Fabulous Five 021 - Jana to the Rescue (5 page)

Jana sat on the living room couch and waited for the
doorbell to ring. It was 7:07, and already she was wondering if Liz might not
show up.

Pink strolled into the room. "Just waiting?" he
asked.

"Mm-hmm," Jana said. "She said she'd come at
seven."

"She'll probably be here any minute."

"Maybe," Jana said. "But then again, maybe
she decided not to stick her neck out."

Pink sat down on the couch beside her. "What do you
mean?" he asked.

"Well, I've been thinking about this," Jana said. "Coming
here is a big step for Liz. She's taking a risk by letting me spend a little
time with her, by letting you drive her back to the shelter. If she's
embarrassed about being homeless, coming here to our home is probably tough for
her."

Pink nodded. "I think you're right."

"So maybe she decided just to skip it, to stay safe and
not take the risk," said Jana.

"You know," Pink said with a grin, "you're a
pretty smart girl. No, maybe
perceptive
is a better word here."

"How about smart
and
perceptive?" Jana
teased.

"Now you're talking," Pink said, squeezing her
shoulder.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Jana's stomach did a
flip-flop. "She's here! She really came!" Jana whispered.

"You open the door," Pink whispered back. "I'll
get lost."

"Thanks," said Jana. Pink disappeared down the
hall to the master bedroom.

Jana hurried to the door and pulled it open. "Hi, Liz,"
she said. "Come on in."

Liz was wearing blue jeans, a blue cotton blouse, and, as
usual, her red down jacket. She carried two notebooks and her school textbook.

"Hi," she said just above a whisper.

She isn't smiling and she looks a little nervous, Jana
thought. She wondered briefly if she should ask to take Liz's jacket, but
decided against it. If Liz wanted to take it off, she would.

Jana ushered her into the living room. Liz stood in the middle
of the floor and looked around at the dining room table with its silk-flower
centerpiece, at the homey kitchen around the corner, at the comfortable
furniture in the living room and the wall covered with photographs of Jana's
family. She didn't speak.

"I thought we could study right here," Jana said. "Mom
and Pink are going to watch TV in their bedroom, so we won't be in the way, and
my room is really too small for us both to study there."

I'm talking too much and too fast again, Jana thought.
Taking a deep breath, she gestured to the couch. "Have a seat."

Liz walked over to the couch and sat down, and Jana
followed. Liz's gold earrings caught the light from the lamp on the end table
and shone brightly.

Jana leaned toward Liz. "Those are beautiful earrings.
I noticed them at school."

"Thanks," Liz said. There was a little pause, and
she touched the left earring gently. "They belonged to my grandmother.
They're real gold."

"I wish I had a pair like them," Jana said. "They're
gorgeous."

Liz looked off into space. "My grandmother died three
years ago. I used to live with her some of the time."

"Really?" Jana said, both surprised and delighted
that Liz had lowered that wall a little to talk about her life. "Where did
you live?"

Abruptly, the wall was snapped back into place. "Out of
state," Liz snapped, and looked away.

"Oh," said Jana, swallowing hard. "Well, I
guess we'd better study. Now, the important thing to remember about Mr. Naset's
tests is that he likes lists."

"Lists?" echoed Liz.

"Right. whenever he gives you three points to remember
about, say, the reason the colonists came to America—be sure to learn them. He'll
definitely ask them on a test."

"Okay," Liz said with a definite lack of
enthusiasm.

"Did you copy my notes into your notebook?" Jana
asked.

Liz shook her head. "I'm going to do that now."

"Oh," Jana said. She was disappointed. Why hadn't
Liz copied them before she came? They could have spent this time studying
together. And, come to think of it, she could have been studying on her own
during the last two days if she'd had her notes to study. Liz certainly hadn't
been very considerate. And now, Liz would just sit there by herself and copy
the notes, which would take her at least half an hour.

Liz opened both notebooks and sat down on the floor, working
on the coffee table as she began copying the notes.

"Would you like a Coke?" Jana asked.

"Sure," said Liz.

"Diet or regular?"

Liz looked up. "Regular."

"How about if I make some popcorn, too?" Jana
suggested.

"Suit yourself."

Jana exhaled loudly. She didn't care if Liz knew how
exasperated she was. In the kitchen she found her mother pouring herself a diet
soda.

"How's it going?" she whispered.

Jana frowned. "Okay, I guess. But she sure knows how to
get to me. And she didn't copy my notes, so she has to do it now."

Jana's mother nodded sympathetically and padded softly back
to the bedroom. Jana filled two glasses with ice and soda and returned to the
living room. She expected to see Liz copying the notes, but when she stepped
through the door, Jana saw Liz gazing at something in her hand. It looked like
a photograph, but at the same instant Liz glanced up. Seeing Jana, she slipped
whatever it was inside her book.

Jana set the Coke in front of Liz on the coffee table
without a word. Liz didn't speak either but went back to copying the notes.

It took Liz nearly an hour to copy all of them. Finally she
set her pen down and, locking her fingers, stretched her arms in front of her.

"Writer's cramp?" Jana asked, trying to sound
friendly.

Liz shrugged.

"Are you ready for me to quiz you?" Jana asked.

Liz made a face. "Are you kidding?" she asked
sourly. "I just finished copying the notes."

"Oh, okay," Jana said. "Do you just want to
study by yourself, then?"

"That's the idea," Liz said sarcastically.

"Okay," Jana said wearily. Old, ornery Liz is
back, she thought. Jana picked up her own notes and curled up on the couch to
study. For the next hour, Jana and Liz studied their notes silently, never
speaking. Jana peeked over at Liz several times. She couldn't help wondering if
Liz really had been looking at a picture, and if so, who was in it. But Liz
seemed to be concentrating pretty hard on the notes in front of her. Still, the
third time Jana looked at her, she noticed that Liz's eyes weren't moving.

How can you read and study if you don't move your eyes? Liz
wasn't
studying, Jana realized. She was just sitting there staring at the page,
pretending
to study!

"Would you like me to quiz you?" Jana asked. She
knew she was setting a trap for Liz, but she didn't care.

"No, I gotta go," Liz said abruptly. She got up
and zipped her jacket.

"Oh, well . . ." Jana fumbled. "Uh, I'll get
Pink to drive you home."

"Don't bother," Liz mumbled. Without another word,
she walked to the door, opened it, and disappeared down the hall.

Jana stood in the middle of the living room with her mouth
open in surprise. "I can't believe it," she muttered to herself.

"Jana, did I hear someone go out?" her mother
called from the bedroom.

Jana trudged back to where her mother and Pink were sitting
on the bed watching TV. "I can't believe it," she repeated. "Liz
came, copied my notes, drank a Coke, studied by herself, and then left! All
without a thank-you, or I'll-see-you-tomorrow or goodbye." She flopped
down on the end of their bed.

"That's too bad," Jana's mother said, shaking her
head. "I guess Liz just isn't ready to make her own friends yet."

"Well, I've had it with her!" Jana said angrily. "I've
done everything I can think of! I've shown her around school, introduced her to
my friends, eaten lunch with her, given her my notes—which I could have been
studying myself—and offered to help her study. And all I've gotten in return is
rudeness!
"

"I agree with you, honey," her mother said. "If
you ask me, you've been awfully patient."

"You bet I've been patient!" Jana cried. "I've
waited and waited for her to decide to be nice! I
know
she's had a hard
life, and I
know
she doesn't have a home, and I
know
she wants to
get out of the shelter! But
I
didn't put her there!" Jana sighed
wearily. "I'm going to take a shower."

As she left her parents' room and entered her own, the phone
rang. Pink answered it.

"Jana," Pink called. "It's for you."

"Thanks. I'll get it in the living room." When she
picked up the receiver, she made a face at it and said, "Hello."

"Hi, Jana. This is Melanie."

Jana's shoulders sagged. "Oh, hi, Mel." She wished
Melanie hadn't picked this moment to call. She wasn't in the mood to talk right
now.

"I just wanted to tell you what happened to me today,"
Melanie said anxiously, "and get your advice."

Jana sighed. "Okay," she said, "but I'm
really tired, Mel, so could you make it kind of fast?"

"Well, sure," Melanie said, sounding a little
hurt. "I'll make it fast, I promise." She immediately rushed into her
story, speaking nonstop. "You see, it was after school, and I was walking
down the sidewalk, and along came Shane on his bike, and I was thinking about
the love test, and I was kind of afraid that he wouldn't speak because the test
said that he'd hate me for four long, miserable years, and so I said, 'Hello!'
just like that, and he turned around and waved a little, and I guess that kind
of gave me confidence that maybe things weren't going to be so bad after all,
and I remembered the incantation I read about in a book of folklore at the library
that's supposed to cancel any kind of spell, and I said in this really loud
voice—I kind of yelled it, in fact—'Spider's web and kitten's bell, I command
that you remove this spell!' and, oh, man, Shane looked at me as if he thought
I was totally crazy, and, Jana, no kidding, I just wanted to crawl into a hole
and die!"

Melanie stopped and panted a moment. "Do you think I
did the wrong thing?"

"Yes, I think you did the wrong thing!" Jana
exploded. "I keep
telling
you that the love test is just a silly
game, but you refuse to believe me. And
of course
, Shane is going to
think you're nuts if you yell dumb things like that at him!
Anybody'd
think you were nuts! Now, if you'll excuse me, Melanie, I had kind of a bad
day, and I'm going to take a shower and go to bed, okay?"

"Okay," Melanie said in a little voice. "Sorry."
She hung up.

Jana sighed and trudged back to her room and flopped onto
the bed. Why did I treat Melanie that way? she thought. Mel didn't deserve it.

Jana rolled over on her back and stared at the ceiling. She
visualized Melanie yelling that stupid incantation at Shane and laughed out
loud. Shane must have thought she'd popped a screw loose in her brain
somewhere.

Poor Melanie, Jana thought. She needs a friend, not another
problem.

Jana sighed. She hadn't been very nice to Melanie. She was
just so frustrated with Liz! Melanie was a good friend, though, and Jana knew
that she would—

Jana sat upright. What had she just done? She was upset
about a problem and had treated Melanie rudely, just as Liz had treated
her
rudely during this terrible time in her life. And Liz certainly had bigger
problems than Jana.

"Oh, brother," she said aloud. "I'm just as
bad as Liz."

Jana went back to the living room, picked up the receiver,
and dialed Melanie's number.

"Hello, Melanie?" she said. "I'm calling to
apologize . . ."

Already, Jana felt better.

"I'm so glad we're having this meeting," Whitney
said, slipping into one of the front row seats in the auditorium. "I'm
coming unglued! Leslie is just as quiet and sulky as she was the first day!"

"Yeah," said Jana, sinking into the seat next to
her. "Liz won't talk much either, even the few times when she's not angry."

Mr. Bell and Mrs. Brenner sat informally on the edge of the
stage. The four remaining student partners entered the auditorium within a few
minutes and seated themselves in the first two rows.

"Well," Mr. Bell began, "we thought it might
be a good idea to get together today and talk about how our new program is
going. Any problems? Have you learned anything helpful?"

Kyle Zimmerman spoke up. "I've learned that my student
hates school and likes to pick fights."

"Oh, yes," Mr. Bell said. "Your partner was
one of the boys who was suspended for fighting, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," Kyle said. "I called the shelter last
night, and the supervisor told me that he and his mom have left town. I guess
his mom was going to look for work."

"That's typical," Mrs. Brenner said. "Homeless
people move around a lot looking for shelter and jobs.

"Yes, Whitney," said Mrs. Brenner.

"Leslie is really hard to deal with," Whitney said
softly. "I thought she'd become a friend, but she acts as if she
hates
me. She doesn't want to talk or do anything with me. If I offer to help her
with homework or with a problem she's having in class, she gets very quiet and
acts angry."

"How about you, Jana?" Mr. Bell asked. "Are
you having problems, too?"

Jana nodded. "My friends and I have tried to get Liz
interested in extracurricular activities, but she gets really sarcastic and
says those things are dumb."

"Do you think she really believes what she's saying?"
Mrs. Brenner asked.

"Oh, yes," Jana said. "I think the idea of
trying out for cheerleading or the school play seems stupid to her. Sometimes I've
wondered if Liz is on another, well,
plane
than the rest of us."

"You mean another
planet
?
" Tim said,
and everybody laughed.

"No," Jana replied, "I mean that Liz and her
mother are really trying hard to survive in the world. They're thinking about a
place to stay, a good job, food, that sort of thing, and I suppose that,
compared with those things, cheerleading and acting in a play does sound pretty
silly."

"I think you're absolutely right," Mrs. Brenner
said, smiling at Jana.

"So, how do we get her interested in school?"
asked Jana.

"Maybe we don't," offered Pam. "Maybe all we
can hope to do is try and make the school as pleasant a place as we can. Then
it's up to them to do the rest."

"Right," said Jana. "And I'm not really sure
that I even
want
to do much more. I mean, I try and try. I even asked
her to come over to my house to study. She just couldn't be less interested in
being a friend—or even
having
a friend!"

"Pam's right," Mrs. Brenner said. "We can
only do so much. We can offer help, friendship, guidance—and if the students
want to take advantage of those things, fine. If they don't, that's too bad.
There's only so much you can do."

"Is anybody having a good experience?" Mr. Bell
asked.

Tim Riggs sat forward. "Yes," he said. "My
student is really a great guy."

"How long has he been homeless?" Jana asked.

"Just a few weeks," Tim said. "And his
parents have already lined up jobs. They won't be at Phoenix House very long."

"Maybe he doesn't feel so bad about what he's going
through, then," Jana said. "I mean, since he knows everything will be
okay very soon."

"Yeah," Tim said. "You're probably right."

"I'm sure the anger and withdrawal you other people
have been seeing is due to the shame and embarrassment of being homeless,"
said Mrs. Brenner.

"I'll bet part of it," Kyle interjected, "is
the way some of the kids here at Wakeman have been treating them. I've heard
some kids say pretty mean things to the students from the shelter. I walked
into my science class the other day and overheard a kid call my student 'Homeless
Joe.' He thought he was being really cool, I guess."

"Some kids have been saying things to me like, Why don't
these people get jobs?" said Jana.

"Right," said Whitney. "Some kids have said
they think these homeless people are just lazy, and they don't see why we're
trying to help them."

"Well, I'm sure there
are
some lazy homeless
people getting help from local agencies," said Mrs. Brenner. "There
will always be people who abuse the system. But there are a great many more who
desperately want work but, for one reason or another, don't have jobs or can't
find them. Some have been laid off. Others have had other misfortunes. Some of
them have difficulty holding jobs because of personal problems."

"Like drinking or drugs?" asked Pam.

"Yes, and other illnesses," said Mrs. Brenner. "Remember,
addiction is a disease and it takes a very strong, very determined person to
stay off drugs or alcohol. When there are serious financial problems or other
troubles, it's hard to feel strong and determined."

"Does anyone have a suggestion about how we can do a
better job helping our students?" asked Mr. Bell.

No one spoke.

"I think," Jana said slowly, "we all feel as
if we are doing the best job we can."

Mr. Bell smiled. "I think you are, too. And no one can
ask you to do more than that." He looked around at the students sitting in
front of him. "Any more comments? Questions?"

The students shook their heads.

"So, that's it? The meeting's over?" asked Tim,
looking astonished.

"I'm afraid there are no easy answers," Mrs.
Brenner said.

"If there were easy answers, we'd be the first to give
them to you," Mr. Bell assured them.

Jana, Whitney, and the others stood up and began walking up
the auditorium aisle. Whitney walked ahead of everyone in deep thought. Then
she turned around and waited for Jana.

"I thought Mr. Bell and Mrs. Brenner were going to tell
us how to handle these problems. At least give us some ideas."

"Me, too." Jana sighed. "I guess principals
and guidance counselors shouldn't be expected to have magic answers to every
problem."

Whitney shrugged. "I guess you're right. So . . . we
struggle on, right?"

Jana smiled. "Right. But I don't know what more I can
do for Liz."

"Me, either," Whitney said. "I guess Pam was
right. We do what we can to help them. But then
they
have to make some
effort, too."

Jana swallowed a lump in her throat. "You know, I'm
beginning to dread seeing Liz because I know that no matter what I do, she'll
make me as miserable as she is."

Whitney nodded.

"Well," Jana said, "I'm going to try to stop
worrying. If Liz's nice, we'll be friends. If not, I'll leave her alone."

Whitney waved good-bye, and Jana turned and walked down the
hall toward Mr. Naset's class.

Jana had meant it when she told Whitney that she wouldn't
let Liz get to her any more. But as she got near her classroom, her stomach
rolled over as she thought about sitting down next to Liz.