Fabulous Five 019 - The Boys-Only Club (3 page)

Katie was still upset over what had happened before gym when
she walked into Bumpers after school. It didn't help matters any when Clarence
Marshall and Joel Murphy each playfully took her by one arm and raised her off
her feet.
"Let me down,"
she said through clenched teeth.

They did just that, depositing her standing in the seat of
one of the bumper cars that gave the restaurant its name. Everyone in the place
laughed as she climbed out of the car. It was all she needed.

"I could break their necks!" Katie said angrily as
she pulled up a chair to join Christie, Beth, Marcie Bee, and Dekeisha Adams at
a table.

"Boys are so immature," said Dekeisha,
sympathizing with her. "It's a well-known fact that they mature slower
than girls."

That's exactly what Gwyneth Plum said, thought Katie. Boys
certainly hadn't changed since her time.

"Girls are also smarter than boys," added Marcie. "At
least most of them."

Christie took a bite of the mixed chocolate and vanilla ice
cream cone she was eating. "I think it's because they haven't discovered
they can think about something besides sports and horsing around. They're
really not dumb."

"It's all the same thing," said Katie. "Like
Dekeisha says, they're immature."

"But what would we do without them?" Beth laughed.
"They're all we've got."

"That's the trouble," replied Marcie. "And
they know it."

At that moment, Katie saw Tony come in and walk to the
serving line with Beth's boyfriend, Keith Masterson. Tony was laughing at
something Keith was telling him as if he hadn't a care in the world. Katie
stood up. "I've got to go." She didn't want to have to watch Tony
having fun with other people.

When Katie reached home, she said hello to her mother, took
Libber in her arms, and went to her room. There, she sat at her table with the
cat in her lap, softly scratching its head and thinking.

It was amazing how things could seem so right and then all of
a sudden so wrong. She and Tony had had a super weekend together with a gang of
kids at the mall, and she had been thinking how many new friends she had made
since she started junior high school and how much fun it was to be with Tony.
She was finally beginning to feel as comfortable at Wacko as she had felt at
Mark Twain Elementary.

Katie took Gwyneth Plum's notebook out of the table drawer
and opened it to the place she had marked and started to read again.

I don't know what it's like for you, whoever you are
reading this, but it's not too great being a girl right now. One of the worst
things ever is in the winter when I have to wear long underwear under my dress.
I pull my long stockings up to hide them. The big problem is, there's no place
to take them off when I get to school and my desk is near the coal stove. I get
all hot and itchy and can hardly sit still. Mrs. Goddard keeps giving me angry
looks.

Katie covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. She could just
see the girl in the picture sitting in class next to a hot potbellied stove,
sweating and scratching.

Also, after supper I have to wash a huge stack of dishes.
Not just supper dishes, mind you, but the dishes from the whole day. Mama says
that's my job because I'm a girl. I don't think it's fair that my brother
Robert, who's fifteen, doesn't help. John is too young.

"Can you believe that?" Katie asked Libber. "That's
ridiculous. It's massive discrimination."

But one thing that Mama doesn't want me to do, which I do
anyway, is read her magazines with the romance stories in them. She hides them
in the bottom drawer of her bureau, and when she's at the neighbors', I get
them out and read them. Once Robert almost caught me doing it. I'll be in deep
trouble if she finds this and reads about it.

Gwyneth and Melanie would like each other, Katie thought to
herself with a grin. Melanie was totally boy crazy, and she was always talking
about romance.

Another thing I don't like is having to take sewing and
cooking. The boys get to take fun things like manual shop and build birdhouses
and tables and things like that. Cooking and sewing are boring.

I told Mrs. Goddard that, and she laughed at me. She said
when I grow up, I would probably get a good job making ladies' hats or typing
in an office. She said that's what ladies do. I get tired of hearing what
ladies can and can't do. Why can't we do what we want like boys?

Good question, thought Katie, shifting Libber in her lap so
she was more comfortable. Come on Gwyneth, stick up for your rights.

Do you know that after I had the argument with Tommy
about wanting to be a doctor I told some of my girlfriends about it, and they
thought I was silly? That made me all the madder. They're the silly ones, not
me. I hope things are different or you. You're lucky.

If you only knew, Gwyneth, Katie thought, thinking back over
her conversations with other girls over the last two days. Some things hadn't
changed at all.

Well
, I decided it was time to do something about
people's thinking girls are inferior to boys. I started a club at school for
the advancement of girls' rights. I call it Girls' Rights are Important Too.
The letters spell GRIT. Isn't that funny?

Katie straightened up in her chair as she read. What a great
idea Gwyneth had had.

Actually I mean for the name to be serious. It's going to
take a lot of grit to get people to listen to us.

So far I've got Ginny Booth, Mildred Waxman, and Margaret
Glavin to join. We had our first meeting at my house, and I said we should
start a campaign for girls to be able to take manual shop. Ginny and Mildred
voted for that, even though they said they didn't know why anyone would want to
take shop anyway. I told them it was the principle of the thing.

Katie curled a strand of her red hair around her fingers. "I
bet we'd like Gwyneth," she told Libber. "She's turning out to be our
kind of girl. Gutsy." The cat squinted its eyes at her and purred softly.

Gwyneth's organization of the girls' club reminded Katie of
what she had read about the first women's rights convention. It had been held
in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 and was the first time women had met in a
single place to plan on how to get equal rights with men. Gwyneth's GRIT
sounded like a miniconvention of thirteen-year-old girls.

Boy, thought Katie, in some ways Gwyneth's world was a lot
like ours, but in a lot of other ways, it had certainly been a lot tougher. She
couldn't imagine having to wear long underwear and sit by a hot stove.

"Oops!" said Katie, looking at her watch. It was
time to get downstairs to set the table for dinner. She would have to get back
to Gwyneth Plum later.

She put the marker back in the book and closed it
regretfully. She was enjoying reading it, and something Gwyneth had written had
given Katie an idea. A very interesting idea that she needed to think about.
Katie patted the notebook as a way of saying thanks and went to set the table.

"Gee, Katie, I don't know what Mr. Bell would say."
A frown creased Christie's forehead, and she brushed her blond hair away from
her face. "You can always ask him."

"Sure," Katie said. "I'll just march in and
say, 'Hey, Mr. Bell. I've got a super subject I think you should add to Wacko's
list of classes next year.'" She rolled her eyes. "Somehow I don't
think I'll convince him."

Christie shrugged. "I don't know, Katie, he might think
it's a good idea." The two girls crossed the street and continued on their
way to Wakeman Junior High.

"You know him well enough to know he won't listen to
just one person's suggestion," Katie continued. "He'll just smile at
me and say, 'That's nice, Katie. How are your classes going?'"

"Come on. You're the one who talks about being fair,"
Christie responded. "I bet he gets a thousand suggestions about how to
improve classes at Wacko. I know my mom does at Mark Twain Elementary. Because
she's the principal of the school, everyone tells her what she should be doing.
The school board tells her, parents tell her, the PTA tells her, everybody
tells her how to run her school."

"I know," said Katie dejectedly. "
But it's
so important!
Wakeman needs a class on women's history. You should have
heard the way the girls were talking in the locker room. All they can think
about is boys. They don't think about themselves at all. How are they going to
do anything except what boys want them to do if they don't start now?"

"I hear you," said Christie. "I'm the one who
broke off with Jon because I've got too many other things I want to concentrate
on, remember?"

Katie knew it was true. Christie had dated Jon Smith when he
needed someone to help him feel good about himself. His mother was a TV
anchorwoman and his father, a sports director for the same channel, and Jon
felt like a nothing next to them. He was a lot different now, and Christie had
decided she didn't want to be tied to one boy any longer.

Christie looked at her. "You're right about Mr. Bell's
not listening to one person, but remember the petition you and Tony started to
change the school dress code so boys could wear earrings? Why don't you do that
again? Maybe he'd at least add a section about women's rights to the Family
Living class."

"I guess I'd settle for that, if I have to," said
Katie. "But I don't think I'd be able to get any other girls to sign the
petition in the first place. They don't care." Katie kicked at a rock on
the sidewalk and sent it skittering ahead of them.

Christie put her hand on Katie's arm. "You know four
girls that care," she said, smiling. "Let's talk to the other three
when we get to school."

"Count me in," said Jana.

"You know I could never pass up a good cause." said
Beth.

"Where you guys go, I go, even if it means . . .
uuggh
!
"
Melanie pulled her scarf up as if it were a noose and she were being hanged.

Katie punched her in the ribs with her elbow. "Quit it,
Melanie," she said, smiling at her comic friend.

"Why don't we go to the yearbook office after lunch,"
suggested Jana. "We can type up a petition and make copies there."

"I still think we're going to have a hard time getting
girls to sign it," said Katie. "Most of them can't get their minds
off boys long enough to think about anything else."

"No sweat," said Beth. "When The Fabulous
Five goes after something, we get it done." The others solemnly agreed.

"I don't know if I want to sign your petition if it
means more homework," said Alexis Duvall.

"Me either," said Mandy McDermott, wrinkling her
nose. "I spend all my time studying as it is. One more class would sink
me."

They were standing outside fifth-period English, where Katie
had stationed herself to get signatures. "But it's for our own good,"
pleaded Katie. "There are lots of things we should know about being
female."

"We get that in our Family Living class," said
Mandy. "Why do we need more?"

"Family Living doesn't get into why men get all the
best jobs and how come they're paid more money than women." Katie remembered
Gwyneth's problem. "The teachers don't talk about why people think women
should do certain jobs and not others."

"Like what?" asked Alexis Duvall. "What jobs
shouldn't we do?"

"Uh . . . like politics. How many women presidents have
we had? How many vice presidents? One woman, Geraldine Ferraro, ran for vice
president, and people jumped all over her."

"
Politics?
Who wants to go into politics?"
Mandy stuck out her tongue and made a face as if she had tasted something
terrible. Alexis laughed, but Katie didn't think it was funny.

She tried to think up a better example. "Well, what
about corporations? How many women presidents of corporations are there?"

Mandy and Alexis looked at each other. Alexis shrugged. "All
those that aren't men, I guess."

Katie tried to remember some other things she had read. "Did
you know that only thirty percent of the people receiving medical degrees and
thirty-eight percent of the people receiving law degrees are women?
And
"—she
waved her finger for emphasis—"women are paid only sixty-four percent of
what men are paid."

"Excuse me," said Mandy, putting her hand over her
mouth to stifle a yawn. "I've got to get into class. I've got to finish my
assignment if I'm going to get into medical school."

"Me, too," said Alexis, hurrying after her.

Katie stamped her foot. She had collected only three
signatures all afternoon. What was wrong with these girls? Couldn't they see
how much discrimination there was against women in the world?

"So you're collecting signatures on another petition."

Katie hadn't noticed that Laura McCall had been listening to
her conversation with Alexis and Mandy. Tammy Lucero, Funny Hawthorne, and
Melissa McConnell were with her.

"What great crusade are The Fabulous Five working on
now?" Laura asked with a haughty smirk.

Katie narrowed her eyes at the group of girls. Laura wore
her long blond hair in a braid that started at the top of her head and came
down over her left shoulder. She had a habit of twitching the end of the braid
like a cat twitching its tail.

Tammy Lucero was small and dark-haired and had enormous
brown eyes. She was the biggest gossip in Wakeman Junior High.

Melissa McConnell was blond and stuck-up and very
meticulous. She was also a brain.

Funny Hawthorne had long, wavy brunette hair and wide blue
eyes. She was more friendly than the others and had a bubbly personality. She
and Jana had even become good friends, and seventh-grade coeditors on the
yearbook,
The Wigwam.

The girls had surrounded Katie, and she was immediately on
the defensive. "It's something that every girl should be concerned about,"
said Katie, sticking out her chin defiantly. She expected to be ridiculed by
The Fantastic Foursome, no matter what she did.

"Can I see the petition?" asked Laura, twitching
her braid. Katie reluctantly gave her the petition.

"The Fabulous Five are always trying to be big deals
and change everything," said Melissa, her nose stuck in the air. "You
think you're something."

Laura put her hand out to quiet her. "I'll sign this,"
she said, digging a pen out of her purse. Both Tammy's and Funny's mouths
dropped open, and Melissa looked as if she had just been sabotaged.

Katie was at a loss for words, too, as Laura scribbled her
name on the petition and then shoved it at Melissa for her signature.

As the rest of The Fantastic Foursome took turns signing,
Laura said, "This is one idea you've come up with that I agree with,
Katie. I'm like you, I can't understand those other girls wanting to let boys
run over them. A class at Wakeman on women's rights would be a great thing. In
fact, it should be mandatory for girls."

Katie blinked in amazement. It was the first nice thing
Laura McCall had ever said about one of The Fabulous Five. But maybe Laura
did
understand. She lived with her father, who was supposed to be a swinging
bachelor. Katie had heard rumors that Laura had to take care of the house for
him. "I'm glad you think so," Katie said cautiously.

"I heard about the boys-only computer game club some of
the guys have started," Funny said. "A lot of boys are joining. I
guess Kevin Walker-Noles has a humongous family room downstairs, and other guys
are going to bring their computers over."

Laura looked at Funny thoughtfully and then back at Katie. "You
know, it would be kind of nice if someone would start a club for girls. That
would show them we're as good as they are."

"Yes, it would," Katie agreed.

"It's kind of hard to do something like that on a
school night, but maybe Saturday night would be a good time."

"Saturday night?" asked Katie. "I don't know
if you'd get any girls to come. You heard them talking in the locker room about
wanting to be with boys. Alexis Duvall said she'd do anything for a date with
Bill Soliday. With the boys playing computer games on Friday, the girls wouldn't
give up Saturday night and not have any dates on the weekend."

"You're thinking like those other girls now," said
Laura, "and that's exactly my point. If the boys don't mind giving up one
of the weekend nights, why should the girls? We've
got
to show them we're
just as unconcerned about dating as they are. Otherwise they'll know they've
got us wrapped around their little fingers."

It seemed strange to hear Laura say "we" when she
was talking about her own clique and The Fabulous Five. "I see what you
mean," said Katie. "But how can we convince the other girls to go
along with it?"

"The Fabulous Five have a lot of pull with the girls
from Mark Twain Elementary, and The Fantastic Foursome have pull with the kids
from Riverfield. All we need is to get them to do it, and the kids from Copper
Beach Elementary will want to because everyone else is. Right?"

"Right," Katie said. She couldn't believe she was
actually making a pact with Laura McCall.

Laura motioned The Fantastic Foursome closer. "This is
what we'll do," she said in a conspiratorial voice. "Katie, you and
The Fabulous Five start working on the Mark Twain girls, and we'll do the same
with the Riverfield girls. We'll all talk to the Copper Beach kids. It'll be a
cinch. We can also get some signatures for your petition."

Katie looked at her dubiously. It
did
sound logical,
and Laura was right about the girls' having to show the boys that they could do
without dating just as easily as the boys could. But would the other girls
really go along with it? There was only one way to find out.