Fabulous Five 019 - The Boys-Only Club

THE
FABULOUS FIVE #19

THE BOYS-ONLY CLUB

BETSY HAYNES

A BANTAM SKYLARK
BOOK®

NEW YORK • TORONTO •
LONDON • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND

RL 5, 009-012

THE BOYS-ONLY CLUB

A Bantam Skylark
Book
/ July 1990

Skylark Books is a
registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell
Publishing Group, Inc. Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and
elsewhere.

All rights
reserved.

Copyright
©
1990 by Betsy Haynes and James Haynes.

Cover art
copyright
© 1990 by Andrew Bacha.

No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information
address: Bantam Books.

ISBN 0-553-15809-0

Published
simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are
published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing
Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and
the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books. 666 Fifth Avenue, New
York, New York 10103.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA

CWO      0 9 8 7 6 5 4
3 2

To Margaret Haynes
for her contributions to this book

"Let Brian carry the computer, Katie. He's stronger
than you are," said Mr. Waldrop.

Katie Shannon stopped in her tracks. Her mouth dropped open
as Brian Olsen, who was a physical fitness nut and had a brown belt in karate, took
the computer out of her hands. Just as she was about to protest, Joel Murphy
took her elbow and said, as if he were talking to a little kid, "Here, let
me help poor widdle Katie over to her desk." Everyone in the class laughed
as he escorted her to her computer work station.

Katie's faced turned as red as her hair, and she jerked her
arm away fom Joel, giving him the meanest look she could muster. She didn't
need help from any boy, and she didn't like being laughed at for something so
dumb. She could have easily moved the computer herself.

She fumed for the rest of the period over Mr. Waldrop's
sexist attitude and Joel's stupid joke. She was furious at herself, too. Why
had she let Brian carry the computer? Katie couldn't stand it when men acted as
if women were weak and needed males to take care of them. And if she could do
it all over again, she would slug Joel Murphy.

Katie was still seething as she walked through the cafeteria
line and joined the rest of The Fabulous Five—Jana Morgan, Beth Barry, Christie
Winchell, and Melanie Edwards—at their regular table. Even her best friends in
the whole world couldn't cheer her up today.

"What's wrong?" asked Beth, looking at Katie over
her fork loaded with lasagna.

"Everything," Katie said in disgust as she set her
tray down. "Wakeman Junior High is the most sexist place in the world."

Jana stopped eating her cream cheese and jelly sandwich and
raised her eyebrows. "Why? What happened?"

Katie told them about what had happened in class.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Brian just likes to show off
his muscles. What's the big deal?"

Katie frowned at her. "That's just the kind of attitude
that makes females second-class citizens."

"What does?" asked Melanie, looking confused.

"The attitude that it's okay for men to help us carry
things, even if we don't need their help. If you let them think you can't do
things for yourself, they're going to believe it and feel superior."

"Come on, Katie," responded Jana. "Not all
boys think they're better than girls. Randy certainly doesn't." Randy
Kirwan had been Jana's boyfriend since the sixth grade.

"Does he open doors for you?" Katie demanded,
pointing a fork for emphasis. "Is he the one who asks
you
for a
date, or do you ask him? Are
you
supposed to go 'ooh' and 'aah' when he's
wearing a football or basketball uniform? Does
he
go 'ooh' and 'aah'
over something you've written for the yearbook? I bet you're the one who's
always admiring him, and I know he opens doors for you as if you can't do it
yourself. "

"I kind of like for him to open doors for me,"
said Jana defensively. "He's just showing me he respects me."

"He's telling you, you can't do it for yourself,"
said Katie, stabbing a french fry as if it were an enemy.

"And what I can't understand," she added, looking
around the table at her friends,"is how you can all be so nonchalant about
it."

"Listen who's talking," teased Beth. "You're
the one who's dating Mr. Macho, Tony Calcaterra."

"Tony and I have an understanding," said Katie. "He
may look macho, but he understands how I feel about male-and-female
relationships. We're equals. He's very sensitive to that."

"Do you mean to tell us that
you're
the one who
asks Tony Calcaterra for dates instead of him asking you?" asked Melanie
skeptically.

The question stopped Katie. She tried to remember if she had
ever asked him for a date.
Surely
, she must have. "Not all the
time," she fudged. "But that's what being equal is all about. Either
person can ask. Tony is very aware that women are men's equals, and he always
treats them that way. He's a lot more sensitive to women's issues than you
think."

"Oh, yeah, right," said Beth sarcastically. "When
was the last time you asked Tony for a date?" The others looked at her
with interest.

"Well . . .
now!
" Katie managed to say.
Tony was headed toward the tray return and would have to pass right by their
table. She would show them. The others turned to see where she was looking.

Katie gulped when she realized what she had just said. She
was going to ask Tony for a date and do it right in front of everyone. Well,
she would show them. Her and Tony's relationship was the way boy-girl
relationships were
supposed
to be.

Tony stopped at the end of the table. "Hi, everybody."
He looked at Katie, then added, "Hi, Your Honor."

In spite of Katie's aggravation, his bright smile almost
melted her down to her tennis shoes. Before she had gotten to know Tony, she,
like everyone else, had thought he was just a show-off. That was before he had
been brought before the Teen Court by Mr. Bell, the principal, for wearing an earring.
Katie was a judge for the court, and as she listened to Tony argue his case,
she found herself believing that the rule in the school dress code that
prohibited boys from wearing earrings wasn't fair. She had even gone so far as
to start a petition to change the rule. Katie and Tony had been going together
ever since.

"Well?" Melanie's question jerked Katie back to
reality.

"Oh, uh, hi . . . Tony." She returned his smile
weakly as she fumbled for the right words. "Uh, I was wondering . .
."

"Wondering what?" he asked. Katie could feel
everyone staring at her.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies, on
Friday. My treat," she added cheerfully. There, that should show her
friends.

"Oh, sorry, I can't. I've already told Randy, Shane,
Keith, and some other guys I'd play computer games with them."

The silence at the table added to Katie's embarrassment.

"It's not that I wouldn't rather go with you," Tony
added hastily, seeing her red cheeks. "It's just that some of us guys
started this club. We're going to get together at Kevin Walker-Noles's house
every Friday and order out pizza and have Nintendo contests."

"Hey, that sounds great!" said Christie. "I
love computer games. Can I come?"

"Me, too," said Beth. "I play my brother
Brian's games all the time."

"It's just us guys getting together to play," Tony
answered, looking embarrassed. "You wouldn't really like it."

Katie snapped to attention. "You mean you're starting a
boys-only club? Girls can play computer games."

"Hey, I know you can," Tony said defensively. "It's
just that everyone decided it would just be for boys."

Katie's face started turning red all over again. "A
boys'
club! You mean no girls allowed?"

Tony looked sheepish. "It's just what everyone decided."

"I can't believe this," Katie said, slapping her
forehead. "All-male clubs practically went out with cavemen."

"Hey, I didn't make the rules," Tony said, backing
away from The Fabulous Five's stares.

"Well, you obviously went along with them,"
snapped Katie. She had never felt so humiliated in her life. After telling her
friends Tony was sensitive to women's issues, he had come up and told them he
belonged to a club exclusively for boys. She stood up and fixed a furious stare
on Tony. "Don't worry about it. I'll find another date for Friday."

"But . . ." Tony sputtered.

Before he could finish, Katie stormed out of the cafeteria.

"I'm home!" yelled Katie as she walked into her
house after school.

"Hi, dear!" her mother, Willie, answered. Her
voice came from the direction of the room she used as her office.

Katie went upstairs to her own room and dejectedly dropped
her books on the table she used as a desk. The house she and her mother rented
was old and her room was small, with an old-fashioned dormer window overlooking
the backyard. The tiny house was all they could afford on the money her mother
made as a free-lance writer. There was some insurance money from when Katie's
father had died, but they were saving it for emergencies and Katie's college
education.

Katie went to the window and raised it to let the light
breeze blow into her room. She took a deep breath. It made her feel better. She
had been depressed all afternoon and had left Bumpers early rather than watch
Tony clowning around with Randy, Kevin, and Shane as if nothing had happened
between him and her. He had hardly looked at her, even though she had been
sitting in a booth near his at the fast-food restaurant.

She couldn't understand the attitude of the other girls at
Wakeman. Why didn't they care if they were treated like second-class citizens?
Even her friends in The Fabulous Five didn't think it was such a big deal for
the boys to have a club that girls couldn't join. And Tony. He was usually so
fair. She couldn't believe that he would belong to a club that would exclude
anyone.

Tears filled her eyes, and she rubbed them away with the
back of her hand. This was the first real fight she and Tony had had, and it
felt terrible.

Willie was sitting in front of her computer screen typing
when Katie entered her mother's office a short while later. Willie typed a few
more words as Katie picked up Libber, their big yellow cat, who had been lying
against the back of the warm machine.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" her mother asked,
swiveling her chair so that she faced Katie.

"Fine," fibbed Katie. She pointed to a pot of red
and yellow tulips sitting on Willie's desk. "Where did the flowers come
from?"

"Mark sent them. They're beautiful. His note says that
they reminded him of me. Isn't that sweet?"

Katie opened her eyes wide in surprise.
Mark
was Mr.
Dracovitch, a biology teacher at Wakeman Junior High whom her mother had dated
a few times. He wore a black toupee so he looked like Dracula and kids would
want to be in his class. Everybody except her mother thought he was weird. This
was the first time Mr. Dracovitch had sent Willie flowers.

"I guess it's sweet," Katie mumbled.

"With the weather turning warm, I'd like to plant the
tulips outside where I can see them from the kitchen window," said Willie.
"I'm behind on this darn project though and don't have time."

Katie put Libber down. The cat arched its back and stretched
each of its rear legs out in turn. "I'll plant them for you," Katie
volunteered. She needed something to do to help her forget about her rotten day
at school.

"You will? That would be great." Her mother handed
the potted plants to Katie and said, "Choose a nice sunny place to put
them. I know they'll have a lot better chance of surviving out there than in
here among all my clutter."

Katie took the flowers and found a trowel in the basement.
Next she stood on the back steps and surveyed the yard for a good place to
plant them so her mother could see them from the kitchen window.

She carried the pot to several spots and set it down and
then backed away to check on how well the tulips could be seen from the house.
Finally, she noticed a sunny spot between two roots that extended out from the
big oak tree near the back fence. Someone had built a planter using the roots
for two side sand stones in the front. She hadn't paid much attention to it
before, but it would be the ideal place.

Katie started digging with the trowel, giggling as she
remembered her mother's instructions to plant Mr. Dracovitch's flowers in a
sunny place. Since it had been Mr. Dracovitch, the vampire instructor, who had
sent the flowers, would they live in the sunlight? she wondered.

She had cleared away several inches of dirt when her trowel
struck something hard. She frowned and scraped around it. It was probably a
large rock that she would have to dig out with her hands. Instead, she exposed
a flat, metal surface.

Katie searched for the edges of whatever it was with the
point of the trowel and gradually revealed a square shape. She quickly dug down
around it, and then grabbed it by its sides and pulled it out. She plunked it
down on the grass and brushed the dirt away. What in the world was a metal box
doing buried in their backyard?