It's basketball season and winter of their 4th 8th grade year.
Plot
Okay, I never read the books this high in the series as a kid, so this is like all new territory.
Stacey get noticed right away by one of the cool guys in school, I think his name is RJ. He throws a snowball and it hits her, and as he goes over to help her up, he asks her out. She loses her goddamned mind. She spends days overanalyzing and thinking about this date, and then she goes out with him and its not a love connection, which she is surprisingly mature about.
RJ is one of the school's star basketball players, which is apparently a huge deal in Stoneybrook. The basketball team and the cheerleaders are THE most coolest kids in school. So cool, in fact, that basically all the teachers treat them like royalty. They are allowed to skip classes whenever they want, they can take tests at different times, and they can half ass assignments.
On the date with RJ, they go to some pizza place afterwards and the entire cool group is there. The girls start being super nice to Stacey and she gets kinda flirty with another basketball player, Robert. After that, the girls are always super nice to Stacey and when a spot opens up on the cheerleading squad, they invite her to try out. She works so fucking hard at it and has Jessi teach her a routine. She is amazing. It's like a hidden talent she never knew she had. Plus her and Robert have started dating and he is amazing. Stacey has this whole new group of friends, plus her besties in the BSC. Her life is pretty awesome. She has even started kind of taking advantage of the perks of being in "the group" (she skips class one day to show the other girls the routine her and Jessi put together) but she feels really bad about it.
Cheerleading tryouts come and she fucking nails it. Then she is in the bathroom and all the cheerleaders come in and she hears them talking about how she came into the group and stole Robert and how she still hangs out with those lame babysitters all the time. But they also say she was the best one who tried out, so it's like a half bitching session. Then it comes time to hear who got the spot...and it's not Stacey. It's some other b. Stacey is upset, and one of the cheerleaders grabs her to tell her they didn't pick her because she was too good and would make them all look bad - but she is smiling when she says it. So Stacey realizes they are all bitches and marches into the cafeteria to tell Robert what happened. Stacey and Robert then march down to the basketball coach's office to tell him that Robert is quitting the team because of the favoritism of the people and how they take advantage of their power at school. Everyone is pretty pissy about it, and the new cheerleader chosen quits because of the drama. The girls extend the offer to Stacey, who then gets to tell them to get bent.
Takeaways
Literally the only people that go to middle school basketball games are the parents of the players. Not the entire fucking town, and games are right after school. Not on Saturday nights. What the fuck.
I'm sorry, but again, middle school cheerleading would not be this highly competitive, nor would the cheerleaders get to choose their replacement. The team advisor or coach would. This is not Bring it On, Ann.
The obvious favoritism of these students would also never fly. Ever. Adults, especially teachers, are not going to deal with the huge egos of student athletes. ESPECIALLY in middle school. Give me a break.
And no 14 year old boy is mature enough to give up his elite spot at the top of the school jsut because it's "not fair".
This book is pretty foreshadowing, because I know down the line Stacey gets kicked out of the club bc she becomes a "bad girl". She mentions a few times that the BSC is pretty embarrassing, and hanging out with sixth graders is pretty immature. At one of the (Saturday night) basketball games, Jessi is hoping the game goes into overtime so she is allowed to stay up late. I mean, my nephew is in 5th grade and he goes to bed at like 830p, so I guess I get it.
Best Character
I mean, obviously it has to be Robert because he is like the most mature middle school boy in the world. And also Jessi, because she basically gets Stacey to be the best cheerleader in middle school.
Worst Character
Those bitchy little cheerleaders.
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