In the gym the next day, the cheerleader tryouts continue. Whoever makes the team will have their names posted in the quad after lunch. Quick decision. I just find it so odd that they wouldn't have chosen the new cheerleaders at the end of the last school year so they wouldn't have to go for even one day without an elite trained squad of snobs and bitches to make life a living hell for the less fortunate. At least that's how they did it at my school. So anyway, they start with a group performance, and a nervous Amy flubs a cartwheel and crashes into Cordelia. This is the saddest collection of cheerleaders I have ever seen. ["Ever seen an all-girls'-school cheer squad? That's the saddest collection of anything you've ever seen, trust me." -- Sars] I don't believe for one moment that any of these girls would slam me to the ground and stand on my chest mocking me in front of the whole school the way Tricia Connelly did in ninth grade. Cordelia is very worried that Amy's mistake will affect her chance to join the squad.

Later, in the hallway, Amy is standing and staring morosely into the trophy case when Buffy walks up wearing a fugly black-and-white geometrically patterned Rampage top with her hair up in an chignon. Who does that to their hair in high school? Amy tells Buffy that the picture of the cheerleader is her mom, Catherine. We learn that Amy's mom and dad were homecoming king and queen and got married right after high school. Buffy pronounces this "romantic," while I suppress a shudder. Amy goes on to tell Buffy that her dad left her mom when Amy was twelve and it's just been the two of them ever since. Thereby proving that popularity in high school is the kiss of death. Amy is distraught about her performance at try-outs, and Buffy tries to comfort her but Amy isn't having it and goes to change. As she's leaving, Willow joins Buffy and fills her in on Amy's history -- namely that Amy's mother is a psycho control freak. Buffy asks if Willow has any news on Amber, but the only thing Willow has come up with is that Amber had detention once for smoking: "Regular smoking -- not, like, being smoky." Buffy says that they'll have to wait and see, but maybe nothing will come of it. You better hope something comes of it, Buffy, otherwise you'll be out of a job.