Fabulous Five 026 - Laura's Secret (7 page)

Laura slipped into her place at the lunch table.

"Hi, Laura," Tammy said brightly.

Funny and Melissa barely acknowledged her. They nodded
slightly and went back to their conversation. Laura's stomach twisted
painfully. She hoped that her plan would not only save Alexis's reputation, but
also get Laura herself back in the good graces of her friends. She knew now
that it wasn't just their loyalty she wanted, it was their genuine friendship.

"Hi, everyone," Laura said. She cleared her
throat. "Could I interrupt you guys for a minute?"

Melissa rolled her eyes, but she and Funny stopped talking.

"I'm calling a meeting after school today," Laura
announced.

"Of The Fantastic Foursome?" Tammy asked.

"Yes, hut I'm asking Alexis, Lisa, Sara, and Marcie to
come, too," said Laura.

Funny frowned. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Don't you think there's been enough trouble already?"
asked Melissa. "I don't think I can stomach any more bad scenes for a
while."

"There won't be any bad scenes," Laura insisted. "I
just want to talk to everybody. I promise you the results will be good."

"And peaceful?" asked Funny.

"And peaceful," Laura assured her.

Funny and Melissa exchanged glances.

"No offense, Laura," Funny said, "but you're
not exactly known for promoting peace."

Laura bit her tongue. She didn't want to blow her plan by
getting mad and causing an uproar.

"You'll have to trust me." Laura's jaws clenched
tightly.

"I'll be there!" Tammy said.

"Good. Come to our spot next to the building right
after the final bell." She looked at Funny and Melissa. "Will you two
be there?"

They both nodded.

"Good," Laura said, standing up. "See you
there."

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Tammy.

"I'm not hungry," Laura replied. "And I have
some things to do. See you after school."

Laura moved away from the table and glanced around the
cafeteria until she spotted Alexis sitting with The Fabulous Five. Swallowing
hard, she marched to their table.

It was Alexis who first saw Laura coming. She dropped her
sandwich, and her face turned ashen. The others, who had been chatting
together, stopped talking and watched Laura approach.

This was one time Laura wasn't happy about being in the
spotlight.

"Alexis," Laura began, "I'd like to talk to
you after school. My friends will be there, and you should bring yours, too."
She nodded toward the girls at the table.

Melanie leaned over to Katie and whispered loudly enough for
everyone to hear. "Do you think this means war?"

"No, Melanie," said Laura, "this is not war.
I just have something to say, and I want everybody to be there to hear it."

Alexis seemed to shrink into her seat. She looked afraid.

"Meet me beside the school after the final bell,"
Laura instructed. "Please. Will you be there?"

There was a pause while everyone waited for Alexis to
respond. "Okay," she answered in a small voice.

"And we'll be with her," Katie declared firmly.

"Good," said Laura. "See you then."

She turned and left the lunchroom. She really wasn't hungry.
She just wanted to get this over with.

The afternoon crawled by. Finally the last bell sounded.
Laura rushed to her locker and got what she needed to take home tonight. Then
she headed for The Fantastic Foursome's spot beside the school.

Tammy was the first to arrive. "Hi," she said. "This
is really exciting, Laura, and mysterious! I can't wait to find out what's
going on."

"You'll find out in a few minutes," Laura told
her, "after everyone gets here."

She hoped that would be right away, but for the next five
minutes no one showed up.

What's going on? she wondered. Doesn't anyone care what I
have to say?

Tammy stood next to her, chattering away, but Laura barely
heard a word of it. She was worried. Why was everyone taking so long?

Finally she saw Funny and Melissa walking toward her. They
both looked doubtful, and Laura knew they were a little afraid of what might
happen.

Then Laura saw Alexis. She was surrounded by Marcie, Sara,
and Lisa. The three friends were obviously giving Alexis encouragement to face
Laura one more time.

And just behind Alexis and her friends were The Fabulous
Five, without Christie Winchell. Laura was glad they had come, too. Maybe they
would see her differently after this afternoon's meeting.

"Hi, everyone." Laura spoke softly when they were
all there.

No one replied, but everyone stared at her. Hard.

"So what's up?" Beth Barry said finally. It wasn't
just a question; it was a demand to know what Laura had up her sleeve.

"I have something to say to Alexis and to all of you,"
she began shakily.

"Okay," said Lisa with a shrug. "So say it."

Laura could feel hostility in the air, but she forced
herself to stay calm.

"Okay, what I want to say is this: You can't meet my
maid—"

"Haven't we heard this before?" demanded Alexis,
taking a step forward. "We can't meet your maid because she only comes
while—"

"—we're at school!" the others chorused. There
were giggles through the group.

"No!" said Laura, her voice starting to rise with
anger.
Get hold of yourself,
she reminded herself silently.
Say what
you planned to say
,
and don't let them get to you.
"No!"
she repeated, this time in a more controlled voice. "You can't meet my
maid because we don't have a maid anymore."

Alexis let out a shriek. "That's very convenient!"
she shouted. "You don't have a maid anymore."

Katie Shannon took a step forward. "Yeah. You expect us
to believe you had a maid in the first place—"

"Just let me finish!" Laura pleaded desperately. "Let
me say what I have to say."

"Go ahead," Alexis said, her eyes still flashing
with anger and frustration.

"I was wrong about one thing," Laura continued. "Chantal
wasn't such a great person after all."

"I thought you all
loved
each other,"
remarked Beth sarcastically.

"Well, we misjudged her, I guess," Laura said. "She
wasn't the loyal employee we thought she was." Laura paused, studying
their faces for some clue about what they were thinking. Their faces revealed
nothing, except that they were listening intently. "Dad fired her
yesterday."

The girls gasped. "
Fired
her?" Lisa
exclaimed. "But why? What did she do?"

"My dad caught her stealing," said Laura.

A murmur ran through her listeners.

"And when Dad confronted Chantal," Laura went on, "she
admitted it." Laura glanced at the faces around her. "When he
demanded the stolen things back, she brought out some other stuff she'd taken
from the apartment, too."

Laura reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a Wakeman
charm bracelet. She held it up.

"This is one of the things she had stolen," Laura
told the crowd. "My charm bracelet."

"But you said—" Alexis started.

Laura nodded and pulled a second bracelet out of the pocket
of her jeans. "Yeah, and I feel pretty crummy. See, I thought yours
belonged to me because of the scratch on the tepee. But
both
of these
bracelets are scratched—in the same place."

The girls moved in close to see the scratch that Laura had
carefully made this morning before she'd left for school. She had also removed
her cheerleading charm so that the two bracelets looked identical.

"Alexis," Laura said, "I'm sorry I suspected you.
But can't you see now how I made the mistake?"

Alexis looked at the scratch on the bracelet and then at Laura.
"But I never would have stolen anything from you, Laura," she
insisted.

"Well, I know that
now
," Laura said
quietly. "But I . . . well, I didn't know it then. I'm sorry." She
glanced at Tammy. "And I guess Tammy just misunderstood the situation in
my bedroom, too."

"Oh, yes, and I'm so sorry, Alexis!" Tammy
sputtered, grateful to Laura for explaining her part in the episode.

"It was probably the maid who left the drawer open on
the bureau," Laura said. "And after I'd seen you standing in my
room—well, naturally I suspected you, Alexis. But I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

The girls all seemed to relax a little. They stepped back
and looked at each other, obviously grateful to have this whole thing cleared
up. Some of them started to move away.

Laura took Alexis's arm and drew her away from the others. "Remember
when I came into my bedroom and found you?" said Laura. "And I told
you it was the maid's day off?"

Alexis nodded.

"Well," Laura went on, "what I said was true.
Chantal
hadn't
been at the apartment that morning, but she'd cleaned and
made our snacks the night before."

"Okay," Alexis said. "I guess you were
telling me the truth."

Laura smiled in relief. She knew she was lying again, but
she was glad that one last lie would put the whole mess to rest. And it would
be the
last lie
—that was for certain. Lies just weren't worth it. Her
stomach began to unknot for the first time in days.

"I'm sorry I believed the worst of you," Laura
finished.

Alexis hesitated for a moment. "I liked it a whole lot
better when we were friends," she finally admitted.

Laura smiled. "Me, too."

"Think we can forget all this?" Alexis asked
softly.

"Can you?" said Laura.

Alexis paused and ran a hand through her hair thoughtfully. "Yes,
I guess so."

Laura beamed. "I was really hoping you would say that!"

Alexis smiled and put out her hand. "Friends?"

"Friends," said Laura, shaking Alexis's hand.

After Alexis and her friends had gone, Melissa heaved a sigh
of relief and said, "Boy, am I ever glad that's over."

"See, I
told
you that you'd like this meeting,"
Laura teased.

"Yeah," said Funny with a tinkling little laugh. "It
had a happy ending after all."

"And you've got your giggle back," commented
Laura.

Laura felt better as she watched Alexis walk away with her
head up, her shoulders squared, and a smile on her face. She felt better about
her own friends, too. They liked her again. She knew that in their own way,
they had been her friends all along. I'll never do anything that could damage
our friendship again, she promised herself.

For an instant she remembered how she had covered up her own
mistake—spilling blush on her blouse—by blaming it on someone else. I'll
definitely never lie again, because one lie leads to another and another, and
pretty soon the whole world's a disaster area. But even my friends make
mistakes, she thought. They're not perfect, but I like them, anyway. Maybe they
can get used to me the way I
really
am, too.

The four friends walked along in silence for a few moments.
Then Funny stopped abruptly and grinned at Laura.

"You know," she said, "I always thought I'd
love to have a maid at our house." She giggled. "But after all the
trouble a maid caused at
your
house, I'm not so sure!"

Laura looked at Funny and smiled.
Amen to that!
Laura
agreed silently.
Amen to that!

Laura knew something was up as soon as she walked into the
apartment. Her dad and Trudy were in the kitchen. Trudy was getting down some
glasses from the cupboard, and her dad was holding a bottle of something
—was
it champagne?

Laura froze. Her dad and Trudy were obviously going to toast
something. They had been seeing a lot of each other lately. Could it be—the
thought would barely form in her mind
—marriage plans
?
That would
be a hundred times more traumatic than that dumb lie about the maid!

They looked up as she entered and smiled at her.

"Laura," her father said. "I have a surprise
for you."

"I'm not sure I want to hear this," Laura replied,
swallowing hard.

"Of course you do. Come here. I'll pour you a glass of
soda so you can join our toast. We have some wonderful news that includes you."

Laura stood stiffly while her father poured the soft drink.
She looked at Trudy, who grinned and nodded and looked very happy.

"Let's toast this very special day," Mr. McCall
said, holding up his glass of champagne. "I've been waiting for this to
happen for a very long time."

"Don't I have any say in it?" Laura blurted out.

Her father looked startled. "You don't even know what I'm
going to say." He stared hard at his daughter and then glanced over at
Trudy. "Laura, baby, I don't think you understand. I got the promotion!"

A smile began to creep across Laura's face. "Ohhhh, the
promotion!" she cried.

Her father laughed and hugged her. "What in the world
did you
think
I meant?"

Laura glanced at Trudy, who winked at her knowingly.

"I think," said Trudy, "that Laura was afraid
something more serious and long-lasting was being celebrated here."

Mr. McCall's face tinted pink.

Laura laughed. "Daddy, you're blushing."

"Well, wait till you hear
this,
" her father
said, and Laura knew he was changing the subject as quickly as he could. "I
know I've been pretty demanding lately."

"Yes, you have," Laura agreed, smiling. "So
what else is new?"

"What a smart-alecky kid," said her father in mock
anger, shaking his head. "Anyway, I know that your life is very busy, and
this is the time you should be having fun."

"I won't argue with that!" replied Laura.

"Well, I think I've been a
little
bit
unreasonable about the housework. Soooo, here's the news. Are you ready?"