Fabulous Five 014 - The Seventh-Grade Menace (8 page)

Jana stood where she couldn't be seen in the wings of the
stage, waiting for Mr. Bell to finish his speech, which seemed to go on
forever. It looked as if The Dreadful Alternatives, who were positioned at the
back of the stage, were about to go to sleep. Jana gripped a tissue tightly in
each hand to absorb the perspiration from her nervousness. She sneaked a look
at Randy. He was watching Mr. Bell and looked as cool as an ice cube. How can
he do that? she wondered. Girls were the ones who were supposed to look as if
they didn't perspire.

"And now let me introduce to you the president of the
seventh-grade class, who will present the winners of
The Wigwam
Mr. and
Miss Seventh Grade contest." Mr. Bell turned and held his hand out to
indicate Curtis Trowbridge, who came striding out onto the stage as if he had
just been elected president of the United States. "Curtis Trowbridge,"
Mr. Bell finished his introduction.

Curtis adjusted his black horn-rimmed glasses and pulled a
sheaf of papers from his suit-coat pocket. Jana was surprised he hadn't rented
a tux for the occasion. "Friends! Students! Parents," he began.

Oh, no! Jana couldn't believe it. Curtis was going to make a
speech that would probably cover every subject in the encyclopedia.

Kaci Davis threw back her head and closed her eyes in
despair, and the other winners shuffled their feet impatiently. Jana noticed
bits of tissue sticking out of Kaci's tightly clenched fists, and dark places
developing under the arms of her burgundy dress. So, Kaci wasn't as cool as she
wanted people to believe, either. The discovery pleased Jana.

After Curtis had been talking for five minutes, some of the
kids in the audience started stomping their feet, and Mr. Bell began waving his
hands at Curtis and running his finger across his own throat. Curtis finally
got the idea and cut his speech off right in the middle of a sentence.

"Uh . . . I guess I'd better introduce our seventh-grade
winners now," he said, placing one finger between his eyes and pushing his
glasses up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a three-by-five index
card.

Randy leaned close to Jana and whispered, "You'd think
this was the Academy Awards."

She smiled and nodded.

"First let me introduce Mr. Congeniality himself,"
Curtis said with a grand gesture toward the wings where they were standing.

Randy put his hand over his eyes and shook his head in
disbelief.

I will
never
be able to get Randy to do anything like
this again, thought Jana. And it will be all Curtis Trowbridge's fault.

"RANDY KIRWAN!" Curtis finished his announcement,
and The Dreadful Alternatives started playing a rock version of the Wakeman
Junior High fight song.

Randy straightened his shoulders and walked out onto the
stage as the auditorium was filled with applause, cheers, and whistles.

Tears came to Jana's eyes as she watched him reach out and
shake hands with Curtis. Randy looked so handsome.

Jana couldn't remember hearing Curtis announce her name. The
applause and cheers rose, and she saw him extending his hand toward her. Randy
was smiling a zillion-watt smile at her. She stepped out from the wings, and a
roar went up.

When she reached Randy, he beamed down at her as she curled
her arm through his. In the first row, she saw her best friends jumping and
cheering with their arms outstretched. Tears ran down her face as she searched
the audience for her mom and Pink. They were sitting in the parents section
with Mr. McNatt. Geena was sitting next to her father.

Jana put a kiss on her fingertips and blew it to her mother
and Pink and smiled at Geena. She thought she saw Geena smile back.

Jana squeezed Randy's arm tight to hold her on the ground.

"Do you think this
really
looks okay on me?"
Geena asked Jana. She was standing in front of the mirror wearing a short skirt
and matching cotton sweater. True to her mother's word, Mrs. Pinkerton and Jana
had invited Geena out for lunch and shopping on Saturday. Jana hadn't been
quite sure she was ready to handle Geena so soon, but it was turning out okay.

When they picked her up at her house, Mr. McNatt had come
out to the car to talk to them. He had a huge smile on his face and waved as
they drove away.

Lunch had been difficult at first. It was hard for Jana to
make conversation when all she could think about was yesterday's awards
ceremony. It had been everything she could imagine, and her mind kept wandering
back to it and that evening when The Fabulous Five and their friends went to
Mama Mia's to have pizza and celebrate.

"I think it looks super on you," Jana answered
Geena. "With your color hair that soft green is spectacular. Do you have
enough money left from what your father gave you to get a belt for it?"

Geena smiled and nodded.

While Geena fingered through the belt rack, Jana noticed
Clarence Marshall and Joel Murphy walking by in the mall. Clarence looked in
the store, saw them, and braked to a quick stop, causing Joel to run into him.
Clarence tucked in his shirttail and came to the store entrance. Joel scowled
at him as he followed.

As Clarence stepped into the store, his eyes were fixed on
Geena. He didn't even notice the saleslady who had stepped in front of him. "Can
I help you with something?" she asked.

Clarence brushed the hair out of his eyes and said, without
looking at where he was pointing, "Um, sure. How much is that?"

"The ladies' lingerie?" asked the lady with
surprise in her voice.

A look of horror came over Clarence's face when he saw what
he had pointed at. Red crept up from his collar to the tips of his hair, and he
stuttered, "Uh, uh, er . . . I think I forgot my money."

Jana laughed so hard her stomach hurt as he scrambled out of
the store, with Joel on his heels.

Her mother and Geena, who had not seen Clarence, looked at
Jana questioningly. Jana just shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Clarence was a riot.

And then a strange thought occurred to her. Why had he come
into the store in the first place? She looked at Geena. Clarence had been
hanging around Geena a lot lately. Could it be possible that he liked her? The
idea boggled Jana's mind. Clarence liked Geena? She looked at Geena. Stranger
things have happened, I guess, she thought, closing her mouth, which had
dropped open in astonishment. She smiled to herself and walked over to help
Geena pick out a belt.

"Who do you think you are?"

Melanie Edwards blinked to attention and looked at Mrs.
Clark, her Family Living teacher, who was asking the question of the class.

The students glanced around at each other and shrugged.

Mrs. Clark smiled and went on, "You are a child to your
parents, a student to your teachers, a library card number, a locker number, a
statistic in the population figures of this town. And if you play sports, you
have a number on your shirt. But who
are
you?"

What is she getting at? thought Melanie. I know who I am. I'm
Melanie Edwards, and I'm in seventh grade at Wakeman Junior High. I have a
mother and a father, a little brother, and three gorgeous boyfriends, Scott
Daly, Shane Arrington, and Garrett Boldt. Well, maybe they aren't all three
exactly
boyfriends, but . . .

Mrs. Clark was speaking again. "Have you ever wondered
what makes you different from your best friend? From everyone you know? From
everybody else on earth? Your looks are different. You think differently. You
have your own interests and hobbies. You like some things and hate others. You
are special.
Unique.
Aren't you?"

This time everyone was nodding and smiling to each other.
Melanie caught Jana's eye and grinned broadly. Even the members of The Fabulous
Five were all different from each other. But that was okay. They were still
best friends.

Mrs. Clark's voice broke into her thoughts again. "Flow
would you like to start a special class project that will let each one of you
find out exactly who you are and why you're special?"

Cheers broke out all over the room, and it took Mrs. Clark
several minutes to quiet everyone down. Melanie was excited, too. It would be
fun to find out what made her special and maybe even find out things about
other people, too. For instance, what made Laura McCall so snooty? And Shane
Arrington so cool and laid-back? And even why she and Katie had such opposite
opinions about boys?

What
will
Melanie find out about herself and others?
Read the surprising answers in
The Fabulous Five #15: Melanie's Identity
Crisis.

Betsy Haynes, the daughter of a former newswoman, began
scribbling poetry and short stories as soon as she learned to write. A serious
writing career, however, had to wait until after her marriage and the arrival
of her two children. But that early practice must have paid off, for within
three months Mrs. Haynes had sold her first story. In addition to a number of
magazine short stories and the Taffy Sinclair series, Mrs. Haynes is also the
author of
The Great Mom Swap
and its sequel,
The Great Boyfriend Trap.
She lives in Colleyville, Texas, with her husband, who is also an author.