Fabulous Five 024 - The Great TV Turnoff (6 page)

That afternoon Katie talked to Mona Vaughn and Lisa Snow
about the bike ride to Adventureland. At first Mona was interested, but Lisa
seemed indifferent.

"It's going to be so much fun," insisted Katie. "And
we're asking tons of kids to come, like Bill Soliday and Tony Sanchez."

Lisa immediately perked up. "You're asking Bill? Did he
say he was going?"

"I'm sure he will," fibbed Katie. She knew Lisa
had a crush on Bill. "After all, all his friends will be there."

"Oh," said Lisa. "Well, if Bill's going, you
can count me in."

"Great," said Katie. "We're going to leave
from the school at one-thirty."

"I don't know if Matt will want to go to Mama Mia's
afterward, though," said Mona. "He's awfully interested in going to
Laura's party."

"You can talk him into it, Mona," replied Katie. "I
know you can."

Katie saw Bill and Scott standing next to the Wurlitzer
jukebox in Bumpers after school. She hurried over to talk to them.

"Did you guys hear about the bike trip to Adventureland
on Saturday?" she asked.

"Yeah, and it sounds great, Katie," said Bill. "Count
us in."

"Will you go to Mama Mia's for pizza later?"

Bill and Scott glanced at each other.

"Well, we, uh . . . we kind of had something else we
wanted to do then," said Scott.

Katie narrowed her eyes. "You're not going to Laura's
to watch TV, are you? What about your turnoff contract?"

Scott looked at Bill, who looked down at his shoes. "Er,
we were thinking about going to her party."

"But what about Branford Junior High?" Katie
demanded. "If you watch television, you'll hurt our chances of beating
them."

"It wouldn't be like losing a football or basketball
game," insisted Scott.

"Yeah," agreed Bill. "It's just watching TV."

"Fine," Katie snapped, turning on her heel. She
was furious, but if the boys wanted to break their contracts, there wasn't much
she could do about it.

As Katie spun around, she bumped right into Tony Calcaterra.
She was speechless as they stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like
ages. Finally she pulled her gaze away from his and stormed back to where
Christie, Jana, and Melanie were standing.

"Wow! That was some article your mother wrote for today's
paper," Beth said the next morning as she opened her locker. "She
really cut down parents who aren't helping their kids with the TV turnoff."

Katie groaned. "As if one article wasn't enough, she
had to write two.

"By the way," she asked Beth, "how'd your
interview with Jack Albright go?"

Beth's eyes lit up. "Super. He was really nice, and
totally gorgeous. He autographed my purse for me, right on the front, where
everyone can see it. I've decided I'll survive not watching the tape until the
week after next. Every time I close my eyes, I see his face as clear as TV,
anyway!" She sighed dreamily.

"Are you surviving not watching your soaps, Mel?"
asked Katie. "You haven't been cheating, have you?"

"Who, me, cheat?" Melanie raised her eyebrows in a
show of innocence. "I certainly have not."

"Tell us about the latest episode of
Interns and
Lovers
you've written, Mel," said Christie.

"I'm glad you asked," said Melanie, digging into
her purse and pulling out a small spiral notebook. "The way I've got it
figured out, see, is that Sylvia's convalescing now and Cal is spending all his
time at the hospital with her. He doesn't realize it yet, but he's falling in
love."

"Something told me it would turn out that way,"
said Christie with a smile.

"Katie," Mrs. Karl called, as the study period
came to an end. "Would you drop this envelope off at the office for me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

As Katie hurried along the busy hallway, she saw Tony
walking ahead of her with Bill and Scott. She felt a tug at her heart as the
three boys laughed and jostled each other. Part of her wanted to tell Tony she
missed him, but another part of her still felt that he was the one who owed her
the apology. It was obvious that he was still angry at her, too.

When Katie entered the office, Miss Simone was at her desk,
looking totally frazzled.

Mr. Bell was standing nearby with an exasperated look on his
face.

"Miss Simone, that was at least the tenth irate call I've
gotten about the article in this morning's paper. Please take my calls from now
on."

Then, noticing Katie, he frowned. "Oh, hello, Katie. I
didn't see you standing there," He turned and went back into his office.

"Mrs. Karl asked me to give you this envelope, Miss
Simone," said Katie.

"Thank you, dear."

Katie hesitated before leaving. "Miss Simone, was Mr.
Bell talking about my mother's article that was in the paper this morning?"

The secretary looked at Katie and smiled. "I'm afraid
he was. It's part of his job to take flak, and he doesn't really mind it this
time. He knows it's for a good cause."

"Why is he getting so many angry calls?" asked
Katie.

"Some of the parents feel that the article was directed
at them," Miss Simone replied, "and they think the school may have
talked your mother into writing it. I think there are a few guilty consciences
out there."

Boy, Katie thought as she hurried to her next class. What a
mess the turnoff was shaping up to be. It had sounded so simple at first.
People would turn off their televisions for two weeks and find something else
to do. But things had quickly become a lot more complicated.

Katie squared her shoulders and stuck out her chin as she
marched into her next class. One thing was certain—she wasn't going to give up
on the TV turnoff. In spite of everything, it
was
a good idea.

Katie looked around the crowded school yard in amazement.
There were boys and girls with bicycles all over the place. Some of them,
including Tony, Bill, and Scott, were seventh-graders, but there were kids from
eighth and ninth grade, too. Even the McNatts were going to Adventureland. Then
Katie noticed Laura McCall and her friends.

"I can't believe it," said Katie. "Laura's
here. She's actually coming."

Jana shrugged. "I guess so."

"Don't worry about Laura, Katie," said Melanie. "This
has turned out great. Except for sports events and dances, it's one of the
first things Wacko kids have ever done together as one big group."

"Right," agreed Katie. "At least the first
part of the plan is working. That doesn't mean everyone will go out for pizza
together tonight, though. Laura will probably spend the whole afternoon
inviting kids to her party."

"If they all went out for pizza, Mama Mia's couldn't
handle them, anyway," commented Christie.

"There are a lot of other places for kids to go, like
Taco Plenty and Bumpers," said Jana. "Maybe they'll want to do that
instead of going to Laura's to watch TV."

"We'd better get started," said Katie grimly. She
got on her bike and pushed off.
"Let's go, everybody!"
she
shouted.

"Head 'em up, and move 'em out!"
yelled
Shane.

Katie rode out of the school yard with a stream of bicyclers
behind her and headed for the amusement park.

At Adventureland, Jana, Melanie, and Beth went on rides with
their boyfriends, while Katie went with Christie. She was having fun with her
friend, but it felt odd not being with Tony. They usually went to places like
this as a couple. Every once in a while she spotted him with Scott and Bill.
Lisa was with them, too, but Katie noticed that Bill wasn't paying much
attention to her.

The Wakeman students were spread out all over the park and
seemed to be having a great time. Kids waved to her from every ride she passed.
Well, at least the TV turnoff accomplished one thing, thought Katie. It got
everyone together to have fun. Then she saw Tony standing in line to go on the
super Ferris wheel. Everyone but me, that is.

But in spite of missing Tony, Katie found that the afternoon
passed quickly.

"Super idea, Katie," said Daphne Alexandrou when
Katie and Christie stopped at the refreshment tent to get ice cream. "We
ought to do this more often."

"Yeah," chimed in Shelly Bramlett.

Katie smiled with pleasure as she and Christie found seats
at the table where Jana, Melanie, and Beth were sitting with their boyfriends.

Glancing around, she saw Tony, Scott, and Bill sitting not
far away. Near them were Max and Joe McNatt with some other eighth- and
ninth-grade boys. They were wearing their red-and-gold Wakeman jackets. Kaci
Davis and Kyle Zimmerman, another ninth-grader, were holding hands as they
walked into the tent. Mona and Matt were talking nearby. Laura and her friends
were there, too. The tent was full of Wakeman kids.

Just then three boys wearing black letter jackets with large
red
B
's on them walked into the tent carrying sodas. Katie watched as
other Branford kids trickled into the tent after them.

Uh-oh, thought Katie. This could mean trouble, especially if
the principal of Branford Junior High told his students about Wakeman's
challenge. She cringed as she remembered that Miss Simone had even sent copies
of Wakeman's turnoff contracts to the other school.

One of the boys wearing a Branford jacket nudged the boy
standing next to him and said in a loud voice, "Hey, aren't those some of
the Wakeman wimps over there?"

His friend glanced around and said, "Yeah. I think you're
right. Did you hear the big joke that they think they can beat us?"

While both boys broke up laughing, some of the Wakeman
students began grumbling among themselves.

"Of course we can beat you!" Max McNatt yelled.

"What are we going to do?" whispered Melanie.

"I don't know," said Katie. "But if we don't
think of something, this could turn into a fight."

Suddenly Katie noticed four girls. They were cheerleaders
whom she'd met after a Branford-Wakeman football game when she, Jana, and
Christie had gone down to see Beth and Melanie on the field. Katie looked at
Beth. "Recognize those girls?"

"Yeah, they're Jill, Ruthie, Kristin, and Dina from the
Branford squad. They're really nice."

"Hey, you're right," said Melanie. "Let's say
hello."

"Well, I just had an idea," said Katie. "What
do you think of this?" She bent closer and told them her idea.

"It just might work," said Beth. "Come on.
Let's find out."

The Fabulous Five hurried over to the Branford cheerleaders
and said hello.

After they had chatted for a few minutes, Katie said, "We
had an idea we wanted to talk to you about."

"What's that?" asked Jill, the tall, dark-haired
cheerleader.

"You must have heard that Wakeman is having a TV
turnoff like the one Branford had," Katie continued.

"Right," said Ruthie. "Our principal told us
about it. How's it going?"

"Pretty well," answered Katie. "But we
thought it would be fun if each school did cheers for the TV turnoff, just like
we do at games. Maybe just a couple to stir up some excitement? Besides, if we
get the crowd started having fun, it might keep fights from breaking out.
Branford and Wakeman are pretty big rivals."

"Hmm," said Jill, looking thoughtful. "That
might work, and it does sound like fun. What do you think?" she asked,
turning to the others.

"Great," said Dina, a short blond. "Let's do
it."

The other two girls nodded.

"Most of the seventh-grade cheerleaders are here, plus
a few from the varsity squad," said Jill. "We'll get our cheerleaders
together, and you get yours. When you're ready, let us know." The four
girls ran off.

"I'll get Dekeisha and Mandy," offered Beth.

"There's Taffy," said Christie. "I'll get
her."

"I'll talk to Kaci," volunteered Melanie. Then she
frowned. "Laura and Melissa are cheerleaders, too. Who's going to tell
them?"

"I will," said Katie firmly.

"You've got to be kidding, Katie Shannon," snapped
Laura after Katie approached her with her idea. "That's the dumbest thing
I ever heard of."

"Yeah. Count us out," said Melissa."

"Have it your way," replied Katie. "We just
wanted to give you a chance to join in."

"What are they doing?" Katie heard kids whispering
as the two groups of girls lined up on one side of the tent.

"I think they're going to do cheers," someone said.

All the Wakeman and Branford kids were craning their necks
to see. Kaci Davis had taken command of the Wakeman cheerleaders, since she was
the captain of the varsity squad. She nodded to Jill that they were ready.

Jill nodded back, and the Branford cheerleaders stood with
their arms stretched out in front of them and their fists together. When Jill
gave the signal, they began to cheer:

We've got the spirit
,
We've got the pride.
We've got the spirit,
We're ridin' high.
Go, Branford,
Beat Wakeman.
Show 'em how to win!

They ended the cheer with spread eagles.

All the Branford kids in the audience cheered and waved
their fists in the air.

Kaci waited until they quieted and then signaled the Wakeman
squad to begin their cheer.

Stand up, Wakeman Warriors,
Stand up tall
.
Lookin' good, Warriors,
Shout!
Shout it out!
Shout it out loud!

The cheerleaders formed a low pyramid, which almost touched
the ceiling of the tent.

We can do it,
We will do it,
We'll do it every time.
Beat Branford,
Beat Branford now!

The Wakeman crowd went wild, hooting and yelling. But we
just kept a
real
fight from breaking out, Katie thought gleefully.
Everybody is having a super time.

Next the Branford cheerleaders got up again, and the
students tried to make as much noise as the Wakeman kids had. Each time one of
the squads did a cheer, the noise got louder. When the Wakeman cheerleaders
were up, they shouted the cheer at the Branford kids, and when the Branford
kids were cheering, they shouted their yell at the Wakeman crowd. Katie even heard
Max and Joe McNatt cheering with the crowd, "Go, Wakeman! Beat Branford!"

Then Katie saw Laura fuming at the back of the tent. Laura
pulled her three best friends close to her and started talking to them and
frowning in The Fabulous Five's direction at the same time. Uh-oh, Katie
thought. Our troubles may not be over yet.