Fabulous Five 005 - The Bragging War (6 page)

"Gee, Beth. Are you sure you're okay?" Keith held
her hand and stared into her eyes as they sat on the Barry front porch. He had
been sweet enough to walk her home rather than go to Bumpers without her.

"You'd make a
great
doctor, Keith,"
answered Beth. She started to flutter her eyelids at him but thought better of
it. He might think it was cornball. Instead she gave him her sweetest smile, as
she held the ice pack, which was by now positively warm, against her face. "You've
got a great bedside manner. Or should I say
porch
side?"

Just then Todd came running out of the house and slammed the
door. "Coming through!" he yelled as he leapt over them and ran down
the steps. He jumped on his bike and rode off down the street doing
pop-wheelies all the way.

"Is that thing still cold?" Keith asked, pointing
to the ice pack.

"Oh, yes, a little. The bruises feel better with it on
them. Why, I'll even bet that they'll be gone by tomorrow. I should have
thought of using an ice pack before." Wow, what a stroke of genius, she
thought. By Monday morning I'll be rid of my pimple, even if I have to amputate
it, and he'll never know I had one. No more candy bars for me. They aren't
worth it.

"It really scared me," Keith continued, "when
I heard someone say you were bleeding all over the place."

"That's darling of you, Keith." She started to
move the hand he wasn't holding to touch his cheek but remembered in time it
was the one holding the ice pack. Instead she leaned against him and put her
head on his shoulder. "You don't know how much I really like you."

He put his arm around her and held her tightly for a moment.
Then he sat back and took her chin in his hand and leaned down to kiss her on
the mouth. The world spun around Beth as she let herself sink against him. She
felt warm all over, especially on her knees. The ice pack had sprung a leak and
was dribbling all over her.

"Oh!" she said jerking back. "I've got to go
in now."

"Go in?" He looked as if he couldn't believe what
she was saying.

"Yes. I, uh, told my parents that I'd sit with Alicia
tonight, and it's just about time for them to go out."

His face was full of disappointment. "They're going out
at four-thirty on Saturday afternoon?"

"I'm sorry, Keith. Really I am." She was even
sorrier that she was getting so wet and wanted to get into the house before the
ice pack was completely empty and she couldn't hide behind it anymore. "I'll
make it up to you. I promise," she called as she ran into the house.

Inside, it was one of those rare moments. All was quiet. Her
father was watching a sports show on TV in the family room, and her mother was
reading while Alicia lay on the floor in front of them coloring in a book.
Agatha slept next to her. Beth could hear the dog making funny little snoring
sounds. Brittany was on the phone in the hall, and Brian was probably taking a
nap in preparation for another big Saturday night out.

Beth avoided a backhanded swipe by Brittany and grabbed the
directory out of the telephone stand. Next she went into the family room to
retrieve the entertainment section from the paper and headed upstairs to her
room to work on her plan for upstaging Laura McCall. Brittany was the only one
who paid any attention to her. It's as if I don't even exist around this place,
Beth thought.

Darn, darn, darn, she thought. Just when things were getting
super between Keith and me, that stupid ice pack had to spring a leak. She
threw it viciously into the wastebasket by her desk and changed into a dry
shirt and jeans.

Beth sat down and started to search through the
entertainment section of the paper. Soon she found what she was looking for: an
interview with Trevor Morgan, the lead musician with Brain Damage. She read
through it quickly. They were going to be at the Coliseum on Friday. Where
else? thought Beth. They sure wouldn't be at Bumpers. The Coliseum was the only
place in town large enough to hold the crowd they would draw.

After asking Trevor Morgan about his hometown of Liverpool,
England, the interviewer asked,
"How would you describe Brain Damage's
music
, Mr. Morgan?"

"We play rock
, but not the hard stuff, you
know. The secret to our success, I believe, is getting the audience involved."
Beth tried to imagine the words being spoken by Trevor with his beautiful
British accent.
"We like to get local people on stage, put funny
clothes on them, and let them sing with the band. It helps get the audience
involved.
"

The interviewer asked Trevor what he liked about the United
States.
"The people, of course. You've got beautiful people, love.
Except you could treat your American Indians and street people a little better,
you know.
"

Beth skimmed the rest of the interview for information about
Trevor Morgan, but there wasn't anything that everyone didn't already know.

Next she opened the directory and looked up Dekeisha Adams's
number. She might as well start with her.

"Hello," answered Dekeisha.

"Hi. This is Beth."

"Oh, hi, Beth. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good." Beth made her voice sound thin, as
if maybe a blood transfusion might help. "I wanted to thank you for being
concerned about me at the game, Dekeisha. That was nice of you."

"No problem," said Dekeisha. "When we saw
that your face was so red, we could have sworn you were bleeding. It just goes
to show you what leaping to conclusions can do."

"Yes, I guess so," Beth answered. Then she tried,
with her best theatrical voice, to sound casual. "That's really something
that Laura McCall's father can get front row tickets for Brain Damage's
concert, isn't it?"

"Wow! It sure is."

Beth wished that Dekeisha hadn't sounded so excited. It wasn't
that
great. Well . . . maybe it was. Beth pressed on with her plan. "The
only thing I know that would be even better would be to be related to someone
in the Brain Damage band."

The phone was silent for a moment, and Beth wondered if
Dekeisha was still there. "Related? Do you know someone who's related to
one of the musicians?"

"Oh, sure," said Beth, acting surprised. "You
didn't know that Jana Morgan is related to Trevor Morgan, the lead singer of
Brain Damage? I thought everyone knew that."

"
I
didn't," Dekeisha said excitedly. "Wow!
Have you ever met him?"

That's more like it, thought Beth. When I'm finished,
everyone's going to forget about Laura's dumb old front row seats, and The
Fabulous Five will be the talk of Wacko again. Next I'll call Alexis Duvall,
Lisa Snow, Kim Baxter, Sara Sawyer, and . . . let's see . . . she thought, who
else? I'll make a list so I don't leave anyone out, she decided.

Beth went on telling Dekeisha how Jana's ancestors had come
from Liverpool, England, where Trevor Morgan's home was, and how Trevor and
Jana were distant cousins. The more she talked, the easier it got, and by the
time she had called everyone on her list of names, she almost believed it
herself.

"BETH BARRY! How could you do such a thing?" screamed
Jana. "You know I'm not related to Trevor Morgan. I've had twenty kids ask
me about him already this morning, and I don't even know him. I told you that
last night when you called. Why in the world did you do it?"

"Take it easy, Jana. What harm can it do if people
think you're related to him? No one is going to get the chance to ask him if it's
true," Beth tried to console her friend.

Beth had been walking on air all the way to school that
morning. Her zit had disappeared, she was off probation with her parents, and
she had called nearly everyone in the seventh grade—except The Fantastic
Foursome, of course—the night before to tell them that Jana was related to
Trevor Morgan. So it was stretching the truth? So what? They had all been
impressed, and Laura and her friends would absolutely curl up and die when they
heard. Beth had suspected that Jana might be questioned about it before Beth
saw her and had called to warn her about what she had done, emphasizing how
foolproof the scheme was.

"I don't know," said Katie. "They may find
out some way, and if they do, we're in
big
trouble."

"How are they going to find out?" insisted Beth.

"It worries me, too," said Christie.

"Look. Brain Damage is in town for a one-night stand at
the Coliseum and one night only. They'll be gone Saturday. No one's going to
find out. And just look at how famous you are, Jana, and The Fabulous Five,
too. No one is talking about Laura McCall's front row seats anymore."

"She's right about that," agreed Melanie. "I've
had kids I never talked to before come up to me and ask about Trevor Morgan."

"Me, too," said Christie.

"Well, I only hope you're right," said Jana. "But
it scares me."

"Don't worry," said Beth. "
Nothing
can
go wrong."

And nothing did go wrong for the rest of the day. Beth felt
like a celebrity with so many people stopping to ask her if it was true that
Jana was related to Trevor Morgan. She basked in all the attention.

The best time was at lunch in the cafeteria when a crowd
gathered around The Fabulous Five's table. Beth could see Laura McCall and The
Fantastic Foursome sitting at their table all by themselves and glaring at The
Fabulous Five. Beth couldn't resist smiling and waving to them. Laura looked as
if she were going to explode as she whipped the end of her long braid faster
and faster.

It was at Bumpers after school when lightning struck, and
Beth wished she could dissolve into thin air. Kids were still crowding around
The Fabulous Five, and Beth thought even Jana was beginning to enjoy the
notoriety when Laura McCall came toward their booth, followed by Tammy Lucero,
Melissa McConnell and Funny Hawthorne.

Laura pushed her way through the kids around the booth. "So
this is the famous Jana Morgan," she said. "Is it true that you and
Trevor Morgan are related?"

"Oh, I try not to drop names," said Jana. "But
if that's what you've been hearing . . ."

Beth was proud of Jana's response. Who knows? she thought.
She might make an actress someday herself.

"I hear you're cousins," Laura pursued the
subject.

Jana looked nervous as Laura forced her into lying. "Only
distant cousins," she said. She gave Beth a furtive,
you-got-me-into-this
glance.

"If you're related, he'll probably stop by your house
and see your family, won't he?" continued Laura.

"Uh, he's much too busy to stop by. I suppose he'll
call Mom, though."

"Isn't that nice?" said Laura sweetly to The
Fantastic Foursome. Tammy, Melissa, and Funny nodded their heads obediently.

"What kind of a guy is he, Jana? Is he nice? Does he
like his fans or is he stuck-up?" asked Laura.

"Oh, he's nice," said Jana. "He's not
stuck-up at all, and he loves his fans. He wrote us once about how much he
likes them."

Suddenly Beth smelled a rat. Where was Laura leading Jana?
She wasn't asking all these questions for nothing. She tried to catch Jana's
attention to warn her.

It was then that Laura asked the killer question. "Does
he like you?"

"Me?" Jana answered with a laugh and a confused
look on her face. "Of course he likes me. We're cousins, aren't we?"

Beth sank in the booth. She thought she knew what was coming
next.

Laura grinned like a cat playing with a mouse. "If he
likes you so much, why don't you ask him to come by Bumpers Friday after school
and see all the fans he has here before the concert?"

"Yeah, Jana," Melissa McConnell joined in. "Why
don't you ask him?"

All the kids who had been listening cheered and yelled, "YEAH,
JANA! ASK HIM! ASK HIM!"

Jana's face went white. "I said he's too busy. He has
to practice and set up his sound equipment and things."

Laura had caught her mouse. "He has a road crew to do
that. Besides, is he too busy even to do a teensy favor for all of his fans at
Bumpers? I thought you said he loves his fans."

"I did but . . ."

"Come on, Jana," Tammy Lucero said with a sly
grin. "You aren't hiding something, are you?"

Jana looked as if she could die.

Beth had to help her friend. "She
will
ask him,"
she burst in. "And I'll bet he comes and signs autographs for everyone
here."

Jana looked at Beth in shocked disbelief.

The word spread through Bumpers like wildfire. Everyone
starting cheering and slapping Jana on the back and telling her what a great
person she was. Only Beth sat back in silence, stunned at her own super
extralarge mouth.

"This special meeting of The Fabulous Five has been
called to decide whether we're going to lynch Beth Barry or tar and feather her
and run her out of town," said Jana. The Fabulous Five were in Jana's
bedroom, and Beth had never seen Jana look so angry.

"I vote for tarring and feathering," said Katie. "Lynching's
too fast."

"What about strangling her with one of Brain Damage's
guitar strings?" asked Christie. "I can't think of anything more
appropriate."

"I think we ought to make her eat her words until she
bursts," volunteered Melanie.

"With her big mouth, she'd never get full," said
Katie.

Beth felt as if she were falling into a bottomless pit. She
had just been trying to help Jana when she told everyone at Bumpers that Jana
would ask Trevor Morgan to come by and sign autographs. She hadn't even meant
to say it. It had just come out that way. And then every single person in
Bumpers had come over to their table to tell Jana that they couldn't wait to
see Trevor Morgan in person and to get his autograph. When The Fabulous Five
were finally alone, Jana had demanded an immediate meeting, and they had
marched Beth to Jana's apartment.

"Beth, what were you
thinking
about?" asked
Jana. She was practically in tears. "You should have known this would
happen. Now what are we going to do? You know I don't know Trevor Morgan. There's
no way I can get him to come to Bumpers. Except at concerts, people can't get
within a hundred feet of a rock star. I'm going to look like a fool."

"The Fabulous Five are
all
going to look like
fools," said Katie. "You're actually doing what The Fantastic
Foursome couldn't do—make us look bad."

Beth held back tears of her own. "I'm sorry. Really I
am. Every time Laura McCall made a big brag, I couldn't stand it. I just had to
show her up because she was trying to show us up. Before I knew what was
happening, it turned into a full-fledged bragging war."

Jana looked at her sadly for a moment. "Beth, Beth,
what are we going to do with you? Your wild stories were okay at Mark Twain
Elementary where everyone knew you and how dramatic you liked to be. But people
don't know you that well yet at Wakeman. They think you
mean
what you're
saying. Now you've got us all in trouble. Come on, gang, think. Is there any
way we can straighten this out without looking too foolish?"

"I don't know," said Christie. "You know you
said that you were related to Trevor Morgan right in front of everyone, and
they all heard Beth say you could get Brain Damage to come to Bumpers. It looks
to me as if we're stuck."

The Fabulous Five sat around for the next half hour,
gloomily trying to think up ideas that could get them out of their mess. Each
time someone came up with one, the others shot holes through it. Finally the
meeting broke up, and they all left dejectedly for home.

In her room Beth flung herself on her bed and lay in the
dark, her eyes filled with tears. She felt almost as bad as she had the time
her mother had been ill and she had thought it was her fault. She had run away
and hid until her friends found her that time. If only she could do that now.

Why do I do such stupid things? Why can't I be like Melanie
or Jana or Christie or Katie and know the right thing to do all the time? Even
Brian and Brittany seem so sure of themselves. Every time I try to do something
that people will notice, it turns out like this, a mess.

Beth rolled over onto her back and sighed. She felt like a
nobody. Things had seemed so simple back at Mark Twain Elementary when they had
only Taffy Sinclair to deal with. Now there was Laura and The Fantastic
Foursome and everything else that was different at Wakeman Junior High.

Why have I started to feel as if there's an explosion going
on inside of me with pieces flying in all directions? she wondered. All my
friends are the same as before. Even as bad as the problem over Brain Damage
is, they're still sticking by me. Yet there are times when everything feels
different.
Why can't I control my emotions?

Beth pulled the edge of the bedcover over her head. Her
shoulders shook with sobs that she stifled in her pillow. Soon she was quiet as
she slept.

The sound of Brian's music awakened her sometime later. She
rubbed her eyes and wondered for a moment where she was. Her clock said six o'clock,
and that meant Todd would be yelling for everyone to come to dinner shortly.

Beth got up and went into the bathroom to wash her face. She
looked into the mirror and couldn't believe how bad she looked. Her hair was a
mess and her eyes and nose were red.

"Suppertime!" she heard Todd yell up the stairway.

A clamor of footsteps and Agatha's barking sounded in the
hall as the rest of the Barry clan ran for the kitchen. Beth dried her face,
brushed on a little powder to hide the redness, and then she followed.

The conversation at the table was normal with everyone's
trying to tell the story of their day and complaining about someone else's
taking too much food. Agatha wandered from person to person begging hopefully
for a morsel to eat.

Beth sat quietly eating, half listening to the others and
passing food when asked.

"Beth, are you feeling all right?" her mother
asked as she handed out dishes of blueberry cobbler for dessert. "I can't
remember when you've been so quiet."

"I'm fine." She was hardly ever ill, and they all
knew it.

"You don't look as if you're fine. Jeff, feel her head.
Does she have a temperature?"

Everyone went silent as her father reached over and put the
back of his fingers to her forehead. "Feels okay to me," he said, but
he looked worried, too.

"Are you sure you're okay, Bethy?" asked Brittany.

Beth could hardly believe the looks of concern on the faces
at the table. Suddenly, by not saying anything, she had become the center of
attention. As hard as she had tried before, except for the time she put on the
fake wounds, it had been impossible to get someone to even look at her much
less listen to what she had to say.

After dinner her mother and father knocked on her door. "Honey,
are you sure you're all right?" her mother asked again. "Is something
wrong? Usually you're so bright and bubbly."

She reassured them she was okay, and they finally went away,
but she could hear them talking in worried tones as they left. Later Alicia,
Todd, Brian, and Brittany each stuck their head in the door to say something
cheerful. Alicia even brought Agatha, "to cheer Bethy up," she said,
and surprisingly even Brian's music was played at half its normal volume. Maybe
I do amount to something in this family after all, she thought. Maybe I've just
been going about things all wrong.

Her spirits lifted a tiny bit, and her mind went back to
Trevor Morgan and the problem she had created for The Fabulous Five. Beth
picked up the telephone directory, which she had forgotten to return to the
stand in the hallway, and turned to the listing for hotels in the yellow pages.