Fabulous Five 001 - Seventh-Grade Rumors (4 page)

Jana passed a note back to Funny saying that she hadn't made
up her mind yet which activities she would sign up for and that they could talk
about it later. That wasn't quite the truth, but at least it would give her
some time to think. Her friends in The Fabulous Five would be furious if they
found out she was even thinking of trying for coeditor of
The Wigwam
with a member of The Fantastic Foursome. On top of that, Christie had sworn
everyone to secrecy about joining the staff.

In the hall between classes, she saw Christie and they
walked along together. "Has Beth been acting funny to you?" Christie
asked. She had a worried look on her face.

Jana nodded. "She wouldn't even talk to me yesterday. I've
been trying to figure out if I've done something to make her mad."

"Same here," said Christie. "She hasn't said
two words to any of us since that big blow-up with The Fantastic Foursome at
the fence yesterday. I was wondering if there's more to that situation than we
realize."

"Do you mean that maybe she and Laura McCall already
have some kind of war going on that we don't even know about?"

Christie nodded. "Maybe they met over the summer at the
beach or something, and Beth just never told anybody."

"I never thought about anything like that." Jana
mulled it over for a moment and then shook her head. "I guess it's
possible, but we saw a lot of Beth this summer, and she didn't mention anything
about Laura."

"So maybe it was something that was too embarrassing to
tell anyone about. Or maybe Laura is blackmailing her. Things like that happen,
you know."

Jana shot Christie a quick glance. She was referring to the
time in sixth grade when Taffy Sinclair had blackmailed Jana over finding their
teacher's wallet after it had been stolen from the classroom. Jana had been
innocent, but she had looked guilty, and Taffy had made the most of it.

"Maybe," said Jana, but she still had doubts. Beth
was her very best friend. Surely she would have confided in Jana about
something like that. Or would she? Beth was changing. There was no doubt about
it. Maybe the truth was that she had decided she wanted new friends now that
she was in junior high. Maybe she was tired of Jana and the others. Jana
shuddered. Maybe, now that they were at Wakeman, nothing would ever be the
same.

At lunch everyone was still talking about the latest rumor
about Laura McCall. Christie had heard that Laura was planning one of her
famous
unchaperoned
parties in the next couple of weeks and that she was
planning to invite
all
of the boys from Mark Twain Elementary but
none
of the girls. Everyone was talking about it, that is, except for Beth, who sat
at the far end of the table nibbling at her sandwich and ignoring the others.
Jana glanced at her from time to time, but Beth seemed to be totally absorbed
in her own thoughts. Even her clothes were less flashy than usual, Jana
thought. Her slacks and matching shirt were in soft, muted shades of plum.

"I heard that Laura has this big crush on Shane
Arrington, but he won't pay any attention to her," said Katie. "She
has the parties so she can invite him over and flirt with him."

"Then why is she inviting all the boys from our school?"
demanded Jana. "Is she trying to make Shane jealous, or is she looking for
someone new to have a crush on?"

Melanie gasped. "That rat! She had better leave Scott
alone, and Shane Arrington is definitely too good for her."

"And you know that her three friends are just as bad as
she is," said Christie. "I mean, they wouldn't be her
friends
if they weren't."

"Don't any of them have boyfriends from their own
school?" asked Melanie. "I mean, there are tons of cute seventh-grade
boys from Riverfield."

"From what I hear none of them has a real boyfriend,"
said Katie. "Melissa McConnell is supposed to have a crush on Jon Smith.
You know, the boy whose parents are on television, but she's the only other one
of The Fantastic Foursome that I've heard anything about."

"I'll bet that all four of them want to steal Mark
Twain boys just to spite us," said Melanie. "What a bunch of jerks!"

Jana's mind was racing. What if Laura picked Randy to go
after next? She just might do it, too. She glanced at her friends. They hated
Laura McCall, but they didn't like the other three much better, including Funny
Hawthorne. She could guess what they would say if she told them that she and
Funny were becoming friends.

Suddenly she noticed that Beth was no longer at the table. "Hey,
did anyone see where Beth went?" she asked.

Katie shook her head. "What's the matter with her,
anyway? She's been acting strange ever since school started. I get the feeling
that she doesn't really want to be friends with us anymore."

"You're telling me," said Melanie. "I tried
to talk to her this morning, and she almost bit my head off. Do you know what
her problem is, Jana?"

"No, but I have to find out." Jana jumped up from
the table and crammed the garbage from her lunch back into her paper bag,
scooping everything up and heading for the door. "See you guys later,"
she called back over her shoulder.

She dumped her trash into the plastic can beside the door
and dashed into the hall. Beth was nowhere to be seen. I have to find her, Jana
told herself. Something's wrong, and I've got to get her to tell me what it is.

The hall was crowded with kids rushing in both directions.
She didn't see anybody that she knew well enough to ask if they had seen Beth.
Maybe she's in the girls' room, Jana thought. Ducking inside, she looked around
quickly, but there was no sign of Beth. Could she have gone outside? Jana
wondered.

She had just stepped into the sunlight when she heard
someone call her name. It was Funny. She was alone, and she was motioning to
Jana. Jana glanced around to make sure none of her friends had come outside.
She wasn't sure what they would think if they saw her talking to Funny
Hawthorne.

"Listen. It's about Laura," Funny said as soon as
Jana got to her. "Don't worry about her. I know you and your friends don't
like her. I also know she comes off a little snotty sometimes, but she's really
okay. She has a tough time at home with just her dad. He makes her do
everything. You know, cook, clean, stuff like that. She says he's never heard
of women's liberation. We are always telling her how we'd like to trade places
with her and not have a mother hassling us all the time, but she says it's
really the pits."

Jana felt as if Funny had read her mind and knew that she
and her friends had just been talking about Laura.

"Sure . . . well, okay," Jana floundered. "See
you later."

"Okay, but think about what I said about trying for
seventh-grade coeditors of the yearbook and call me," Funny insisted. "Here's
my number. I wrote it down for vou."

What am I getting myself into? Jana wondered as she stuffed
Funny's phone number into her pocket and headed across the school ground to
look for Beth. Was Funny telling the truth about Laura or just making excuses?
After all that Jana had heard about Laura, it was hard to imagine that she
needed sympathy for living alone with her father and getting to do practically
anything she wanted. She was used to having things her way—at home, with her
club, at Riverfield school, and now she was trying to take control at Wakeman
Junior High. Not only that, wouldn't Laura be mad at Funny for being friends
with Jana the same as Jana's friends would be mad at her?

Just then Jana spotted Beth. She was all alone and she was
standing in their special spot gazing out through the chain link fence. Jana
stopped. She wanted to run up to Beth and start talking to her and make her
understand that whatever the problem was, her best friend was ready to listen.
Still, she didn't want to blow it, so she hesitated, stopping a little distance
away to plan her next move. Beth hadn't noticed her yet, and as Jana got closer
she could see wet streaks on her cheek.

"She's
crying,
" Jana whispered to herself.
Beth was leaning against the fence and sobbing softly. In one hand was the same
small bead bracelet that Jana had seen her holding the day before.

"Beth, what's wrong?" Jana cried, rushing forward.
"You can tell me. Honest, you can."

Startled, Beth turned toward Jana, dropping the beads on the
ground. The surprise that registered in her eyes for an instant changed to
anger.

"Go away!" she shouted. "Just mind your own
business and leave me alone!" In one quick motion she scooped up the
fallen bracelet and spun away, turning her back on her best friend.

Jana rocked backwards onto her heels as if she had been hit
by a tidal wave. She stared at Beth's back, trying to comprehend her words.
Go
away. Mind your own business. Leave me alone.
It was clear that their
friendship was over.

So, Jana thought, if that's how she wants it, it's all right
with me. If she thinks she's too good for her old friends, that's her problem.
She stiffened, raised her chin defiantly, and called back, "Okay. Have it
your way. I'll leave you alone—FOREVER!"

Then she stomped off in the direction from which she had
come, praying silently that Beth had not noticed that there were tears on her
cheeks, too.

Jana tried to force herself not to think about Beth all
through her afternoon classes. She knew that once she allowed the memory back
into her mind, the pain would be almost too much to bear. But she could not
keep pictures of Beth—clowning, talking, being a friend—from flashing into her
thoughts. Each time that happened she made herself concentrate on Funny. Silly,
crazy,
funny
Funny. How super to have a friend like that, one who could
make you smile instead of feel like crying, she reminded herself over and over
again.

Funny was waiting for Jana in the hall after algebra, and as
usual, she was smiling. "Let's walk to history together," she said as
she fell in step.

"Sure." Jana returned the smile. Up ahead she
could see someone who looked like Beth moving in the same direction as they
were going. At least the hair was the same as Beth's. Jana was glad to have
someone to talk to, something else to think about.

"Did you ever see so many gorgeous guys under one roof
in your entire life?" asked Funny as they stopped outside the door to
their history class. "I mean, Copper Beach has a few cute boys, but you
girls from Mark Twain Elementary don't know how lucky you are. Your class is
filled with hunks!"

"You think
we're
lucky," Jana countered. "Riverfield
guys aren't so bad, either. I've seen Shane Arrington. Talk about a hunk!"

Funny giggled. "I'm tired of all those boys. I've known
most of them since first grade. Besides, I like your hunks better."

"So which ones did you have in mind?"

"Well . . . there's one named Randy something-or-other
that knocks me out. He's got dark, wavy hair—"

"Whoa!" cried Jana. "He's not only taken, he's
mine." She smiled and said the words in a teasing way, but she couldn't
help feeling a little uneasy, just the same. "Who else do you have your
eye on?"

Funny laughed in her usual good-natured way. "Don't
worry. I won't go after your boyfriend." Then she gazed off in the
distance for an instant as if visualizing one good-looking boy after another
and then said, "We-e-e-e-ell, there's a really cute guy named Scott and a
gorgeous blonde named Keith. Are they taken, too?"

Jana nodded. "By two of my best friends. Scott is
Melanie's boyfriend and Keith is Beth's."

At the mention of Beth, Jana felt a catch in her throat. She
had momentarily forgotten about the awful scene at the fence, but Funny was
smiling so brightly that she was able to push the memory out of her mind again.

"I promise not to go after Randy," Funny teased, "but
I'm not so sure about the other two. Maybe you'd better fill me in on Melanie
and Beth so I can analyze my competition."

"Sorry," said Jana. "My lips are sealed."

"Oh, come on. Surely you can tell me one or two juicy
little tidbits." Funny's eyes were twinkling and she was rubbing her hands
together in delicious anticipation. "Nothing major, of course. Just
something itsy-bitsy that I can use against them."

I love this, Jana thought. It's so much fun to joke with
Funny. Aloud, she said, "Nope. You could tickle me with a thousand feathers,
and I wouldn't breathe a word. You could . . ."

Suddenly Jana's face froze in the middle of a smile. She had
the creepy feeling that someone was looking at her. Glancing around quickly,
she found herself staring straight into Katie Shannon's eyes. Beside her stood
Christie, and she was looking at Jana, too. Neither of them was smiling, and
Jana knew instantly why. It was because she was talking to Funny. After all,
Funny was one of The Fantastic Foursome, one of Laura's followers.
The
enemy.

Jana shrugged and gave them an apologetic smile as she
ducked into the classroom. "Come on, Funny, we'll have to talk later,"
she mumbled. "We'd better go in now. It's almost time for the bell."

Once she slid into her seat, Jana glanced back at the door.
She couldn't see Christie and Katie anymore. She was glad. Part of her felt
guilty for talking to Funny and for enjoying it so much, but another part of
her was angry. It was obvious what they had been thinking, but they had
misunderstood. Funny was a super person, nothing like Laura McCall. How could
they be so blind?

Jana sighed. She couldn't remember when she had felt so
depressed. During lunch period she had lost her best friend for no reason at
all except that she had wanted to help. Now two of her other friends were being
unreasonable because she was talking to someone else. But Jana didn't realize
just how unreasonable until she went to her locker after school and found
Christie, Katie, and Melanie waiting for her.

"What's going on between you and Funny Hawthorne?"
Katie challenged before Jana could even get her locker door open. "Every
time I look around I see the two of you talking together."

"And laughing," added Christie. "Don't you
like your old friends anymore?"

"First Beth deserts The Fabulous Five and now you,"
added Melanie.

Jana was stunned. "Hey, you guys. Hold on a minute.
Since when is it a crime to talk to somebody outside The Fabulous Five?"

"It's not a crime," Christie insisted. "It's
just that we get the feeling that you'd rather be with her than us, which is
really strange since she's one of
them.
"

"Right," said Katie. "After all of the things
we've heard about The Fantastic Foursome."

"So, did it ever occur to you that some of those rumors
might not be true? Besides, what have you heard about Funny Hawthorne? That she's
a bubblehead? Well, let me tell you, she's just a nice person. That's all. She
happens to have a great sense of humor. I suppose that makes her a bubblehead,
right? If that's the case, I'd be happy if people called me a bubblehead, too."

Spinning around, Jana stomped off, leaving her bewildered
friends staring after her.