The Second Evil by R.L. Stine

break!” Kimmy cried, laughing. She whispered to Corky, “Hey, it’s like you’re a superstar or something.”
    â€œWith Corky back, we can do the diamond-head pyramid,” Megan said excitedly. “You know, the wayyou and Bobbi showed us.” She blushed, instantly regretting mentioning Bobbi’s name.
    â€œWe can try,” Corky said quickly, seeing how uncomfortable Megan was. She smiled at her. “But it’s going to take me a while to get in shape.” She patted her stomach. “Pure flab. I feel as heavy as a bag of potatoes.”
    â€œYou look
great!”
Kimmy gushed. The others quickly agreed.
    Did Miss Green coach them to encourage me? Corky suddenly wondered. Or are they really happy to have me back?
    Only Debra seemed unenthusiastic. As Corky went over to the wall to toss down her backpack, she saw that Debra was following her.
    â€œI can feel it,” Debra said quietly.
    â€œHuh?” Corky propped the backpack against the wall near the other ones lined up there and turned to face Debra.
    â€œI can feel it right now,” Debra whispered, her intense blue eyes staring into Corky’s. She nervously fingered the crystal she wore around her neck.
    â€œFeel what?” Corky asked edgily. She felt nervous enough coming back to the squad. She didn’t really need Debra acting so mysterious, did she?
    â€œThe evil spirit,” Debra whispered, glancing at the other cheerleaders, who had begun practicing round-offs.
    â€œDebra—” Corky started.
    â€œI’m not trying to scare you,” she said sharply. “But I’m into these things, Corky. I know the evil is here. In this gym. I can feel it.” She clasped the crystal so tightly, her hand turned white.
    Corky turned her eyes to the other girls. “Let’sdiscuss this later,” she said. “I really need to talk to you about it. But not now.”
    â€œOkay.” Debra looked hurt. “I just thought you’d want to know.”
    Kimmy blew her whistle. Corky saw Miss Green standing in front of her glassed-in office in the corner of the gym. She was watching them, a curious expression on her face.
    â€œCorky, come on!” Kimmy called enthusiastically. She turned to the others, pushing her hair away from her eyes. “We’ll work on round-offs in a little bit. Let’s run through that same cheer so Corky can try it. You know it, don’t you, Corky?”
    Corky shook her head. “Not really. I just saw you do it twice. I could try to pick it up as we do it.”
    â€œGood,” Kimmy said, flashing her a warm smile. “It’s pretty simple, actually. Try it.” She motioned for Corky to get in line.
    Corky could feel her heart flutter as she took her place at the end of the line, next to Heather. “Here goes nothing,” she said aloud to herself.
    Heather gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Just watch me,” she said, smiling. “Then you’ll be
sure
to mess up!”
    She and Corky burst out laughing.
    Everyone’s being so nice to me, Corky thought happily. But then her smile quickly faded.
    Everyone’s being so nice. It’s hard to believe that the evil spirit may be hiding inside one of these girls.
    â€œOkay. Ready?” Kimmy stepped forward to inspect the line, then moved back in place. “On three. One. Two.
Three.”
    â€œHey, you!”
the cheer began, followed by two loud, sharp claps.
    â€œYeah, you!” Stomp, stomp.
    Corky shouted out the words, watching Heather to get the rhythm.
    I think I can get into this, she thought.
    And then the screaming began.
    A girl shrieking in horror, so loud, so frightening. So
close,
as if she were right inside Corky’s head.
    The cheerleaders’ voices faded as the hideous noise drowned out everything.
    Corky covered her ears with her hands, but the shrieking continued.
    â€œHelp her! Somebody help that