Fear Street Cheerleaders: The First Evil

Bobbi and Corky Cochran have just moved to Shadyside and both want to be cheerleaders. Their old squad won a bunch of competitions, but the squad was already picked and they aren’t sure they can get on it. The girls leave a fake rat in front of their little brother Sean’s room and giggle when it freaks him out. Bobbi then lays down on the railing and makes Corky think she died. Hilarious.

They meet the other cheerleaders, including the captain Jen and the assistant captain Kimmy, who hates them on sight. They do a routine, which is apparently awesome. They also do some double cartwheel thing, which I don’t understand. Apparently they hold each other’s ankles and then roll. Is that even possible?

Of course everyone loves then and Miss Green, the advisor, decides to put them on the squad. The only problem is that they really only have room for one new girl, so one old girl has to go. She picks Ronnie because she’s a freshman and has time to cheer later. Ronnie pitches a fit and runs off in tears, while the other girls just pout in general.

A few weeks later the squad is off to cheer at its first big game and Corky realizes that she left the fire batons at home. Apparently the girls took them home to practice. It’s rainy out and the driver isn’t paying enough attention, so he takes the curve too fast and the bus crashes. The girls all survive, but Jen’s body is thrown from the bus.

Bobbi finds her laying in the Fear Street Cemetery, her arms thrown over Sarah Fear’s grave. At first she thinks that she’s dead, but the paramedics find that she’s breathing and rushes her to the hospital. Kimmy blames Bobbi for what happened, especially after they discover that Jen is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. But hey, at least Ronnie is back on the squad.

Kimmy gets over it pretty fast though because she’s certain that she’ll be the next captain of the squad. At the next game, Miss Green makes a big announcement and gives the job to Bobbi. I guess it makes sense because she’s the best, but Kimmy thinks she deserves the job because she put in the time. She throws a hissy and storms out of the gym, but no one even notices.

Bobbi is so excited about getting the job and even more excited when she runs into Chip, the quarterback. Chip asks her out on a date and she runs to tell Jen about it. Jen is all about Chip being so cute, but flips when she realizes he asked her out. She tells her that Chip was Kimmy’s boyfriend until a few weeks ago. Bobbi realizes that Kimmy will think he broke up with her to ask Bobbi out. Even though they’re having problems, she decides to blow it off because Kimmy will get over it. Yup, teen girls are known for getting over things like that fast.

The next day Bobbi is stuck at school late and sees all the locker doors start flying open and closing. She tells Corky about it, who just kind of rolls her eyes and thinks that she’s stressed out. Cut to the game and Chip freezing on the field. He gets sacked pretty hard, but instead of worrying about him, Bobbi is just worried that he’ll cancel their date. She waits for him after the game and he does cancel, but tells her that he felt like he couldn’t move. He wanted to, but his body wouldn’t move. And then they make out. Of course.

Kimmy finds out what happened and confronts Bobbi, who points out that Chip asked her out. They fight and Miss Green has to break it up. They then do an exercise where Kimmy stands on Corky’s shoulders and jumps off, with Bobbi catching her. It goes badly because Bobbi freezes, just like Chip! Kimmy hits the ground and breaks her arm. She tells Chip what happened and he suggests she go to the doctor because his doctor thinks it’s something neurological.

Bobbi stops by Jen’s house, who tells her that Kimmy will be fine, but probably will never forgive her for this. They talk and when Bobbi leaves, she sees Jen walking around the house. What?! She runs back and of course Jen is now sitting in her wheelchair, not walking and trying to figure out what the fuck is up with her friend.

At their next practice, Bobbi keeps trying to get the girls going, but no one wants to listen to her anymore. Miss Green walks her into the office and drops her from the squad. All the girls think she didn’t catch Kimmy on purpose and they don’t trust her anymore, so she can’t lead the squad.

Bobbi runs to the showers and cries for a few minutes. Then she realizes that the water is way too hot and filling up the shower. She tries to open the door, but it’s sealed shut. She passes out and Corky is the one to find her dead body, practically floating in the showers. Gross. She also finds a silver megaphone charm, which she knows belongs to Kimmy, but puts it in her pocket and forgets about it.

Weeks later (I think this book takes place over an entire freaking year), Corky goes to the cemetery, to see her sister’s grave. She sticks her hands in her pockets and finds the charm. Realizing that it means Kimmy was involved, she runs to her house and finds her there with a bunch of the cheerleaders. She confronts them, but they tell her that Kimmy gave her charm to Jen, way before the “accident”.

Corky runs to Jen’s house and sees her driving away. She follows her to the cemetery and sees Jen walking to Sarah Fear’s grave and dancing. Jen announces that she’s actually Sarah Fear’s spirit and Jen died the night of the accident. She causes all the dirt to rise from the grave and pushes her in, but Corky uses her cheerleading training. She hits the inside, bounces back up and catches the side and pulls herself out.

Jen starts pouring this nasty crap out of her mouth that takes over Corky. The other cheerleaders show up, just in time to see all this going down. Corky realizes that it’s all the evil coming out of Jen, probably because it couldn’t take over her body. When it’s done, Jen collapses on the ground.

The cops show up and they tell them what happened. The cops don’t believe them though because Jen’s body is now dead and decomposing, exactly like it should have weeks/months before. Corky finally gets to go home, only to find Jen’s cheerleading pennant waiting for her in bed….