Fabulous Five 007 - The Kissing Disaster (7 page)

For the rest of the week Melanie stayed home from school
resting and taking her medication. And worrying. Especially after she finally
heard from the rest of The Fabulous Five. Jana was first. She called the day
after Beth had.

"Hi, Mel. How are you feeling?" she began in a
nervous voice.

"A lot better," Melanie assured her. She had made
up her mind that no matter what people thought, she was going to act as if
hardly anything were wrong.

"Great. I was really sorry to hear that you're sick,"
said Jana. "Beth said . . ." Jana hesitated, sounding more nervous
than ever. "Beth said that you really do have mono."

Melanie frowned. "I think Dr. Garroway made a mistake
on the test. I'm not nearly so tired, and my throat isn't quite as sore or
swollen as it was."

"That's good. When do you think you'll be back to
school?"

"I don't know vet," Melanie said with a sigh. "But
I can't wait. This house is beginning to feel like a prison. Let's change the
subject. What's going on at school? Do you know any juicy gossip?"

"Not really," said Jana. She hesitated again. "There
is one thing I wanted to ask you though. . . ."

"Sure," said Melanie.

"Is it true that Randy gave you a ride home from the
refreshments committee meeting Monday night?"

What! thought Melanie. Little explosions went off in her
brain, sending red fireworks blazing before her eyes.

"Yes, he
did
give me a ride home. But for your
information, we sat on opposite sides of the backseat, and I
did not
kiss him and give him mononucleosis!"

"Melanie! I didn't mean . . ."

Melanie didn't give Jana a chance to finish saying what she
meant. It was pretty obvious. Jana
was
worried that Melanie had given
Randy the kissing disease, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Hanging up
the receiver, Melanie trudged back to her room feeling worse than ever.

The phone rang again a little later. When her mother called
up to her, saying it was Katie, she braced to hear for the zillionth time that
she was boy crazy. Katie was like an absolute broken record, always making a
big thing out of the fact that Melanie was interested in a lot of boys. This
business about mono has probably really set her off, thought Melanie. But Katie
surprised her.

"I thought you ought to know that Laura McCall and the
rest of The Fantastic Foursome are wagging their tongues all over school making
sure that everybody knows you've started an epidemic of the kissing disease,"
she said. Melanie even thought she sounded a little sympathetic.

"I know how it feels to be gossiped about," Katie
went on. "It happened to me when I first joined Teen Court. Remember?"

Melanie did remember. Lots of kids had said that Katie played
favorites, getting her friends off with light punishments and really sticking
it to kids she didn't like. That wasn't true, of course. Katie was the fairest
person she knew.

"I remember," she said softly. "Thanks for
telling me."

"Well . . . anyway . . ." Katie fumbled, and
Melanie knew her friend didn't quite know what to say next. Finally she cleared
her throat and added, "I also wondered if you need for me to drop off your
assignments after school tomorrow?"

"Thanks," said Melanie. "But Mom stopped by
the school today and got them." She started to add that Katie could come
over anyway if she wanted to, then changed her mind. She wasn't ready to face
anybody yet.

Christie was the only one of The Fabulous Five who hadn't
called, Melanie mused before she went to sleep that night. But it didn't
matter. What could Christie add to what the other three had said, that
everybody in Wacko was talking about her and how she had the kissing disease.

The weekend was dreadfully long. In fact it was the longest
one she could ever remember. She knew that everyone else was at the football
game on the beautiful, fall Saturday afternoon, having fun without her while
she had been sent to her room to take a nap. The cheerleaders would be
cheering. The fans would be yelling. And then everybody would head for Bumpers
after the game. Not only that, probably no one would miss her one little bit or
think about her staying at home with her face and neck puffed out like a toad.

She tried to ignore the clock beside her bed. She didn't
want to know when it was time for everybody to be at Bumpers. And she certainly
didn't want to think about Laura flirting with Shane. Would Scott be looking
around for someone different to ask to the dance? She didn't want to think
about that either. But she couldn't help it, any more than she could help
looking at the clock and picturing everything else that was going on at
Bumpers. As the afternoon shadows grew long, she lay back against the pillows
in her darkening bedroom and cried.

By Monday morning Melanie's temperature was back to 98.6
degrees for the second day in a row, and the swelling in her neck was gone.

"I think you can go back to school today if you're
feeling well enough," her mother announced at breakfast.

First the good news, thought Melanie. I do feel well enough
to go back. But now for the bad news. I'm scared to death of what everyone will
say.

She gave her mother a noncommittal shrug and stared at her
toast.

"What is that supposed to mean?" her mother asked
gently. "Cold feet?"

Melanie kept her eyes downward. "Well, I feel okay now,"
she said, emphasizing the word
now.
"But what if I start feeling
sick again in the middle of class?"

"Call me, and I'll come and get you," said Mrs.
Edwards. "I really do think you should try, though, even if it's just for
half a day."

"I don't know . . ." she said, but a little while
later she climbed into the front seat of the car beside her mother and sat in
silence as they drove to school.

When they reached Wakeman Junior High, Mrs. Edwards pulled
up in front and stopped in the unloading zone. Melanie looked across the school
ground. Kids she knew were milling around everywhere. She could see the rest of
The Fabulous Five at their corner of the fence. Scott Daly was sliding his
ten-speed into the bicycle rack. Alexis and Kim were sitting on the front step
talking. It looked like any ordinary day.

A car honked impatiently behind them.

"You'd better get going, honey," her mother said
softly.

Melanie nodded and opened the door. Just then she spotted
The Fantastic Foursome standing near the gum tree. They were all looking in her
direction. She stiffened, thinking that she would give almost anything to
become instantly invisible, and climbed out of the car.

No one seemed to notice her at first. Melanie walked stiffly
across the grounds in the opposite direction of the gum tree where Laura and
her friends stood watching her, desperately hoping that everyone would just
leave her alone. If she could get to the fence where The Fabulous Five were,
everything would probably be okay. Surely they wouldn't desert her now. Even if
the clique was starting to break up, hadn't they been friends practically
forever?

Melanie kept on walking, concentrating on putting one foot
in front of the other. Her legs felt as if they belonged to someone else and
might go off in different directions if she didn't force each one to keep
moving straight ahead.

"HEY! LOOK WHO'S HERE!"

Melanie froze and jerked her head up to see who had spoken.
Clarence Marshall was blocking her path. His hair was hanging in his eyes, and
he was clutching his throat with both pudgy hands and pretending to gag.

"IT'S HER! IT'S HER! THE KISS OF DEATH!" he
shrieked.

Everybody was watching, but nobody else said anything.
Slowly groups of kids turned away from her, looking back over their shoulders
at her and whispering among themselves.
The kiss of death,
she thought.
That's what they all think.

After an eternity she heard someone else call her name.

"Hey, Melanie! Come over here." It was Katie, and
she was motioning to Melanie to join them at the fence. Katie was the only one
of The Fabulous Five smiling. The other three were exchanging nervous glances
among themselves.

With a sigh, Melanie threw Clarence a drop-dead look and
hurried toward them, but it didn't take her long to wish that she had gone to
her locker instead. Katie asked her how she was feeling, and then the five of
them lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, looking at the ground, at the school
building, at the fence—anywhere but at each other. It was obvious to Melanie
that her friends didn't know what to say to her. To make matters worse, she
didn't know what to say to them, either. She didn't even know if they believed
the terrible gossip that Laura McCall was spreading about her. Jana might, since
she had called to ask about Melanie's riding home from the committee meeting
with Randy. Maybe Christie did, too. After all, Jon was on the music committee
with her. Finally the bell rang, and Melanie said a quick good-bye and headed
toward the school.

The rest of the day was the pits. Every time she saw Laura
or one of her friends, they would smirk and give her knowing looks or whisper
to each other behind their hands. Most of the boys stared at her as if they
were convinced she was the carrier of a dread disease and they would catch it
if they even opened their mouths to say hello. Scott and Shane both spoke to
her, but even they were hesitant and kept their distances, and Melanie noticed
that Shane looked relieved when Mr. Dracovitch announced that they wouldn't be
returning to the dissecting tables for a while.

Melanie was glad that Scott and Shane were both in school,
which meant that they hadn't actually gotten her mono already, but she couldn't
help secretly watching them every time she got the opportunity. She needed to
see if either of them looked pale or acted as if they were coming down with
something. But both of them seemed okay. So far, so good, she thought. She
would have to keep her fingers crossed for tomorrow.

She didn't bother to go to the cafeteria at noon. No one
would want her at their table. Instead, she got her lunch out of her locker and
went, out onto the school ground to eat by herself. The air was chilly as she
looked around for a place to sit. A ninth-grade boy and girl were perched on
the steps, gazing romantically at each other. The only tree nearby was the gum
tree, and she certainly didn't want to sit under it.

Melanie stopped and looked at the gum tree. Even though most
of its leaves had already fallen for the winter, it was almost pretty with its
bark covered with bright gobs of pink and green and orange and blue and yellow
chewing gum stuck there by students before going into class every morning.
Still, everybody talked about how gross the tree was, and getting close enough
to touch somebody else's gum was avoided at all cost.

"I know just how you feel," Melanie whispered to
the tree, and then she looked around self-consciously to make sure no one was
near enough to hear.

Scuffing out to the fence, she turned her back on the school
and sat down on the cold ground. Using her biology book for a table, she pulled
her sandwich out of the bag and took a bite. She glanced at the book and
thought about Mr. Dracovitch. He was an outcast, too. Kids called him Dracula
and made jokes behind his back. She had even done it herself. And now the dance
committee was going to play an even bigger joke on him by asking him to
chaperon the monster dance. Everyone would be talking behind his back, too. She
sighed. Poor Mr. Dracovitch. I almost wish that there weren't going to be a
dance, for both our sakes.

Melanie was leaning against the fence, still thinking about
her and Mr. Dracovitch's predicaments, when Beth came up to her. Her heart
skipped a beat as Beth dropped to one knee beside her and asked, "What are
you doing out here instead of eating in the cafeteria with the rest of us?"

"I didn't think anyone would want to sit with me after
the silent treatment I got at the fence this morning," said Melanie,
looking away.

Beth hesitated before she spoke. "I guess nobody knew
exactly what to say to . . ." She lowered her eyes.

"To someone with the kissing disease and who goes
around kissing boys and starting epidemics? Is that what you mean?"
Melanie asked angrily.

"It's Laura and the rest of The Fantastic Foursome who
are talking about epidemics," Beth argued. "They're really making a
big deal out of it and scaring kids—especially boys—into thinking they're going
to get sick if they even hang around you." Her voice softened. "Christie
and Katie and Jana and I don't really believe them, and we tell everybody that
we don't. It's just that we don't know very much about mononucleosis, either.
We don't know what else to say."

"That's okay," Melanie said halfheartedly. She
couldn't really blame them, she supposed. She gathered her books and stood up,
and as she turned to head toward the school, she looked back and gave Beth a
weak smile. "Thanks, anyway."

Things didn't get much better during the afternoon, although
Dekeisha and Mandy both said hello in the halls. By the time Melanie got home
from school she was exhausted. She had barely gotten through her classes with
everyone staring at her and acting as if she were poison. She finished her
homework thinking that all she wanted to do was go to sleep and forget all
about Wacko Junior High and about The Fabulous Five and mono and dances. She
couldn't go to the dance committee meetings anymore because Dr. Garroway had
prescribed a lot of rest. She was almost ready to climb into bed when her
mother called her to the phone.

"It's Christie," said Airs. Edwards. "She
sounds really anxious to talk to you."

Melanie frowned and leaned against the wall. Christie had
hardly spoken to her at school today. Why on earth was she calling now? She
considered telling her mother that she didn't feel like talking to anyone. But
instead she put the receiver to her ear and said in a tired voice, "Hi,
Christie. What do you want?"

"I've got something important to tell you."
Christie's voice sounded excited. "Really important. Can you talk?"

"What's it about? I'm really beat."

"You're going to want to hear this," Christie
assured her. And then she added mysteriously, "It's about the kissing
disease."