietly offers to tutor Jade in chemistry. Jade snaps that if she wants help, she’ll get it from Kenny, [Klein, who I’m glad cheated on her and kept it secret now that we know what a cow Jade is. I’m also glad Dana apparently never told her, so it’ll be twice the humiliation if Jade ever finds out!] and instead offers to tutor Phoebe in being a better cheerleading captain. [And what would you know about that, Jade? You’ve never had the honour!] Dana snickers from nearby and agrees with Jade, telling Phoebe she’s failing. [Fuck off, Dana] Phoebe, who was just trying to be a supportive teammate, rolls her eyes and continues to stretch, wondering why the two girls are always so nasty to her. The team has a long way to go if they’re gonna kill it at the state competition, and Phoebe’s determined to pull the squad together, even if it kills her. [It better not!]
Later, Phoebe’s about to enter the locker room when she’s intercepted by a petite, short-haired girl she’s never seen before. The girl asks if she’s Phoebe, cheerleading captain, and when Phoebe confirms her identity, the girl introduces herself as Gina Quinlan. She just transferred from Oswego High and she wants to be on the team. Phoebe breaks the news that tryouts were months ago and she’ll have to wait until next year, but Gina’s a senior! She’s been a cheerleader since freshman year and knows she can be an asset to the team, and performs a midair backflip on the spot. Phoebe’s impressed and takes her number, promising to discuss it with Ms. Bell, and Gina promises to check in with her again tomorrow before dashing off.
Stepping into the locker room, Phoebe overhears Jade bitching about her for bossing them around. Dana points out she’s the head cheerleader, and Jade simply replies ‘”Not if I can help it.”‘ [Lol, does Jade really think that bullying Phoebe out of the role will get either her or Dana the captain position? There’s no way Ms. Bell’s gonna reward them with that] Phoebe’s sick of their bullshit and makes herself known, but Jade doesn’t care that she heard what they said. Phoebe decides to ignore them and marches to her locker, but is horrified to find her cheerleading uniform hanging inside, torn to shreds, accompanied by a note — ‘GIVE ME AN H-E-L-P.’ Phoebe immediately accuses Jade and Dana, and while Dana claims to not know anything about it, Jade puts on an innocent act, claiming not to understand why Phoebe would even think she was responsible. She then accuses Phoebe of ruining the uniform herself to make people feel sorry for her — ‘”Is that the only way you can get friends?”‘ [This bitch can fuck right off. I want her dead NOW] Phoebe’s positive Jade is responsible but they both know she can’t prove it, so Phoebe takes solace in the fact that the bitch will probably fail her chemistry test and be kicked off the team anyway. Dana won’t be half as rude without Jade around! [If I was Phoebe I’d be going to Ms. Bell right away to get Jade kicked off the team, they already have a replacement with Gina]
Jade and Dana soon head off, and after changing out of her workout gear, Phoebe heads to Ms. Bell’s office to request a new uniform. For some reason she doesn’t want to be a snitch, so simply explains her uniform’s been damaged. She also tells her about Gina Quinlan, and since they need an alternate, Ms. Bell asks her to set up a tryout for Gina so they can see what she can do. Phoebe thanks her and heads off, smiling to herself because Jade’s sure to be gone soon.
The next morning, Phoebe’s checking over her answers for the chemistry test, confident she’s got a perfect score. Two seats ahead of her, Jade’s visibly struggling; [Good] the class is almost over and she’s still erasing and scribbling on her test! Mr. Craig declares that time’s up, and Phoebe hands her paper to Josh Maxwell in front of her, who passes the tests onto Jade to continue sending them down the row. Jade takes the tests but continues working on her own, prompting Mr. Craig to call her out. Phoebe still feels sorry for the girl, but only a little. [Don’t feel bad Phoebe, she’s awful]
Later that afternoon, Gina does amazing in her tryout and Ms. Bell agrees that she can be the alternate and equipment manager. Phoebe hesitantly explains Gina might need to step onto the squad, since she saw Jade struggling with the chemistry test. Ms. Bell, however, reveals she spoke to Mr. Craig earlier, and Jade passed with flying colours, leaving Phoebe super confused. [Did Jade swap their tests somehow?!]
The next morning, Mr. Craig hands back the tests and Phoebe’s shocked to learn Jade somehow got an A while she got a C-minus! Looking over the test Mr. Craig had given her, she notices a lot of smudges, as if the answers had been changed 4086068608 times. Not only that, but Phoebe’s name in the top right-hand corner isn’t her own handwriting! Phoebe confronts Jade in the hall as soon as class is over, and the mole admits to swapping the tests — ‘”You said you wanted to help me out. I believed you.”‘ [OK, my theory is that Jade is just a secondary antagonist and we’ll learn later that someone else is to blame for the ruined uniform and whatever else may happen. Jade will probably pull some more shit, but I don’t think it’ll be related to the actual bad guy. Maybe Gina’s the real big bad and is vying for the head cheerleader role!] Jade also reminds her that sacrificing for each other is what teamwork’s all about.
Phoebe refuses to allow it and vows to talk to Mr. Craig, but instead of doing it right now she goes to French class. [??????????????? GO NOW, YOU IDIOT!!! Goddamn it] She’s got a free period next, so as soon as the bell rings, she scurries to the chemistry lab. Unfortunately for her, Joey, Samantha and Dana are waiting for her by the door, and attempt to guilt trip her into taking one for the team by insisting they really need Jade and her triple backflip to have a chance at the state competition; ‘”You’ll do anything for the team, right?”‘ Phoebe can’t believe what she’s hearing, [And I can’t believe what I’m reading! You’ve got Gina now, fuck Jade] but ultimately she reluctantly agrees to let it go as long as Mr. Craig lets her retake the test. [I’m actually fuming on Phoebe’s behalf right now. I’d make Jade apologise and promise to stop being a cunt before I’d agree not to dob her in. The fact that she’s not even here herself, grovelling for forgiveness and begging Phoebe not to tell, and instead enlisted the rest of the squad to gang up on Phoebe, really pisses me off. They can all die now, this is so frustrating lol]
At lunch, Samantha tells Phoebe to stop stressing, since the whole situation worked out; Jade remains on the team, and Phoebe’s allowed to take a make-up test. For whatever reason, Phoebe doesn’t want to admit that she was hurt by the way the other girls supported Jade, especially Samantha, her friend. Across the lunch room, she spots Gina take a seat at Jade’s table, where she joins in the laughter and fun with her, Dana, and their respective boyfriends, Kenny Klein and Mickey Meyers, [Again spelled Myers here, just like in the yearbook, but conflicting with most of the other books. Stine can’t seem to make up his mind about the spelling!] and Phoebe worries that they’re recruiting her into their bitchy group. Samantha has to head off to pick up something from the language lab, and Phoebe rests her head on the table, feeling defeated by the whole day. And they still have practice later, where Jade is sure to gloat about her chemistry grade.
Phoebe suddenly feels like she’s being watched and lifts her head just as Dana drops into the seat next to her. Dana slips an arm around her shoulder and thanks her for helping Jade, insisting she did the right thing. Phoebe barely responds and moves away from her grasp, and Dana heads off with a big grin on her face. But there’s something clinging to Phoebe’s back; it’s slimy and cold and wiggling down her back beneath her sweater. Phoebe jumps up in horror and frantically pulls at her sweater until a spider falls to the ground. She’s terrified of bugs, but at least it’s just a rubber one. Jade and Dana are standing behind her, laughing, along with other kids in the lunchroom. [I fucking hate these bitches. Dana wasn’t that bad in The Thirst and she was even hanging out at Pete’s Pizza with Phoebe and Samantha in Last Chance, so she’s definitely following Jade’s lead. I hope they both die though] Then Jade has the audacity to threaten Phoebe not to tell anyone about the chemistry test, reminding her ‘”I know exactly how to get you.”‘ [Gonna find some more bugs to taunt her with? Phoebe, PLEASE go report her or something, you’re being a fkn idiot]
Later, at practice, Phoebe introduces Gina to the squad as their alternate, but notices Gina doesn’t seem to want to be here. Phoebe then wants the group to decide what cheers will work best for them at the state competition, and it’s agreed that Jade’s triple backflip in the Spirit cheer is always a crowd-pleaser. Ms. Bell suggests they try it out now and sets up some music and a video camera, so the girls can see how they’ll look from the stands. The routine and Jade’s triple backflip are impressive when they watch it back, but Phoebe doesn’t want them to lose focus and reminds them to stay tight — ‘”Let’s not get swelled heads just because we mastered a few cheers.”‘ It’s a clear dig at Jade, [Which I love] who just glares at our heroine, but that’s nothing new because she never looks at Phoebe any other way. Still, it sends a chill up Phoebe’s spine, and by the end of practice she can’t wait to get into the shower; the whole Jade situation is stressing her out, and her indecisiveness around what to do about her is summed up in two sentences:
Jade had an edge that kind of scared Phoebe.
But Jade also had a triple backflip that everyone loved.
[When you put it like that, it’s a real Sophie’s choice whether or not to do something about Jade!] Phoebe decides the best thing to do at this point is to keep it cool and keep the squad together by not upsetting anyone, which is the exact opposite of what I would do because I’m not a pushover. [And I love confrontation 😇 ] In the locker room, Phoebe’s confronted by Gina, who wants to know how long she’s expected to put up with being an alternate/in charge of equipment when Phoebe had said she could be on the squad. Phoebe points that out that she’d never said that, but Gina declares that they both know she’s better than most of the squad, including Phoebe herself, then stomps to her locker when Phoebe has no reply. Phoebe moves to her own locker, which is too close to Gina’s for comfort, and wonders if Jade and Dana had said something to her. As Gina whips her locker open, her cell phone and a necklace falls out. Phoebe picks up the heart-shaped locket, which has fallen open, and compliments the picture of Gina inside. Gina reveals it’s actually her dead twin sister, and Phoebe awkwardly apologises as she opens her own locker, only to be confronted with a sour odour and the grisly sight of a doll dangling from a hook, dressed as a cheerleader and soaked with some kind of blood. Dana and Jade arrive on the scene, wrapped in towels and still wet from the showers, and Jade comments that the doll is kind of cute. Phoebe then finds a note by the doll’s foot; ‘Score: Me 2. You 0.’ Ms. Bell appears and gasps at the sight, then tells everyone to get dressed because she wants the vice principal, Mrs. Leonard, to see this.
While Ms. Bell and Mrs. Leonard check out her locker, Phoebe’s in Ms. Bell’s office deciding that Jade’s definitely the culprit since she didn’t even pretend to be frightened by the doll. Griffin Smith, the part-time custodian who also works in the athletic department, appears with a bucket of sudsy water and comments that that was a sick joke. He tells Phoebe that Mrs. Leonard wants to see the note again and asked him to get it from her, and Phoebe hands it over, asking if he has any idea what the note could mean. [Really? You’re not sure?] Griffin’s not sure, but reckons whoever did it really wants to scare her, and then he heads off. [Griffin is very suss to me. Why didn’t Mrs. Leonard come get the note herself? Maybe he’s obsessed with Phoebe for some reason and is taunting her? And now wants the note because it’s evidence?] A lightbulb turns on in Phoebe’s head as the note suddenly makes sense to her; the shredded uniform was one point, and the doll another. [Duh] Jade and Dana are trying to scare her off the team, and it’s almost working! But if Phoebe makes a big deal over this, her parents will get involved and might make her quit the squad, and Phoebe’s not going to give those bitches the satisfaction. [Good! Although I don’t think the locker stuff is their doing]
We then jump forward to a football game, and the Shadyside Tigers aren’t doing too good. As the cheerleaders lead the crowd in a cheer, Phoebe finds herself on constant alert, watching Jade closely to anticipate her next prank. At halftime, there’s no sign of Gina, who should have handed out their pom-poms for the halftime show, so the girls quickly fetch them from the box themselves, with Phoebe’s captain pom-poms being kept in a smaller box. Returning to her position, she feels sharp stings all over her hands and quickly makes a scene. Shouting in pain, she flings the pom-poms away to discover hundreds of shiny red ants swarming over her hands and up her arms. [Hundreds? That seems like a lot for such a short amount of time] Thank god for Joey and Samantha, who empty the football team’s water cooler over Phoebe’s arms, washing the biting ants away.
Soon, Phoebe’s sitting on the bench as the football team’s doctor applies a cream over the welts on her swollen hands, confirming she’ll be fine in a day or two. Joey reveals Ms. Bell checked out Phoebe’s pom-poms and discovered that somehow a bunch of red ants got into the box, so Griffin has been instructed to spray the storage room. Samantha pats Phoebe’s shoulder, commenting how awful it was to have happened to Phoebe, given her fear of bugs. Phoebe suggests it was done on purpose, and when Gina appears, claiming to have been inside warming up, Joey and Samantha quickly blame her since she’s in charge of the equipment. Gina denies being responsible, which Phoebe agrees with, but she does remind her that the equipment is her responsibility to take care of. Gina gets angry and storms off to find Ms. Bell, and Samantha decides to walk Phoebe back to the locker room. On the way, Phoebe spots Jade and Dana with Mickey, Kenny, Josh Maxwell and Marla Newman by the snack shack, talking and laughing. Phoebe tells Samantha that Jade and Dana are responsible for the ants, and Samantha agrees that they’re ruthless. Locking eyes with a smugly grinning Jade, [It baffles me that Jade’s still so rude when Phoebe can easily get her kicked off the team] Phoebe wonders how far she and Dana will go to get their way.
After the game, Ty takes Phoebe to Pete’s Pizza which is buzzing with kids, as usual. They grab a booth and since the waitress is busy, Ty heads over to the counter to order. Samantha appears and tells Phoebe she’s been thinking about the Jade and Dana stuff and has decided they need to do something. Maybe the girls will agree to a truce; Phoebe just needs to get them to chill out somehow. Jade and Dana are over by the jukebox, and Samantha suggests they go confront them now. But then Samantha bails and flees the store because her old boyfriend just walked in and she doesn’t want to talk to him. Phoebe heads over to the jukebox alone and asks for a truce, reasoning that they’ll never make it to the state competition if someone gets hurt. Jade decides to be honest with Phoebe and denies having anything to do with the ants, and while I believe her, Phoebe doesn’t. [Which is totally understandable] Jade declares that she wants Phoebe’s captain role ‘”And I never give up until I get exactly what I want.”‘ [She genuinely thinks bullying someone off the squad will get her the captain role lol] She advises that if Phoebe steps off the squad, everything will be fine, and Phoebe tells her that won’t be happening.
Phoebe heads back to Ty and makes him take her home. As usual, he drops her off a few blocks away from her home on Fear Street since she doesn’t want to risk her parents seeing her with a boy. As she heads down Fear Street in the darkness, she’s grabbed from behind, a hand covering her mouth. It’s just Gina, [Why do Shadyside teens always do this instead of calling out] who explains she lives on the next block and was arriving home when she saw Phoebe get out of Ty’s car. She wants to make sure that Phoebe understand that she wasn’t responsible for the ants, and when Phoebe confirms she doesn’t think that, a relieved Gina also apologises for yelling at her in the locker room the other day. She’d just been disappointed with only getting alternate, but promises she’s fine with it now. Phoebe accepts this and hurries off so she doesn’t miss her curfew, but can’t help but feel like she’s being watched once again. She assumes it’s Gina, but Gina’s not there when she glances back. Phoebe hurries home where her parents, having heard about what happened with the ants from the team doctor, suggests she quit the cheerleading team and spend her time doing something worthwhile. Phoebe gets upset and insist they can’t make her quit before fleeing to her room, even more determined not to give up her spot no matter how scared she is.
Phoebe wakes up to a phone call around 1am that night and hears a tape of one of the squads cheers playing on the other end. The line goes dead, but she still hears the terrifying cheer, and she realises it’s coming from a car stereo outside. Tyres squeal as she rushes to the window, but all she can see is the taillights fading as the vehicle roars away. Realising Jade and Dana are stalking her now, she wonders what they’ll do next.
It’s the Monday before the state competition now and at cheerleading practice, Phoebe’s exhausted, having barely been able to sleep or eat due to the Jade situation. While practicing the pyramid, where Dana’s on top supported by Phoebe and Caitlin, Phoebe’s too lost in her own world and doesn’t release Dana’s ankles in time for her dismount, causing Dana to sprawl awkwardly to the ground. Dana is uninjured but understandably pissed and yells at Phoebe, who has a violent hallucination of ripping the blonde ponytail right out of her scalp. Dana decides that practice is over and storms off, followed by a smiling Jade. Joey and Caitlin also head off, and while Samantha is fully empathetic to Phoebe’s plight, she points out that her stress is starting to show in their routines and suggests it might be a good idea to step down temporarily. [No, it’s a good idea to fuck Jade off the team and let Gina take her place]
Upset and betrayed, Phoebe flees to the locker room for a cry before meeting Ty by his car when his practice finishes. She tells him she wants to talk, which he interprets as “Let’s get frisky”, and he drives her to his usual make-out spot, the Fear Street Cemetery. Unlike in The Gift, however, they leave the car behind to walk down the path amongst the tombstones. Phoebe hears a rustling sound and once again has the feeling she’s being watched, but when she tries to communicate this, Ty shuts her up with a kiss. She insists she wants to talk but before she can open up about her troubles, which he clearly doesn’t care about, there’s more rustling nearby. Phoebe turns toward the direction of the noise just as a tall figure appears from behind a nearby tombstone and lunges at the pair, knocking Ty to the ground and pummelling his chest.
Phoebe pounces on the attacker’s back, trying to get him off Ty, and it turns out to be Kenny Klein, just playing a little trick. He’s here with Jade, who pops her head up from behind the same tombstone and demands to know why Phoebe’s here. ‘”Same thing we are. Right, Phoebe?”‘ says Kenny, and Ty tells them to leave Phoebe alone because she’s been through enough lately. Kenny’s heard about the pranks and wonders what’s next, throwing a few ideas out there, making Jade giggle. Ty protests, but there’s a grin in his eyes and he even lets out a chuckle, pissing Phoebe off. She pushes past everyone and collects her bag from the car before walking home, where Ty meets her at the porch to apologise. Mrs. Yamura appears, wondering what’s going on, and Phoebe introduces Ty as her friend. Mum looks suspicious and tells him Phoebe has to go now, pretty much slamming the door in his face. Up in her bedroom, Phoebe notices tracks of dirt leading from her bedroom window and realises the framed photo of the cheerleading squad she had on her wall is missing. She decides Jade and Dana are responsible, and realises with a chill she’s not safe anywhere anymore.
We then jump forward to a night game as Shadyside versus Waynesbridge on the football field. For the halftime show, Phoebe and the girls have a routine involving fire batons, and the squad lines up as Gina lights the batons and hands them out. Phoebe’s last in line, and as she carries her baton back to her position, she notices it feels hot when the baton shouldn’t feel warm at all. The heat only increases until Phoebe’s forced to drop the baton, but now the sleeve of her sweater’s on fire and she quickly blacks out from the scorching pain. [I’m having a sense of deja vu here, have we seen something go wrong in a fire baton routine before? Note from future: Yes! Pretty much this exact thing happened in the fourth book in the Cheerleader series, including a possibly-the-bad-guy, possibly-a-red-herring cheerleader handing out the equipment!]
Later, Phoebe wakes up in the hospital with Samantha by her bed. Her right hand is bandaged up to the wrist, but Samantha assures her it’s just a mild burn and the doctor said it’ll be off before Saturday, the day of the state competition, unless there’s complications. Phoebe can go home when her parents arrive; they weren’t home, so Ms. Bell left a message on the machine. Nobody knows how it happened, but the rumour is that somebody rigged the baton to burn. Naturally, Phoebe accuses Jade and Dana, and when Samantha reveals they’re right outside, she makes her go get them for a confrontation. Phoebe and Dana seem genuinely disturbed by the incident, at least a little bit, and Jade swears she’d never hurt someone else on the squad to score the captain role. [No, you’d just bully them] Instead, she and Dana blame Gina, reminding Phoebe of the ants and the fact that Gina is desperate to be on the team. Phoebe has to admit they’ve got a point, but could she really have been wrong about the culprit this whole time?
The next morning, as Phoebe arrives at school with Samantha, she’s swarmed by students who clap and cheer for her, including Josh Maxwell and Will Reynolds. [Why are they treating her like a celebrity hahahaha] Marla Newman even tells her she’s their big story for the next edition of the school paper! As the bell rings, Gina scampers up to Phoebe and Samantha and explains she wasn’t able to come visit in the hospital last night because she had to stay at the field, where everyone asked her about the fire batons, like she screwed up on purpose. Once again, she’s seeking reassurance that Phoebe doesn’t blame her, but Phoebe isn’t sure what to think given everything that’s happened lately. Gina tearfully insists she’s not responsible for anything that’s happened and confesses the reason she hasn’t been a good sport about being the alternate is because of her sister; her twin had been a great cheerleader and was even a county finalist back in Oswego, and Gina wanted to get on the squad for her; ‘”That’s what she would want. But I’d never hurt someone. That’s sick!”‘ To make her leave, Samantha assures Gina that Phoebe trusts her, but admits to Phoebe she doesn’t trust her at all as soon as she’s gone.
Later, right before practice, Samantha and Phoebe phone Oswego High School in New York and discover there’s no record of Gina Quinlan or her sister [Who’s name we still don’t know] being on the cheerleading squad. They take this information to Ms. Bell, who shows them Gina’s transcript which reveals she went to Lake Oswego High School in Oregon; Tweedle Dumb and Dweedle Dumber called the wrong school! Ms. Bell leads the pair to the field where the other girls are waiting, and expresses doubts that the squad should go to the state competition. She’s had enough of all the sniping and backstabbing, and why should they waste their time when there’s zero unity on the team? There’s been too many mishaps, and Ms. Bell is considering dissolving the squad altogether before someone else gets hurt. Dana points out that the team’s problems began when Gina became alternate and suggests that Gina messed with the pom-poms and batons. As usual, Gina denies everything, and Ms. Bell scolds the girls for their lack of trust in each other, even calling out Samantha and Phoebe for stooping so low as to snoop where they don’t belong. The girls are due to leave for the state competition tomorrow, but Ms. Bell warns that she’ll pull the plug if there’s one more incident.
It’s Friday afternoon now, and the squad and Ms. Bell head off in the school van, being driven by Griffin, to the motel where they’ll be staying for the state competition. [I’m still suss about Griffin. He’s barely been in the book, but appears just often enough to make me think he’s behind everything] Unfortunately Samantha’s suddenly come down with he flu and won’t be joining them, which means Gina gets to perform, much to her excitement. Unfortunately for Phoebe, it means she and Gina will be sharing a room at the motel. [Who was Gina gonna share with originally?] In their room, Gina once again insists she isn’t behind any of the incidents, and since she does seem really genuine, Phoebe agrees to a truce, although she still doesn’t trust her. Then Jade frantically knocks on the door asking for help, because Dana’s been hurt really bad! [Good]
Phoebe wonders if this is just another prank, but it’s clear that Jade’s been crying, so Phoebe and Gina follow her. Jade claims she went to Ms. Bell’s room but she wasn’t there, and explains that she and Dana had been fooling around when Dana tripped and fell into the empty pool. Dana’s not in the empty pool anymore though, and Phoebe questions the validity of Jade’s story, but Jade insists Dana fell and she’s not sure where Dana is now. Jade and Gina head off, but as Phoebe follows them, she’s grabbed from behind, a cloth clamped over her mouth to muffle her cries. She’s dragged through the darkness and tries to call out to Griffin, who’s locking up the school van across the parking lot, but of course he doesn’t hear her. She’s forced into a van, where Dana’s unconscious body is crumpled on the floor. Soon, Gina and Jade are shoved into the van by two big, broad-shouldered men, but it’s too dark for Phoebe to see their faces. Dana wakes up as the van starts moving the terrified girls away from the motel until it eventually comes to a stop on a rough surface. The doors fly open and a thin, rubbery faced bald man appears in the doorway, welcoming the girls to Camp Kidnap. [Hahahaha lame]
Phoebe’s never seen the man before in her life and forces herself to memorise his appearance as he orders the girls out of the van. They’ve been taken to a small log cabin at the end of a gravel road, the only building in sight. In the opposite direction, the road leads into shadowy woods. Baldy yells at two men near the cabin to hurry up, and one of them tells him to hold on, revealing Baldy’s name as Mitch. Mitch handcuffs Phoebe to Dana and Gina to Jade and, pulling out a switchblade, he threatens that each time they misbehave, someone will pay — ‘”You’re the ringleader, Phoebe. Since you call the shots, you take the first hit.”‘ [It’s kinda suss he knows her name. Either he’s been stalking Phoebe and is behind everything that’s happened, or this is just some weird elaborate prank from Jade and Dana] Assuming the kidnappers want money, Phoebe tells Mitch her parents will pay a ransom, but Mitch points out that there’s three other ransom packages here, so he’s got no issue letting Phoebe die to let everyone know they’re serious.
Mitch then calls to one of the other men, Jenner, to see if he’s opened the cabin yet, but Jenner points out that Mitch has the keys. Mitch heads off towards the cabin, and Phoebe realises this is their only chance of escape, instructing the girls to run like crazy down the road. [Seems like a silly plan since the men have weapons and a van, and the girls are handicapped by being cuffed together. I guess the van can’t follow them into the woods, though] The girls set off, but the kidnappers quickly give chase in the van, forcing the girls to dash into the woods. The van continues on down the road as the girls continue through the trees, eventually finding that the woods slope downhill to a clearing where the main road is. They hear an engine in the distance and Dana thinks they’re saved, but Phoebe thinks it could be the kidnappers, so the girls hide behind a cluster of boulders at the top of the hill. The vehicle stops briefly before continuing on, and Phoebe sees that it was the kidnappers’ van.
Dana then somehow loses her footing and goes tumbling down the hill, pulling Phoebe down with her, and they finally come to a stop at the bottom. Phoebe ignores the pain in her side and immediately jumps up, urging Dana to get up before the kidnappers come back and see them, but it’s too late; the van is returning, and the beam of it’s headlights soon wash over the girls. Phoebe tries to pull Dana up, but the dingbat’s foot is stuck in the mud, and soon someone’s getting out of the driver’s seat of the van. It’s Griffin, and the van is actually the school van! [So it wasn’t the kidnapper’s van she saw driving away?] Phoebe realises he must have seen her in the parking lot after all! Hurray! He quickly helps the girls out of the mud and then goes up the hill to collect Jade and Gina. He tells the girls they’ll deal with the cuffs later, but first they need to get out of here before those guys come back.
Safe and sound in the van, Phoebe quickly realises they don’t seem to be driving towards the motel. Griffin assures her he knows where he’s going, [Is he part of the kidnapping plot? Or has he got something separate going on?] but Phoebe still has a weird feeling and questions the route. Griffin suggests a cheer to pass the time, and reveals his favourite one; ‘”Oh, I’m gonna get you. Oh, yeah, I’m gonna catch you!”‘ The gleam in his eyes makes Phoebe shiver, and she has a realisation:
The cheer …
The cheer that he had played on the cell phone that night. The cheer that had blasted from the car …
The notes and the shredded uniform and the bloody doll in her locker … everything.
Griffin was the one.
[I still hate Jade and Dana xx] Phoebe’s terrified now, and Dana turns to Jade and demands to know if this was part of the plan, and she’d just forgotten to let Dana know. Jade retorts that of course it’s not part of the plan, and they reveal to a confused Phoebe that they hired Mitch to scare Phoebe into quitting the team. They insist it’s not about Phoebe; it’s the last chance Jade has to be squad captain, and Phoebe’s the only thing in her way. [I really just don’t get how they could have possibly believed bullying someone would get Jade the captaincy] Gina’s mad that she’s been dragged into this, and Phoebe’s confused because now it seems like Jade and Dana were behind everything. The troublesome twosome deny it, but admit all that stuff gave them the idea for the kidnapping.
Dana and Jade look so scared and vulnerable that Phoebe decides they must be telling the truth, and soon they’re all begging Griffin to take them back to the motel, pointing out they’ve never done anything to him. Griffin tells them to consider it payback ‘”for every backstabbing cheerleader who’s ever been on the Shadyside squad.”‘ The girls want to know what he’s got against cheerleaders, and he tells them his sister, Laura, was a Shadyside cheerleader, but she never finished her senior year because she died. [I’ve done a search of her name on the blog and she hasn’t been mentioned before, as far as what I’ve recapped] Phoebe keeps him talking, hoping he’ll stop wanting to hurt them if he’s too busy yapping away, so she asks if Laura liked being a cheerleader. We learn that Laura wasn’t a very good cheerleader despite all her practicing and she was let on the squad as a little joke by the other cheerleaders. [Didn’t they have a teacher advising, like Ms Bell? Surely an adult wouldn’t have let Laura join if she was so terrible] The cheerleaders thought it was hilarious when Laura would miss a step and clap out of time at the games, and everybody knew she was a joke except her. Then, they made her climb to the top of a mount and jump off. They were supposed to catch her, but instead they let her fall, and the poor girl broke her neck. They all claimed it was an accident, but Griffin knows better, and now someone has to pay! Griffin’s been planning revenge for so long, working out all the details. At first he was just going to punish Phoebe because she’s the captain and ‘”You set the whole thing up”‘, [So he thinks the current squad is to blame for his sister’s death, somehow? Why not go after the squad that killed her? That’d be a fun book to read] but now that he’s got the rest of them too, they can all be punished! [At least Caitlin, Joey and Samantha are safe, I guess. I bet Gina’s regretting joining the team now]
Griffin takes them through a small town to a deserted area and parks the van inside a huge warehouse, having opened the garage door with a remote control he’s got. After closing the garage door, he orders the girls out of the van and gives them a grand tour of the rat-infested building. Waving a flashlight around, he explains that the warehouse used to be a meatpacking plant, and there’s all sorts of fun toys to play with, like giant hooks, meat grinders, electric saws, and more! He directs the girls to a group of metal chairs and ties them up using elastic cord with hooks on the end. [Why didn’t they try to overpower him or something?] Then he ducks into the shadows and returns with an electric saw with a huge blade. The blade whirs to life as Griffin moves towards Phoebe and Dana, and all they can do is scream as he aims the saw at Phoebe’s wrist.
Luckily for the girls, he’s just cutting through the handcuffs… for now. He pulls up a chair directly in front of Phoebe and looks her right in the eyes as he boasts about being in her room and her locker, watching her make out with Ty in the cemetery and under the bleachers, etc. He’s so focused on her because she reminds him of Laura, of what Laura should have been; smart, pretty, popular, cheerleading captain. He once tried to talk to Phoebe back in September, thinking she’d be nice like Laura, but she wasn’t. Phoebe thinks back to September and vaguely recalls Griffin asking her where to store the megaphones they were using for their cheer routine. Practice had just finished, and this was the first time Ty had talked to her; she remembers being annoyed when Griffin had cut into their conversation. She apologises now, but Griffin tells her it’s too late, unlatching a giant meat hook from an overhead belt and shoving it under her chin.
He laughs at Phoebe’s fear and then surprisingly unties them all. He then pulls a travel alarm clock from his pocket and sets the timer, explaining that the girls have five minutes to decide on four cheers to perform for him; they need to be perfect, and if anyone messes up even the slightest bit, someone will die. He warns that even if they can’t see him, he’ll be watching them, and if anyone tries to escape, they’ll all die. He then walks off, and Jade basically becomes hysterical, which I’m sure is a humbling experience for her. Phoebe assures the squad they’ll get through it if they work together, and maybe he won’t hurt them; they just need to focus and pretend they’re at the competition. They can hear Griffin banging something metallic in the distance, which does not help their nerves, and almost immediately the timer goes off and Griffin returns.
Dana protests that that wasn’t five minutes, but Griffin sneers that time flies when you’re having fun. Jade’s sobbing hard by now, and although Phoebe wants to do the same, she knows she has to stay calm. She’s the leader, after all. [See, Jade? You’re not cut out to be captain] Gina suddenly pipes up, admitting that when Griffin was talking about Laura, it reminded her of her twin, Angie, who was a cheerleader as well. Angie died last year, [But how did she die, Gina?!] and she was a really good person; nice to people and friends with everyone. She asks if Laura was like that too, and Griffin confirms she was. Gina says that although she didn’t know Laura, she’d bet Laura would laugh if she was here, sure Griffin was just playing a joke. She’d let them all go, and they’d all laugh about it later, including Griffin. Her words seem to affect Griffin, and Gina offers to show him a picture of Angie. She holds the chain away from her neck, and Griffin gently touches it before ripping it off her neck. He saw right through Gina’s plan and asserts that they’ll be sticking to his plan. And now it’s show time!
The girls successfully make their way through three cheers and save Griffin’s favourite, We’re Gonna Get You, for last. Then, towards the end, Phoebe notices Jade step out with her left foot instead of her right. Phoebe glances at Griffin to see if he’s noticed, and sure enough his eyes are on Jade, his mouth curling upwards. Then he gives Phoebe an amused, knowing look. Phoebe knows exactly what she needs to do, and at the end of the cheer, she cartwheels forward, landing right beside Griffin, and swipes the flashlight from his lap before bashing him in the head with it. She yells at the other girls to run, and they scatter into the darkness. Phoebe makes a mad dash too, but ends up tripping and dropping the flashlight. She hurries toward a glowing red EXIT sign and pushes through the door, finding herself in what seems to be a break room filled with vending machines, tables and chairs. There’s another glowing EXIT sign, so she hurries to that door, but it’s locked.
She hears Griffin calling to her from a distance, followed by footsteps and then a high-pitched gasp from a female. Phoebe cracks open the door she’d come through and spots Griffin standing a few feet away, holding onto Gina’s ankle, trying to drag her down from a motionless conveyor belt overhead. Gina kicks him away and he disappears into the shadows, but then Phoebe hears a buzz as the conveyor belt begins to move beneath Gina. It begins carrying her toward a meat grinder, and Griffin tells her to enjoy the ride before he disappears again. Phoebe scampers out of the break room and whispers at Gina to jump down, but her foot is stuck! Phoebe jumps up and manages to wrench Gina’s foot out of her shoe, which is stuck in a groove, and both girls jump to the ground, listening to the machine whine as it slices up the sneaker. Over Gina’s shoulder, Phoebe spots Jade dart into a corner, giving herself away with her whimpers. Griffin steps into the moonlight as he turns on the power saw he’s carrying, closing in on Jade and insisting he won’t hurt her. Phoebe loses sight of them in the darkness, but the saw whirs again followed by Jade’s terrified scream… And then there’s silence. [I kind of feel bad for Jade because she’s so scared but also she’s been an absolute cunt this whole book so I hope she’s dead. Especially since this is book seven and there’s still way too many seniors alive]
Unsure if Jade’s dead or alive, Phoebe and Gina decide to search for Dana and a way out. The garage doors are electronic and can’t be opened without the remotes or a code, [Wait, it just occurred to me, the building has electricity, so why hasn’t Griffin turned the lights on this whole time??? It’d make finding the girls easier? Or are the lights not connected to the same circuit as the machinery or something?] and the only open window they find has a drop to the pavement outside that’s too far. [Just break another window? Sure, it’ll alert Griffin to where you are, but you’ll be free and can run for help] They eventually find a door that leads to a hallway that has three other doors. One leads to a staircase going up, the second is a supply closet, and the third leads to a narrow alley and freedom! The girls quickly start running, vowing to come back with the police to save the others, [It’ll probably be too late by then. For Jade, it hopefully already is] At the end of the alley, they spot Dana sitting atop a brick wall, her legs dangling casually as if she’s just hanging out. The girls are happy to see her, but this turns out to be a trap as Griffin pops out from behind the wall, having forced Dana to sit there. Griffin ushers the girls back into the warehouse, and Gina demands to know where Jade is as he ties them up again. He waves off the question and says he let her go. Hope glimmers in Dana’s eyes, and Griffin reminds them all how Jade messed up that cheer:
Phoebe closed her eyes and sank against her chair. She thought about Griffin’s earlier words.
If anyone messes up—even the slightest bit—somebody dies.
She remembered the earsplitting whine of the saw … and Jade’s screams.
And the chilling silence that followed.
She was positive that Griffin didn’t let Jade go.
We then jump forward to Griffin waking the girls up, although Phoebe notes they couldn’t really get any sleep. He wants them to cheer again, and Gina complains that they’re exhausted because it’s the middle of the night. Phoebe reminds Griffin that the deal was four cheers, which they’ve already done, but he points out that the last one wasn’t perfect, so they still owe him a fourth perfect cheer. Otherwise, he’ll just kill them. The girls do one last cheer, but a one-shoed Gina ends up tripping on a loose tile, injuring her ankle. Griffin pretends to be disappointed, since they were doing so well, and Phoebe seizes the chance to run away. She sprints back to the door leading to the alley, but now it’s locked, so she’s forced to head up the staircase inside the other door.
The upper floor is a maze of locked doors, short corridors, catwalks and pulleys that loom over the warehouse below. Phoebe tries each heavy steel door until she finds one that opens and feels her way along the wall of the cool, musty room. She passes a vent blowing cool air and realises the electricity must be on [What, Griffin turning on the meat grinder earlier didn’t give that away??] and starts feeling around for a light switch. She realises she’s inside a meat locker when a giant hook bumps into her back. From below, she can hear Griffin laughing as Dana and Gina continue to cheer, and although Phoebe regrets leaving them, she’s determined to escape and get help.
Phoebe banged into something solid, sending it swinging back and forth. She reached up, her fingers gliding over something cool and smooth.
What was it?
At last, she found a switch on the wall. She flicked it on.
And gasped.
The dim light cast shadows over Jade’s stony face. Hanging from a meat hook, her body swung like a pendulum.
Very cold.
Very dead.
[Woo! I haven’t been this grateful for a death since Debra Lake!] Phoebe flees the meat locker and hears Griffin’s voice down below, still taunting Gina and Dana. She decides to go to the break room so she can take a peek at what’s going on. In the break room, she overhears Griffin insist the girls both lacked spirit in their latest cheer, probably because their captain is missing; they can blame Phoebe for what’s about to happen to them! Gazing around the break room, Phoebe notices a smoke detector above the cigarette machine. She quickly finds a book of matches and stands on the machine, holding some lit matches up to the detector, but there’s no sign that the alarm’s been triggered. Discouraged, Phoebe realises it probably doesn’t even work, but is hopeful the building just has a silent alarm. [Are silent smoke alarms a thing? Pretty stupid, considering it’s supposed to alert people in the building that there’s a fire]
A muffled cry brings Phoebe’s attention back to Griffin and the girls, so she creeps back to the warehouse floor to see what’s going on. Gina’s on the floor rubbing her sprained ankle while poor Dana’s tied to a table, squirming and wailing as Griffin approaches her with a freshly sharpened knife. Phoebe steps out of the shadows and calls his name, and Griffin’s excited to see her again. Phoebe keeps him distracted long enough for Gina to creep up behind him and jump on his back, knocking the knife from his hands. As Gina claws at his face, Phoebe quickly unties Dana before Griffin manages to hurl Gina off his back. She hits the concrete and doesn’t move, blood trickling down her head, but luckily she’s still alive.
Soon Griffin’s got the knife in his hand once again, but before he can do anything, a thunderous crash explodes from the loading dock as the garage door is ripped off its hinges, revealing a fire truck on the other side. Firefighters quickly run into the warehouse and take in the whole scene, and Griffin is frozen in bewilderment. Relieved to be saved, Phoebe collapses to the floor and sobs. She’s comforted by Dana, who assures her that everything’s OK now, but Phoebe knows that life at Shadyside High will never be OK. [Life in Shadyside will never be OK]
It’s time for an epilogue now, and a few weeks later we find Phoebe heading towards the locker room after a little kiss from Ty. We learn she finally worked up the courage to talk to her parents about letting her date, and to her surprise they actually listened to her. They had to meet Ty formally before letting her go out with him and had given her so many rules to follow, but at least she no longer has to sneak around. Dana greets her happily in the locker room and continues practicing their new cheer with Sam as Phoebe gets changed. The trio then heads out to the track, where Caitlin and Joey are waiting to start practice. Dana stops suddenly, a tear sliding down her face as she stares at the practice area, and Phoebe knows she’s remembering Jade. Jade was never nice to Phoebe, but she didn’t deserve to die, [Ummmm, she most certainly did! If she wasn’t such an asshole she wouldn’t have been in the position to get herself killed] and Phoebe assures Dana ‘”We can get through this.”‘ [I still don’t like Dana and I hope if one of the twins dies, it’s her and not Deirdre]
Joining the others, Phoebe announces that they’ve got a lot of work to do to polish their new cheer before tonight’s game. Joey points out that it won’t be easy with only five cheerleaders, but Phoebe reminds her they’ll have a sixth member soon. Grinning, she turns to the bleachers and shouts at Gina to hurry up and get better, and Gina calls back that she’s working on it, rubbing her bandaged ankle. She’s got a scar on her forehead from being thrown to the ground, but she’s been assured by doctors that it will fade in time. For now, though, it’s a chilling reminder of the terror the girls faced together and survived. Turning back to the squad, Phoebe orders them into their positions, and the book ends with their new cheer, which is all about teamwork:
“We can’t be beat
Won’t meet defeat
‘Cause when it’s time
to face the heat …
We know just what’s the thing to do …
Teamwork! Teamwork!
Gets us through!”
[In case you missed it, the moral of this story is teamwork!]
Final thoughts
This was another good read, although how Phoebe was dealing with Jade and Dana was really frustrating so I’m taking off points for that. I’m glad Phoebe was able to come out on top in the end, which proves she’s the right choice to be captain of the squad. I hope we see more of her in the next books, but I really don’t want her to die.
I enjoyed the Griffin kidnapping plot, and the meatpacking plant was an interesting, unsettling location that added to the terror. I wish Griffin had appeared a bit more throughout the book to make the big reveal a bit more shocking and feel more satisfying, especially since Stine was really making it seem like Jade was responsible for everything. Griffin was barely a character until he fake rescued the girls, so when he’s revealed to be the bad guy you’re kind of like “Who????”
I love that Jade’s own selfishness and entitlement was eventually what got her killed. If she wasn’t such an asshole to Phoebe and didn’t plan a fake kidnapping, she, Dana, and Gina wouldn’t have gotten taken by Griffin and he wouldn’t have had the chance to murder her. Phoebe was his priority, and he had no choice but to take the rest of them given the circumstances. I wish Dana had have gotten the chop as well, but hopefully that comes later. She may have redeemed herself in Phoebe’s eyes, but I won’t forgive her so easily. Maybe she’ll die in the next one!
188 triple backflips that everyone loves out of 250!
