Fabulous Five 001 - Seventh-Grade Rumors (7 page)

Beth was not at school the next day. Jana met Christie, Melanie,
and Katie at their spot by the fence before classes, and although they waited
until the very last minute to go into the building, she didn't show up.

"I tried to call her again before I went to bed last
night," said Jana as they turned into the corridor where the
seventh-graders had their lockers.

"So did I," said Christie. "Nobody answered. What's
going on, anyway?"

"At first I thought she might have a cold or the flu or
something like that," said Katie. "But then she would be at home to
answer the phone."

"Or at least one of her parents would answer,"
added Melanie. "Did anyone call her this morning?"

No one had, and Jana was sorry that she hadn't thought of it
herself. "Let's meet at noon and call her from the phone in the office,"
she suggested. "There's probably some simple explanation, and we'll all
feel a lot better when we find out what it is."

Everyone agreed and went off to their homerooms. Jana
scarcely heard what was going on in hers. All she could think about was Beth
and the strange way she had been acting ever since the first day of school.
Even her looks were different. Instead of the bright, kooky outfits she usually
wore, she had dressed in dark colors and wore no jewelry for almost the whole
week. No chunky necklaces. No long dangling earrings. No jewelry at all except
for the bead bracelet she carried in her hand and played with all the time. Did
it have something to do with her problem? A child's bead bracelet? But what? It
didn't make any sense.

When she got to English class, Funny was her usual bubbly
self. "Can you believe it? It's Friday. TGIF. Isn't that great?"

Jana nodded. She couldn't help smiling at Funny, and Funny
went right on talking before Jana could get a word in edgewise.

"Tonight's movie night, too. Isn't it exciting? We'll
really feel like we're in junior high instead of grade school after the movie
and Bumpers. Are you going with Randy?"

"No. I'll see him there, though. He called me the night
before last and said he'll be there with Scott and Mark and some of the other
guys."

"How about Keith?" asked Funny. "Do you think
he's going?"

"He wouldn't miss it." Then Jana laughed and
added, "Hey, why all the questions about those guys? I thought you weren't
going to get interested in Keith OR Scott OR Randy? Remember? You promised
since they're taken."

"I know they're taken," said Funny, sounding a
little miffed by Jana's insinuation. "But they're still cute, and just
because I asked if they're going to the movie tonight doesn't mean I'm going to
do anything."

"Sorry. I guess I'm a little touchy right now."
Jana went on to tell Funny about Beth and how worried she and her friends were.
"It's really weird that someone in her family isn't answering her phone."

"Maybe they had to go out of town for something,"
offered Funny.

"Maybe. But if it was something like that, surely she would
have told someone."

By lunchtime Jana was more worried than ever. She had
exhausted every possible excuse she could think of, and nothing sounded
reasonable.

The four girls went straight to the office when the lunch
bell rang. No one was interested in eating until they had tried once more to
reach Beth. This time Melanie punched in the number, but it didn't change
anything. The phone rang and rang without anyone's picking up on the other end.

"I just don't understand it," said Jana, shaking
her head.

She was deep in thought when they headed for the cafeteria
and was surprised when she heard Katie say, "Get a load of who has our
guys cornered. Of all the nerve!"

Jana snapped to attention and focused on a group of boys and
girls just ahead in the hall. Randy was there, and Scott and Keith, but that
wasn't all. When she saw who the girls were, a small cry of alarm escaped from
Jana's lips. "Funny!" she said barely above a whisper. "And
Laura!"

The two members of The Fantastic Foursome had definitely cornered
the three boys from Mark Twain Elementary. The five of them seemed to be having
a great time talking and laughing.

Every once in a while Jana could catch a word of their
conversation. ". . . movie . . . tonight . . . Bumpers . . ." The
more she heard, the more her anger grew.

"I don't like this," said Melanie. Turning accusingly
to Jana she added, "I thought you said Funny Hawthorne was okay. If that's
true, what are she and Laura doing flirting with our guys?"

All Jana could do was shrug. She certainly couldn't defend
Funny. What was more, she wasn't sure she wanted to. Especially since Randy was
one of the boys she and Laura had been flirting with.

Between algebra and history classes, Jana stopped Funny in
the hall.

"I just can't believe it," she said angrily. "After
promising to leave our boyfriends alone, you and Laura McCall had the
nerve
to flirt with them in the hall at noon."

Funny started to speak, but Jana cut her off. "Don't
deny it," she charged. "I saw you, and so did my friends. And you did
it after I talked you up and told them what a great person you are."

Funny's large eyes filled with tears. "I know how it
looked," she protested, "but it wasn't that way at all. Laura and I
just happened to be walking in the hall and the boys came along. Laura said hi
and they said hi, and the next thing we knew we were talking to them. That's
all there was to it. Honest."

Jana wanted to believe her, and the look of misery on Funny's
face almost convinced her that she had been wrong. But still, something was
nagging at her. Something she couldn't quite put a finger on was making her
doubt Funny's sincerity.

"Okay," she conceded. "I believe you."
It wasn't quite true, but Jana didn't want to start any more arguments until
she had time to think things through.

Funny's face lit up as if it were the sun just emerging from
behind a dark cloud. "I knew you'd understand," she gushed. "I'll
see you tonight at the movie and at Bumpers afterward. Okay? Everybody's going
to be there. It's going to be a blast."

It wasn't until the two had parted that Jana realized what
had been bothering her about Funny. It was the rumors about Laura McCall's
making her friends do things to prove their loyalty and stay in her club. Could
it be possible that Funny had only been pretending to be her friend? Had Laura
put her up to it? Had she forced Funny to spy on The Fabulous Five and report
everything she found out—including information on their boyfriends—to her?
Maybe that was what Funny and Laura had been arguing about at the lockers when
Melanie overheard them a couple of days ago. Maybe Funny hadn't wanted to spy,
but Laura had forced her.

The more Jana thought about it, the more convinced she
became. Who would suspect a happy, carefree person such as Funny? A bubblehead?
Hadn't Funny followed her into the girls' bathroom the day they met and started
the conversation herself? Sure, she had Jana's schedule card, but she might
have been just waiting for an opportunity like that. And hadn't Funny been
terribly anxious to turn her back on her old friends and make friends with
Jana?

It all fit like pieces to a puzzle. Laura and the rest of
The Fantastic Foursome were probably laughing their heads off at Jana and The
Fabulous Five. And then she remembered the snatches of conversation she had
heard when Funny and Laura were talking to the boys in the hall.
Movie .
. . tonight . . . Bumpers.
The rumors were right. Laura McCall was sending
Funny to spy on The Fabulous Five, just as she had suspected, but that was only
part of her plan.

The sidewalk in front of the theater was crowded with kids
from Wakeman Junior High when Jana and her three friends arrived half an hour
before time for the movie to begin. Jana's spirits rose even though she had
still not been able to reach Beth or to resolve her doubts about Funny
Hawthorne.

Some boys she didn't know were horsing around, but most kids
were either waiting in line to buy tickets or standing around in small groups
talking.

"Hey, Jana!" It was Curtis, and he skidded to a
stop beside her. He was all smiles as he pushed his glasses up on his nose and
waited expectantly for her to answer.

"Hi, Curtis," she said.

"Mark Twain kids are sitting on the left side," he
told her. "Do you want me to save some seats?"

Jana shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm not sure how many
of us are sitting together. We'll see you inside."

She looked past Curtis and scanned the crowd. Randy and his
friends had just gotten their tickets and were going in the door.

"There's Jon Smith standing over there by himself,"
said Christie. She was pointing toward a boy leaning against the building. "Isn't
he cute?"

Jana glanced at him and then smiled at Christie and nodded.
Jon Smith was medium height with medium brown hair and a medium build. Nothing
great, compared to Randy Kirwan, and he certainly didn't look as if he had
celebrities for parents.
But
,
she thought as she looked him over
for a second time, he wasn't so bad either.

Alexis Duvall and Lisa Snow were in the ticket line and
waved when Jana looked their way. There were lots of kids from her old school
here. She was relieved that they wouldn't be outnumbered, since it was a Friday
night tradition for Mark Twain seventh-graders to sit on one side of the
theater and Riverfield seventh-graders to sit on the other.

Finally Jana spotted Laura McCall and her three friends.
They had just piled out of a small red sports car that was pulling away from
the curb, and they were coming across the street toward the theater with Laura
in the lead and the other three trailing behind her. She looked terrific in
tight-fitting jeans and a fringed western jacket. It was obvious from the way
her eyes darted around that she was looking for someone—someone she intended to
impress. Jana had the sinking feeling that she knew who that someone was.

By this time her friends had noticed The Fantastic Foursome
also.

"Look out. Here they come," Katie buzzed in Jana's
ear.

"Laura had better leave Scott and Shane alone,"
warned Melanie.

Just then Jana's eyes met Funny's. Jana wanted to look away,
but Funny gazed at her with such a pleading expression that she couldn't. Jana
raised her hand in a brief wave and allowed a smile to flicker across her face.
Then she led her friends toward the ticket line before Funny could respond.

It was World War Three inside the theater. The two schools
were squared off at each other over a chasm of empty seats in the middle. Straw
papers whizzed overhead like miniature rockets, and every couple of minutes
bomb blasts sounded as someone else stamped on a popcorn box. Ushers stormed up
and down the aisles shushing some kids, warning others, and generally having no
effect at all.

Jana couldn't help smiling to herself as she clutched
popcorn in one hand and a Coke in the other and hurried down the aisle. Just as
she saw Randy several rows ahead, she felt someone pinch her arm.

"Over there!" Melanie whispered excitedly. She had
seen the boys, too, and was urging everyone in that direction.

"Great," said Jana. "There are four seats
right behind Randy and Scott. Let's grab them before someone else gets them."
Silently she was feeling superior. Laura McCall would have to sit on the other
side of the theater. Randy, Scott, and Keith were safe from her clutches—at
least for now.

"Hi, Jana Banana," shouted Joel Murphy just as
Jana slid into a seat.

Jana hated that nickname, and she started to scowl and shout
something back at him when Randy turned around and gave her one of his
1,000-watt smiles. Her heart turned at least a dozen flip-flops as she sank
deeper into her seat and returned his smile.

"Hi," he said. "You're still going to Bumpers
after the show, right?"

All she could do was nod.

"Great," he said, smiling again. "I'll see
you there, and I'll walk you home."

Jana didn't see any of the movie. She was too busy
daydreaming about Randy and making up stories about what would happen when they
got to Bumpers. Laura would be there, too, of course, trying desperately to get
Randy's attention. But he wouldn't notice her. He would be gazing into Jana's
eyes, telling her how wonderful she was while Laura could only watch and sob
her heart out. Then later, he would walk her home, and maybe he would kiss her
again. She hugged herself at the thought.

A couple of times Jana noticed Laura and Melissa McConnell
strolling up the aisle on the Mark Twain side. Laura pretended to look straight
ahead, as if she just
happened
to be on the Mark Twain side of the
theater, but Jana knew better. She could see them looking for Randy and Mark
and Keith out of the corners of their eyes. Ha! thought Jana. Are they ever
going to be in for a big surprise when we get to Bumpers.

When the movie ended, everyone tried to stuff themselves
through the exit at once. It took forever to get out, and Jana could see that a
big crowd had already made it to Bumpers ahead of them. She had never been
inside the fast food restaurant before since it was strictly a junior high
school hangout, but she had heard a lot about it. It was called Bumpers because
it was decorated with bumper cars and posters from an amusement park ride. Some
cars were hanging from the ceiling by wires. Others were arranged around the room
for kids to sit in. The old bumper cars were freshly painted in reds, greens,
yellows, and blues, but they still had dents and bashed-in fenders from their
days of careening around and smashing into each other.

"Wow! This place is neat," cried Jana over the
noisy crowd. "But where on earth are we going to sit?"

"The boys have a big booth over there," Christie
shouted. She was pointing toward a booth near the counter.

Jana craned her neck to see who was sitting there. It was
Randy, Scott, Mark, Joel, and Keith. "Come on," she said, and
motioned the others to follow her. "There's room for all of us."

They tried to push through the crowd, stopping once to let a
waiter carrying a tray loaded with burgers and fries pass in front of them.

"This is a worse madhouse than the theater,"
complained Katie.

Finally a path opened up, but just as Jana started to make a
break for Randy's booth, she stopped cold and stared. Laura McCall and her
friends were heading in the same direction. The only trouble was, they were in the
lead, reaching the booth and pushing their way in before Jana and her friends
could get there.

"What are we going to do?" Melanie wailed in Jana's
ear. "
They've
got
our
seats!"

Just then Laura caught sight of Jana. She narrowed her eyes
and flicked her long braid from side to side, looking like a cat about to
attack its prey.

Jana could hear someone shouting in the background, but she
was too angry to pay attention. She couldn't let The Fantastic Foursome get
away with this. She had to do something. But what?

"Jana Morgan!" a man's voice shouted. "There
is a telephone call for Jana Morgan!"

Jana spun around and looked toward the counter where a man
in a cook's apron was holding a telephone receiver above his head. Had she
heard right? she wondered. Had he called her name?

"JANA MORGAN!" he repeated. "Is there a Jana
Morgan in here?"

"Here!" she shouted, jumping up and down and
waving her hands over her head. It was for her, but who could be calling her at
Bumpers? Kids parted, making a path for her as she raced to the man. "I'm
Jana Morgan," she panted.

"Hello?" she shouted, putting the receiver to one
ear and a hand over the other ear to shut out some of the noise.

"Hi, honey. It's your mom. I'm sorry to interrupt your
fun, but have you seen Beth anywhere tonight?"

"Beth?" she asked in alarm. "No! She wasn't
at school today, either, and nobody answers her phone. But how did you know?
What's wrong?"

"I just had a call from her father. He said she's
disappeared, and he hoped she was with you. According to Mr. Barry, Beth's
mother underwent surgery today. Didn't you know about that, either?"

"No, Mom. What's wrong with her?"

"She had a lump in her breast and they thought it might
be cancer, but
thank goodness
,
the tests were negative."

"At least that much is a relief," said Jana, "but
it explains a lot, too. Beth's been acting awfully strange for the past few
days. In fact, she wouldn't speak to any of us. We thought she was mad about
something. We didn't know she was worried about her mother. But what happened
to Beth? What do you mean, she disappeared?"

"Beth and her father were in the hospital lounge a few
hours ago waiting for word that Mrs. Barry had come through surgery okay. He
thinks Beth dropped off to sleep and woke up just as the doctor was giving bad
news to someone else waiting in the same lounge. Beth must have been so groggy
from her nap that she thought the bad news was about her mother because she
jumped up, raced out the door, and he hasn't been able to find her since."

"That's awful!" cried Jana.

"Poor Beth," said Mrs. Morgan. "There's no
telling where she's gone or what she's going through right now."

Jana promised her mother that she would find out if anyone
at Bumpers had seen Beth or had any ideas where she might have gone, and then
she would come right home. As she put down the receiver, tears flashed into her
eyes.
Poor Beth,
her mother had said.
There's no telling where she's
gone or what she's going through right now.

I've let her down, Jana thought miserably. Why didn't I make
her tell me what was wrong? Why didn't I try harder to find her? She's my very
best friend in the world, and when she needed me, I let her down.