Fabulous Five 007 - The Kissing Disaster (5 page)

Just then Melanie spotted Scott. He was leaving the
cafeteria, sauntering nonchalantly out the door, and he wasn't carrying any
books. He had to be heading for his locker.

Melanie put on a burst of speed, rushing through the crowded
cafeteria to catch him. She had to skid to a stop, turn sideways, and suck in
her breath to avoid a collision with Eric Silverman, who was carrying his dishes
to the tray return, but when she stepped into the hall, Scott was still in
sight.

"Scott! Wait up!" she shouted. Arriving beside him
out of breath, she smiled quickly and went on. "You're on your way to your
locker, right?"

"You've got it," said Scott. "I suppose you
want to go along, and then you want me to protect you if Sirloin Snake is in
yours."

"You've got it," Melanie echoed, and then burst
out laughing. "I know he isn't, of course. But just the same . . ."

They fell into step together and made casual conversation as
they walked along. Being with Scott always made her feel happy, and she knew it
showed in her voice.

As they reached her locker, she paused and looked at him
thoughtfully. "You know," she began, "I keep thinking about Mr.
Dracovitch."

"You mean that he's a vampire?" Scott asked.

"Yes. I mean no. That's just it. He isn't a vampire.
Not really. And everybody knows that. But the way kids keep joking about it, it's
bound to get back to him pretty soon. I wonder how he'll feel?"

Scott nodded. "I've been thinking about that, too.
Especially since everybody wants to make him a chaperon for the monster dance.
That plus all this business about a vampire snake on the loose in Wacko Junior
High could really shake him up if he ever found out."

Melanie nodded. As Scott waited, she pulled open her locker
and checked inside. No snake, she thought with relief. She grabbed her book,
and then headed toward the biology classroom door. Out of the corner of her eye
she could see Tammy Lucero staring in Scott's and her direction. She's so nosy,
thought Melanie. She's probably dying to know what we were talking about.

After Scott went off to his class, Melanie sank down into
her seat and thought about Mr. Dracovitch. Even though she was nervous about a
snake on the loose in the school, she felt sorry for her teacher. He's really
nice, she thought, and kids aren't being fair to him. She wished she could talk
to her friends about it, but they probably wouldn't listen, even if she brought
it up. They hadn't heard anything she had said for days.

As soon as class began, it was obvious to Melanie that Mr.
Dracovitch was worried. His face was whiter than usual, and his toupee seemed
to be slightly at an angle, as if he had been mopping his forehead and
accidentally knocked it askew.

"I want to emphasize that Sirloin is harmless," he
began in a low, monotone voice. "He's used to people, and you students all
know that he sleeps during the day. So just try not to be alarmed. We will find
the snake and get him back into his cage, arid nobody will get hurt."

Melanie felt sorrier for him than ever. What would happen if
they didn't find the snake? Would he lose his job? She noticed that in spite of
Mr. Dracovitch's reassurances most kids sat with their feet tucked under them,
safely off the floor.

Instead of sending the class to the dissecting tables to
work on the specimens, Mr. Dracovitch assigned two chapters in the text to be
read during class. Then, as they opened their books and began reading, he paced
up and down in front of the blackboard deep in thought.

Melanie rested her chin in her hand and tried to read, but
her eyes wanted to close. Even after oversleeping this morning, she was still
exhausted. The publicity committee for the dance would meet tonight, too. There
was cheerleading practice after school, and then there would be homework.
And
she still hadn't eaten anything all day!
As if on cue, her stomach growled,
and she looked around quickly to be sure no one had heard. She didn't even know
what had happened to the potato chips she had bought in the cafeteria. I must
have dropped them somewhere when I ran to catch Scott, she thought.

The harder she tried to read the assignment, the more the
words swam together. Her eyes simply refused to stay open, and every so often
her head drooped, startling her and making her bolt straight up. Slowly the
words on the page were replaced by dreamy pictures. Mr. Dracovitch dropping
something into the pans on the dissecting tables. Were they eyeballs or were
they snakes? She couldn't see them clearly enough to tell.

She was dreaming. She knew it, and she fought to wake up.
Instead, the pictures changed. She was in Bumpers now, surrounded by girls.
Katie. Beth. Christie. And Jana. They were all frowning at her and shaking
their heads.

"We don't like you anymore," said Katie. "You
never talk about anything
we
want to talk about."

"We don't want to be friends anymore," said Beth. "We've
all made new friends."

"
Better
friends," said Christie.

"The Fabulous Five is through," said Jana.

Melanie tried to talk to them, but no words would come out.
She tried to shout, but she couldn't make a sound. Finally, she reached out
toward them and POOF! All four of them vanished into thin air.

Just then a high-pitched sound echoed in her mind. She opened
her eyes and recognized the bell ringing to end the class. All around her, kids
were scrambling for the door, but Melanie sat still for a while, unable to
shake off the effects of the dream.

"What if it wasn't a dream?" she whispered, and
then shuddered. "What if it was a premonition?"

Melanie was so tired that she had to drag herself to the
publicity committee meeting after supper. She didn't dare miss it, though,
because Dekeisha and Jana would both be there, and she wanted Jana to see how
friendly Dekeisha was becoming toward her. There was another reason, too. Scott
would be there. The only trouble was that she liked other boys, too, such as
Shane and Garrett Boldt and now, maybe even Derek Travelstead.

Although she wasn't actually late this time, Melanie was the
last committee member to reach the media center. Everyone sat around a large
library table at the front of the room talking, and they looked up when she
came in. She stopped cold when she realized that there was an empty chair beside
both Jana and Dekeisha, who sat across the table from each other, and that each
of them was looking at her expectantly. Now what? she wondered, scanning the
room for a way out of her dilemma.

It was Dekeisha who made the decision for her. "Come
on, Melanie. Sit by me," she called.

As Melanie sank gratefully into the chair beside Dekeisha,
she couldn't help casting a sidelong glance at Jana. Jana had looked away, her
face hidden now so that Melanie could not see her expression. Was she angry at
Melanie for not sitting beside her? Was she glad? Or what? Melanie wondered.
Maybe if she could just catch Jana's eye and smile or something, it would
smooth things over. Rut Jana seemed determined not to look her way.

"Hey, I just thought of something," said Scott,
jumping to his feet.

Scott absolutely loved to tease, and Melanie could tell by
the impish grin on his face that he was up to something now. "Old Dracula
says snakes are nocturnal. What if Sirloin wakes up from his nap and decides to
come to our committee meeting?"

Dekeisha gasped and jumped onto her chair while everyone
else scrambled to search the dimly lighted library floor.

Scott tramped around the room, holding his hand straight out
above his eyes like the visor of a cap, and acted as if he were searching for
the snake. When he reached the darkest corner, he stopped and shouted, "Tracks!"

This time Dekeisha screamed. Melanie threw Scott a look that
said "knock it off" and pretended to be calm. She knew that Scott was
only faking, but she couldn't help glancing around. To her great relief, no
snake was in sight. She glanced at Jana, too, thinking maybe talk of the
missing snake might make her join in the conversation. No such luck. She kept
on looking away from the group.

"I think we'd better get started with the meeting,"
said Curtis. Everybody nodded and mumbled their agreement. Shrugging, Scott
gave up on his joke and sat down, too.

Melanie forgot about Jana for the time being as Curtis
talked about getting art supplies and making posters at the next meeting. That
will be fun, thought Melanie. Just as Whitney Larkin was making a suggestion
about what should go on the posters, something thunked against her notebook. It
was a tightly folded piece of paper. A note, probably, she thought. She twisted
around and looked behind Dekeisha. Scott was looking back. Then he grinned and
motioned toward the note in her hand. She opened it quickly.

Melanie
,
Let's walk home together after the meeting.
Scott

Melanie thought a moment and then nodded back to Scott. She was
supposed to call her dad to pick her up, but surely he wouldn't mind if Scott
walked her home tonight. Besides, she thought slyly, Jana could hardly miss
seeing her leave the school with Scott, and
of course
she would tell the
rest of The Fabulous Five.

Just as Melanie had predicted, Jana was standing by the
front door when she and Scott went out. Melanie felt triumphant. Surely Jana
would get on the phone to the rest of The Fabulous Five the moment she got
home. They would have to start noticing how popular she was getting. It wouldn't
be long before they realized that if they didn't need her, she certainly didn't
need them.

Scott was unusually quiet on the walk home. He probably
thinks I'm mad at him for teasing about the snake, she thought, smiling to
herself. If my feelings are important to him, that means he really cares.

"That was a pretty funny joke you pulled on the
publicity committee," she said, hoping that saying so would make him feel
better.

"I thought things were starting out pretty dull,"
he said with a grin. "I decided to liven them up. I'm glad you aren't mad."

"You certainly did liven things up," Melanie said.
"I really wish they'd find that snake, though. I know he's just a garden
snake and not poisonous or a vampire or anything like that, but he's making
everybody nervous."

"He's probably long gone by now," said Scott.

"What do you mean?"

"He probably found an open window and just slithered
out. Or maybe he crawled into a garbage can in the cafeteria looking for
something to eat and got thrown into the Dumpster. Lots of things could have
happened. With Mr. Dracovitch and the rest of the teachers and
all
the
kids looking for him, don't you think he would have been found if he was still
around?"

"Maybe," Melanie conceded. She hoped he was right,
but she didn't feel quite so confident.

When they reached her house, she smiled at Scott and said, "Thanks
for walking home with me. I'm really excited about the dance, and I think it's
going to be fun working on the publicity committee."

"Me, too," he said. Then, acting suddenly shy, he
looked down at the ground and began drawing invisible circles with the toe of
his sneaker.

What's wrong? she wondered, but before she could run through
a list of possibilities, he looked up at her again and said, "Would you go
to the dance with me?"

Melanie stared at him in surprise. She had been so busy with
all the committees and with trying to impress The Fabulous Five with her
popularity that she hadn't even thought about a date for the dance.

"Gosh! I'd love to!" she burst out.

"Great," he said. His momentary shyness seemed to
disappear, and he moved closer to her. Then he put his arms around her and
kissed her.

Melanie was walking on air when she went inside. Her life
was just about as perfect as it could get. Not only had Scott asked her to the
dance, he had kissed her! And she was making new friends and getting more
popular every day. She paused when she got to her room and thought, Maybe I
don't
need The Fabulous Five anymore, after all.

When Melanie woke up the next morning, her head ached and
her throat was sore, but she hardly noticed. It had taken forever to go to
sleep. She had lain awake instead, remembering Scott's good-night kiss over and
over again. Then she had closed her eyes and, as she drifted off to sleep,
imagined how

Melanie Edwards
+
Scott Daly

would look written in twinkling stars on the velvety black
sky.

But now with harsh sunlight streaming in her window, all she
could think about was the rush she was in. For the third night in a row she
hadn't been able to finish her homework. If I don't take time to iron the
outfit I had planned to wear today, thought Melanie, I could wear something
else and maybe have time to finish the list of history questions before I leave
for school.

The day went by in a haze. She felt as if she had weights
tied to her arms and legs as she moved from class to class, and her headache
refused to go away. Even though she sat with the rest of The Fabulous Five in
the cafeteria at noon, she didn't have the energy to join in the conversation.
Normally she would have told them about her date with Scott for the dance, and
that Shane was coming over tonight to select the music, and Katie would have
groaned and told her she was boy crazy again. Instead, she listened to their
chatter about all the things they were doing and thought for the zillionth time
that it seemed as though they were all going their own separate ways.

When Shane got to her house around seven o'clock that
evening, Melanie was feeling better. After supper she had showered and taken a
couple of aspirins for her headache. She wasn't going to let anything spoil an
evening with Shane if she could help it.

"Wow! You really do have a lot of music," she said
when she opened the door and saw him standing there with a huge stack of albums
in one arm and a cassette carrier in the other.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet," he assured her,
setting the tape carrier inside the door. "If you can grab these albums, I'll
get the rest out of the car."

Melanie took the albums and watched as Shane hurried out to
the curb where an ancient orange Volkswagen bug with flowers and butterflies
painted on the side sat idling. He pulled out another armload of albums and
waved good-bye to his father, who drove away in a cloud of black exhaust and
fumes.

Leave it to Shane's hippie parents to have a car like that,
she thought, chuckling to herself.

Her mother had whipped up a batch of her famous brownies
when she heard that Shane would be over, and Melanie proudly set them in the
middle of the kitchen table and fixed glasses of soda while Shane hauled in all
the albums and tapes and arranged them in neat stacks.

Just then Jeffy bounded into the kitchen and skidded to a
stop beside Shane. He looked at the albums on the table and then asked in a high-pitched
little voice, "Do you have a Wee Sing album?"

"Sorry, partner," Shane said, tousling Jeffy's
reddish-brown hair. "No Wee Sing. I've got Brain Damage, though. Do you
like them?"

"Bwain Damage! Bwain Damage!" Jeffy shouted,
jumping up and down. "My sister was in their show!"

Melanie couldn't help smiling at her little brother. She
loved being reminded of the time during The Fabulous Five's bragging war with
The Fantastic Foursome when she and her four best friends had been called up
onto the stage during Brain Damage's concert to join the zany British rock
group in a song. Would The Fabulous Five ever go to a concert together again?
she wondered wistfully.

While she had been lost in thought, her parents had come
into the kitchen to say hello to Shane and to coax Jeffy into the family room
so that Melanie could entertain Shane in peace. Glancing at the plate, Melanie
noticed that it had cost the largest brownie to get Jeffy out of the room, but
it would be worth it.

Melanie shook her head at the mountains of music. "The
dance is only four hours long, you know," she teased.

"Which means we have our work cut out for us," said
Shane, reaching for a brownie. "So we'd better have some of these to keep
our energy level up."

For the next hour and a half they chattered happily as they
went through the albums and tapes, sorting them into piles of Yes, No, and
Maybe. Then they went through the Maybe pile and divided them into Probably No,
Probably Yes, and Maybe Maybe.

"I think we can definitely eliminate the Probably Nos
and probably the Maybe Maybes," said Melanie.

"And maybe even the Probably Yeses," said Shane. "After
all, as you said, the dance is only four hours long."

Melanie frowned. "But there is some awfully good music
in the Probably Yes pile. Maybe we could put it on the bottom of the Definitely
Yes stack, just in case you have enough time to play it."

Shane's eyes started to twinkle. "Now let me see if I've
got this straight," he teased. "There's the Definitely Yes and the
Probably Yes, and maybe we'll use all of them and maybe we won't, but we should
probably stack them together." He choked back a laugh, then went on, "Then
there's the Maybe Mavbes and the Probably Nos. We could probably put them
together with the Definitely Nos. Or do you think maybe we should definitely
keep them separate?"

"
Maybe
we should . . ." Melanie began, but
she was laughing too hard to go any further. She swayed toward Shane and felt
his arm slip around her. They stood together, laughing softly for a moment.
Then, as their laughter subsided, Shane tipped her chin upward and kissed her
gently on the lips.

It was a wonderful kiss, Melanie thought. A perfect kiss.
She felt tingly all over. As she opened her eyes, she was aware of soft sounds
in the background and wandered briefly what she would say if her parents walked
in at this very moment. Or if Jeffy came in and shrieked, "They're
kissing! They're kissing!" Trying not to panic, she pulled her gaze away
from Shane and looked quickly toward the door to the family room. Thankfully no
one was there. She breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"I wonder if I could ask you a favor?" Shane said.
He asked the question casually, but his arm was still around her.

She smiled up at him again. "Sure."

"Well," he began, "since the records are all
separated into categories, I thought maybe I should leave the Definitely Yeses
and the Probably Yeses with you so that I won't have to worry about getting
them mixed up again."

"But most of your favorite songs are Yeses," said
Melanie. "What if you want to listen to them?"

"Couldn't I come over here and listen to them?"

Melanie blushed. "Of course," she said, hoping he
realized how sincerely she meant it. "You can come over anytime you want
to."

"Great," he said. "I was hoping that's what
you'd say."

They finished the plate of brownies and talked for a little
while longer before Shane called his dad to come after him. When he had gone,
Melanie picked up the stack of records and carried them to her room for
safekeeping. Last night Scott had kissed her. Tonight Shane had. They were two
of the cutest and most super boys in Wacko Junior High, and they both liked
her.
She hugged the records and whirled around the room, feeling like the luckiest
girl alive.