Fabulous Five 001 - Seventh-Grade Rumors (5 page)

"They think I'm a traitor," Jana complained at the
dinner table. She had just finished telling her mother about the terrible scene
at her locker after school. "They think I'm being disloyal to them—my old
friends—just because I've made a new friend. It isn't fair. No. It's worse than
that. It's STUPID."

Mrs. Morgan was quiet for a moment, studying the swirls in
her coffee as she slowly stirred it. "It sounds to me as if they're
worried."

"Why would they be worried?" asked Jana.

"They think that you don't like them anymore. Maybe
they just need reassuring. Did you tell them that nothing has changed the way
you feel about them?"

"Of course not," Jana snapped. "I don't have
to tell them a thing like that. They
know.
Besides, why wouldn't I like
them now just as much as always?"

Her mother shrugged. "You've got me," she said,
smiling sympathetically. "It never hurts to remind people of how you feel
about them, though."

"If you ask me, they ought to trust me. I mean, we've
been friends forever. I shouldn't have to go around saying, 'I really like you!
I really like you!' like some kind of broken record."

Her mother didn't answer. Jana was silent for the rest of
the meal, too. It didn't make sense that her friends would think she didn't
like them anymore. They were just jealous. And that didn't make sense, either,
after all the years they had been friends. But it was true.

That still didn't explain Beth, Jana thought with a sigh.
She hadn't told her mother about that yet. What was the use, anyway? Her mom
would say what grown-ups always said, talk to her and work things out. How
could she talk to Beth when Beth wouldn't talk back?

The phone rang, jolting Jana out of her thoughts.

"It's for you," her mother said. Then she put her
hand over the mouthpiece and added with a smile, "This call might just
make things a little better."

"Hi."

Jana felt like melting down into her shoes at the sound of
Randy Kirwan's voice. "Hi, back," she said softly.

"How is school going?" he asked. "Did you get
any good teachers?"

"Besides Mr. Neal, I got Miss Dickinson for English.
She looks as if she's going to be fun. How about you?"

"No. Nobody special. I'm more interested in football.
With the Mark Twain guys and some of the Riverfield and Copper Beach guys going
out, we ought to have a good team."

Jana had an instant vision of Randy's scoring a touchdown
with the crowd cheering, just the same way it used to happen at Mark Twain
Elementary.

"Are you going to the movie and then to Bumpers Friday
night?" he asked. "It should be a lot of fun."

"Probably," she said, and then crossed her fingers
behind her back. "I haven't asked Mom yet, though."

"Scott and Mark and I talked about going. I hope you
go. I'll see you there if you do."

Jana thought she heard his voice get softer when he said
that, and it made her feel good all over. They talked a little while longer,
and when they hung up, Jana decided that her mother had been right. That
telephone call
had
made things better.

In her room a little while later, Jana thought again about
what her mother had said about her friends. Maybe she should call Katie and
Christie and Melanie. Not to reassure them, as her mother had suggested, but to
find out what was wrong with them. She could call them one at a time and ask
them why they were acting so . . . so . . . so
stupid.
She hated to use
that word, but it seemed to be the only one that fit.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid," she whispered over and
over again, but instead of the anger she expected to feel, helpless tears
flashed into her eyes.

A little while later she heard the phone ring again, and
then her mother's voice called out, "Jana, it's for you."

Rats! she thought. The truth of the matter was that she didn't
want to talk to anyone. Not Katie. Not Christie. Not Melanie. She thought about
pretending to be asleep, but she knew her mother would never let her get away
with that. Dragging herself away from her desk, Jana went to the phone and
barely mumbled hello.

"It's me, Funny," came a bubbly voice. "Is
everything okay?"

Jana stared at the phone in surprise. "Sure," she
lied. "Everything's fine. Why?"

"It's just that I noticed the look you got from your
two friends when we were standing in the hall before history class. And then I
was near the front door when you came barreling out after school. You were all
by yourself and you looked furious. I just thought maybe something was wrong."

Jana didn't answer. It wasn't her so-called
friends
calling,
the ones who were causing her problems. No, it was Funny. Kind, caring
Funny—her new friend.

"I'll bet I'm the problem," Funny added shyly.

"Well . . . sort of," Jana confessed. "They
think I'm a traitor for being friends with you."

"Believe me, I understand. Laura has been giving me a
hard time about you, too. She keeps saying things like, 'You seem to be
forgetting who your real friends are. We've stuck together through thick and
thin.' Things like that."

"And what's so ridiculous is that they're really super
friends," Jana went on. "I just don't understand what's wrong with
them."

Funny sighed deeply. "Well, I don't want to come
between you and your friends. The other thing I called to say was that you don't
have to try for seventh-grade coeditor of the yearbook with me at the sign-up
meeting next week if you'd rather not. I'll understand."

"I want to!" Jana practically shouted the words
into the phone, surprising herself at the feeling of determination that was
swelling within her. "Nobody is going to tell me who to be friends with."
Then she added in a softer voice, "But you don't have to, either, if it's
going to make your friends mad."

"I think my friends should understand," said
Funny, "and if they don't understand, they're not my friends."

"You're right. What we really ought to do is meet and
walk to school together in the morning. When they see that they can't
intimidate us, maybe they'll leave us alone and let us be friends."

"Do you want to?" asked Funny.

"Sure. Do you?"

"Okay," said Funny. "Where shall we meet?"

Jana thought a minute. It should be a few blocks from
school. A place where they could meet without many kids seeing them so that
they could pull their act together before making a grand entrance on the school
ground. Maybe even the same place she and the rest of The Fabulous Five had met
on the first morning of school. "Do you know the corner by Nugent's Grocerv?"

"Sure."

"Great. Be there at eight-thirty, and we'll march onto
the school ground together and really give our friends something to talk about."

The girls talked for a little while longer. After they hung
up and Jana was back in her room, she couldn't help wondering if she had done
the right thing. What if it backfired? What if she lost her old friends and
things didn't work out with Funny? Where would she be then?

She drummed her fingertips on her desk and thought again
about calling Christie, Katie, and Melanie. Maybe they really were so insecure
that they needed to hear that she still liked them. But did she? After the way
they were treating her? she asked herself. It was a puzzle that didn't seem to
have an answer.

Sliding into bed, she reached over and turned Randy's
picture so that she could see him better. She smiled at him before she turned
off the lamp and drifted off to sleep.

Funny was bouncing up and down in eager anticipation, and
she began waving wildly when she saw Jana headed her way the next morning.

"Wow! I don't know why I'm so nervous," said
Funny. "I had an awful time getting to sleep last night. I just kept
thinking about what everyone will say when they see us coming to school
together."

Jana smiled weakly. "Me, too," she admitted. "You
don't want to chicken out, do you?"

"No," said Jana. "Not unless you do."

Funny squared her shoulders. "Nope," she said
defiantly. "I've made up my mind, so let's go."

Jana looked at her new friend with admiration. Funny
definitely wasn't a bubblehead.

When they walked onto the school ground, Jana had the crazy
feeling that she had just stepped into the center of a stage. It seemed as if everyone
stopped to look at the two of them. Even kids they didn't know.

"This is weird," she whispered.

"It's probably just our imagination," said Funny.

Jana nodded, but she could see the other members of The
Fabulous Five standing by the fence staring as if they were seeing ghosts. Near
the front door, Laura and the rest of The Fantastic Foursome were staring, too.
So were Alexis Duvall, Sara Sawyer, and Lisa Snow, who were clustered on the
sidewalk.

"Say something funny," Jana ordered. "Then we'll
laugh like crazy, make a mad dash for the building, and duck inside."

"Oh, sure," said Funny. "Just like that, I'm
supposed to turn into a comedian."

"Okay, tell me about Shane Arrington. I heard that he
has a pet iguana."

This time Funny actually did burst out laughing. "Oh,
so you've heard about Igor?"

Jana faked a big laugh and looked straight at Funny so that
she wouldn't have to meet anyone else's eyes. "Yeah, Igor!" she
cried. "Isn't he hysterical?"

Funny caught on to the trick, and the two of them ignored everyone
and giggled wildly as they headed into the building, collapsing against the
water fountain once they were safely inside and out of sight of the others.

Now Funny was giggling for real. "Wasn't that a blast?
And did you catch the looks on everybody's faces when they saw us together?"

"Did I ever? I guess we showed them."

Things were great, Jana thought, so long as Funny and she
could stick together. They knew people were watching them whisper and talk as
if they had been best friends for ages. It was fun, but Jana's nervousness
returned when the first bell rang and she made her way through the crowded
halls toward homeroom. Laura McCall was in that homeroom, and so were her
friends Tammy Lucero and Melissa McConnell. That was bad enough, but so was one
of her own best friends, Christie Winchell.

Jana got there first and scrunched down into her seat,
wishing she could become invisible. As much as she wanted to show her friends
that she had a right to be independent and make other friends, the thought of
any of them being truly angry with her was awful. What should I do when
Christie comes into the room? Jana wondered. Should I look up and say hi as if
nothing has happened? Or should I wait for her to say something to me first? What
a choice, Jana thought. If I look up first, it will give her the perfect
opportunity to snub me. But if I don't look up, she'll think I'm snubbing her.

If only Randy would come in now, she thought. If only he
would stop at my desk, give me one of his 1,000-watt smiles and say "Hi,
Jana" in his gorgeous, masculine voice.

"Hi, Jana," said a masculine voice.

Hopeful, she glanced up into a smiling face. The only
trouble was, it belonged to Curtis Trowbridge.

"Hi, Curtis," she mumbled, and thought, Rats! Why
did it have to be him? Then, in a flash of inspiration, her face brightened and
she added, "So what do you think of Wacko Junior High?"

It wasn't that she really cared what Curtis thought about
anything, but if she could involve herself in a conversation with someone, even
nerd-of-the-world Curtis, then she wouldn't have to make the first move when
Christie came in. How could she speak to Christie if she was busy talking to
Curtis?

Curtis's smile stretched wider, and he literally leapt down
the aisle and landed beside her desk. "It's terrific! I like all my
classes and every single one of my teachers."

Jana groaned inwardly. Nobody but Curtis would go around
shouting about how much he liked his classes and his teachers. She forced
herself to smile at him and say, "That's great, Curtis. That's really
great."

Glancing around Curtis, she saw that Christie had just sat
down at her desk. There was an angry look on her face that made Jana cringe.

Suddenly Curtis's voice cut into her thoughts. "Well,
are you?" he was insisting.

"Oh, sorry, Curtis," Jana stammered. "I
missed that question. What did you want to know?"

"If you're going to join the newspaper staff."
There was an exasperated sound in his voice.

Before she could answer him, the bell rang, and Mr. Neal
motioned everyone to their seats and began taking roll. Jana breathed a sigh of
relief. Her plan had worked. She had avoided having to look at Christie. Out of
the corner of her eye she could see that Christie was staring straight ahead.
The stony expression was still on her face.

Jana looked away. Maybe she had been wrong to avoid speaking
to Christie. Now Christie probably thought it was Jana who didn't want to
speak. She started to sneak another look at Christie when she realized that
Christie was looking at her.
Eek!
thought Jana. What should I do now?

Taking a deep breath, she turned her head slowly toward her
friend. She would look at Christie, maybe even smile, and see what happened.
But Christie turned her head abruptly, looking away from Jana before their eyes
could meet.

Now what? thought Jana. Maybe if I stare at her, she'll have
to look back. I'll even give her a big smile to show her that if there's a
problem between us, it's all her fault.

Jana answered when her name was called and then took a deep
breath, slowly swinging her eyes around toward Christie. Christie fidgeted
slightly, and a spot of color appeared on her cheek, but she continued to stare
straight ahead. She knows I'm looking at her, Jana thought.
Why doesn't she
look back?

Snapping her eyes forward again, Jana opened her notebook.
She would die before she would let Christie make a fool out of her. Grabbing
her pencil, she began doodling. Anything to look busy, she thought. I don't
have time for stuck-up friends.

When the bell rang ending homeroom, Christie was the first
one out of her seat and through the door. It was only then that Jana looked
down to see what she had doodled all over the page:

T-R-A-I-T-O-R