Fabulous Five 026 - Laura's Secret (6 page)

The mall was crowded with Saturday shoppers by the time
Laura arrived the next morning. She hadn't slept well during the night, but the
adrenaline rushing through her kept her alert as she thought about meeting The
Fantastic Foursome.

Tammy, Funny, and Melissa. What was happening with them?
Would they get through this and remain friends? Laura had never felt so out of
control. Any moment her group might break up.

Tammy at least was loyal. She would do anything for Laura.
And wasn't that the way friendship should be? Maybe only Tammy would remain her
friend. Was it possible to have a group of only two? Well, it wouldn't have to
be just two. Practically every girl in seventh grade was dying to get into The
Fantastic Foursome.
Her
clique! After all, Laura McCall was
somebody
at Wakeman.

But the thought of a new clique without Funny and Melissa
was awful. Would two of her very best friends become her enemies? Would they
talk about her behind her back, and start hanging around with The Fabulous
Five? Funny was already good friends with Jana Morgan.

That was too much even to think about. Laura willed herself
to think about other things.

Laura headed for Taco Plenty, the usual meeting spot for The
Fantastic Foursome. She spotted Melissa, Funny, and Tammy already sitting
together in their favorite spot along the edge of the eating area. Funny always
said it was a perfect place to see "the action." What she meant was
it was a perfect place to watch the boys go by. Her friends were leaning over
their sodas and talking. They didn't see her coming.

I'm going to be really up, Laura decided. Funny and Melissa
will think that what they said last night didn't faze me a bit!

"Hi, everybody," she called, as she approached the
girls' table. She planted a friendly smile on her face.

"Hi," Tammy said brightly. "Sit down."

Laura sat down, still careful to keep the smile firmly in
place, and glanced at Funny and Melissa. They were watching her carefully,
probably curious about how she would act after the scene last night.

"Any kids around?" she asked, trying to sound
casual.

"Shane was over by the mall entrance when we came in,"
reported Funny with her usual giggle. "We've been keeping an eye on him
for you."

Instinctively Laura spun around and looked over her
shoulder. "I didn't see him," she said. "Maybe he'll come by
here in a few minutes."

"Beth Barry and Jana Morgan and Melanie Edwards are
sitting over there." Melissa nodded across the courtyard.

"Great," Laura said sarcastically. "Who else?"

"Some eighth-graders are getting burritos,"
replied Melissa. "More kids should get here pretty soon."

"Oh, there's Sara Sawyer," said Funny, looking up
from her soda. "She's with Lisa Snow."

Laura's stomach flipped over. Sara and Lisa were Alexis's
best friends. That meant Alexis would probably show up, too.

Laura wanted to avoid Sara and Lisa.

"Want to do some shopping at Juniors' Jungle?" she
asked.

"Sure," Tammy piped up.

"Yeah, I'll come, too," said Funny. "I heard
there's a sale on jeans."

"What're we waiting for?" asked Melissa.

The girls got up and trooped down the mall corridor.

"Hi, Laura. Hi, everybody!"

The voice belonged to Shane Arrington. He was leaning up
against a support pillar in the corridor, with a big grin on his face. Laura
felt her heart flutter. He was
so
cute. She would die if he turned
against her. So what if he was dating Melanie Edwards? That couldn't last
forever.

"Hi, Shane," called Laura. Then a new thought
occurred to her. He must believe me instead of Alexis. Otherwise he wouldn't be
so friendly.

The girls clustered around him.

"So what's goin' on?" He was asking everyone, but
he was looking at Laura.

Her heart fluttered faster. "Not too much," she
replied.

"Hey, what's all this stuff about Alexis?" he
asked. "I can't believe she'd steal anything, but I guess you never know."

A sudden burst of giggles from Funny jolted Laura to
attention. She threw a warning look at Funny, who shrank back in embarrassment.
Funny and her stupid giggling, Laura thought angrily, and her rotten sense of
timing. Laura forced a smile as she turned back to Shane. "What did you
say?" she asked sweetly.

"I was talking about Alexis," Shane said, "and
how hard it is to imagine her stealing, but I guess you never know about anybody."

Laura shrugged. "I guess not," she said. Feeling
Funny's and Melissa's eyes boring into her, she decided to change the subject. "How's
Igor, Shane?"

Igor was Shane's pet iguana. If you asked Shane about Igor,
you instantly became his friend.

Shane grinned. "Terrific, how else? He made the whole
family pancakes for breakfast this morning. What a cook! He didn't even use a
cookbook."

The girls giggled, and Laura was relieved to see that Funny
and Melissa seemed to have forgotten Alexis.

"Igor gets smarter every day," remarked Funny. "Last
week you said he repaired your mom's washing machine."

"Yup," said Shane. A wide smile broke across his
face. "He got straight A's in technical school."

Funny giggled. "I can just see him picking up his
diploma at graduation."

"Hey, he looked totally handsome in his cap and flowing
red gown." Shane's tone was perfectly serious.

"Red?" asked Melissa.

"The technical school's colors," Shane explained. "Red
and white."

Laura laughed, feeling the release of tension in her group.

"We're on our way to Juniors' Jungle," Funny told
him. "Want to come along?"

Shane rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, and sit around
while you girls try on clothes." He grinned. "Not my idea of a great
time."

The girls said good-bye and started to move away.

"Oh, and Laura—" he called after them.

Laura turned around.

"Hang in there," Shane said, giving her a thumbs-up
sign.

Laura felt a rush of relief. Shane was on her side. "Thanks,"
she said.

Melissa snorted and shook her head.

"What's the matter?" Tammy asked Melissa, loud
enough for Laura to hear.

"Never mind," Melissa mumbled. "Just never
mind."

Laura glanced at Melissa and felt the worry creep into the
pit of her stomach again. She was losing Melissa and Funny, even though she
seemed to be gaining the confidence of some of the other kids.

Laura felt a hand on her arm. "There's Alexis,"
Tammy whispered.

Alexis was standing with Sara Sawyer and Lisa Snow. Laura
blinked and then frowned. Alexis looked awful! She had dark circles under her
eyes, her hair was stringy, her shoulders were stooped, and she looked
exhausted.

"I wonder what's the matter with her," said Tammy.

"Maybe she's feeling as if no one likes her anymore,"
Funny responded, looking daggers at Laura.

"That's ridiculous," snapped Laura. "She's
one of the most popular girls in school."

"Maybe she used to be," Melissa replied, looking
directly at Tammy. "Before
rumors
about her being a thief started
to fly around."

Laura was silent. But inside her head, questions screamed
out to be answered.
What am I going to do? How can I possibly get out of
this mess?

"I don't want to see Alexis," said Funny. "Let's
get out of here."

"Good idea," agreed Melissa.

"Let's look in here," Tammy suggested, heading
into a store.

"It's for
guys!
" Laura said, pointing to
the display in the window.

But it was too late to stop her friends. Funny, Melissa, and
Tammy had already gone into the store and were disappearing behind racks of men's
suits.

"Laura," came a voice from behind her.

Laura whirled around to see Alexis, Lisa, and Sara.

"Hi." Laura felt her heart suddenly beating
wildly.

"Laura, I need to talk to you," said Alexis.

Laura knew she was trapped. "Okay."

Alexis motioned to Lisa and Sara to leave them alone. Then
she led Laura to a bench in the middle of the mall.

Alexis turned around to face Laura, and Laura could see the
defeat in her eyes.

"Well, I give up, Laura," Alexis said. Her voice
was lifeless.

"What?" Laura asked incredulously.

"Just what I said. I give up."

"I don't know what you mean," Laura replied.

"You set out to get me," said Alexis. "You
told everyone I'm a thief just to cover up your own lies, and now you and Tammy
have everybody believing you."

Laura could feel the heat climbing up her neck. She didn't
speak.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to fight
you anymore," Alexis continued. "You win."

"I win?" Laura whispered.

"That's right. You win. I won't protest anymore. You
can say whatever you want and get Tammy to back you up. I'm tired of fighting you."

Laura opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She closed it
again.

"I'm tired of trying to prove myself to kids at school.
My real friends know the truth—that I'm innocent—but I can't prove to everybody
else that you made up that story. And guess what? I don't even want to try
anymore. You win. Congratulations."

There was no sarcasm in Alexis's voice. Only defeat. And
sadness.

Alexis turned and walked away toward the mall's exit.

Laura stood there for a long time, watching as Alexis's form
got smaller and smaller.

She felt a strange emptiness inside.

"So what did Alexis want?" Tammy asked over the
telephone. "You left the mall so fast, we didn't get a chance to ask you."

"Yeah, um well—"

"We saw Alexis come up and say she wanted to talk to
you," Tammy interrupted.

"Right," Laura confirmed, sinking onto her bed. A
phone conversation with Tammy Lucero was the last thing in the world she wanted
right now. "She . . . she just wanted to talk."

"What did she say?" Tammy persisted.

"Well, she—I guess she isn't going to fight anymore,"
Laura said.

"Good!" exclaimed Tammy. "Now maybe people
will believe you."

"Believe me?" Laura echoed, her mind still
whirling from Alexis's surprise announcement at the mall and the miserable look
on her face when she made it.

"About your maid," Tammy said. "Alexis made
it sound as if you were the one who was lying."

"Oh. Yeah, I know," Laura murmured, but somehow
Tammy's words didn't make her feel any better.

"Hey, how come you disappeared so fast from the mall?"
asked Tammy. "Funny, Melissa, and I looked all over for you."

"Uh, I just didn't feel well," Laura mumbled. "I'm
sorry I didn't say good-bye."

"Oh, well—that's okay. We just wondered where you'd
gone. We thought maybe Alexis had said something that made you want to leave."

"Oh, no," Laura protested. "I . . . I got a
stomachache."

"Gosh, that's too bad. Feeling better?"

"Yeah," answered Laura.

"Great," Tammy said. "Well . . . see you at
school on Monday."

"Right." Laura hung up the phone and lay back on
her bed.

Why does life have to be so complicated? she wondered. She
thought back to the day she had invented the story about having a maid. It
seemed like a million years ago. What had The Fantastic Foursome been talking
about, anyway?

Oh, yes, she remembered. Melissa had made some comment about
what she was wearing. Her clothes looked old and wrinkled, or something like
that. So Laura had started that harmless little lie. And that one teensy lie
had snowballed and snowballed until it turned into a total disaster. If only
Melissa hadn't made that nasty remark about her shirt.

That's right, Laura thought, sitting up again. Melissa had
started the whole thing. If she hadn't been so critical of Laura, this mess
would never have happened. Laura frowned as she thought about Melissa. If The
Fantastic Foursome split up, maybe it wouldn't be so bad not to have
Melissa-the-Perfect around always criticizing!

"But Melissa didn't start the lie," whispered a
little voice-in her mind. "
You
did."

Laura sighed. She felt sad, tired, and fed up with people.
She had done all she could to keep everything under control. Melissa's
pickiness and Tammy's big mouth were a lot to put up with.

Laura thought about Alexis. Poor Alexis. She had looked so
awful at the mall. So disappointed in everything. And so hurt.

A rush of guilt washed over Laura. She really liked Alexis.
It made her feel terrible to think she had hurt her.

Well, Laura corrected herself indignantly, I really wasn't
the one who hurt Alexis. It was Tammy who spread the rumors about her. If Tammy
had minded her own business and kept her mouth shut the way I told her to,
Alexis wouldn't be so hurt, The Fantastic Foursome wouldn't be about to break
up, and I wouldn't be so miserable.

"But Tammy wasn't the one who lied," whispered the
little voice.

I can't blame it on anyone but myself, she thought.

Laura rolled over on her stomach. She had to figure out a
way to get out of this horrible mess. But most important, she knew she had to
make things right again.

It had all started with the maid. That stupid, rotten maid—

An idea flashed in Laura's mind. She stretched out on the
bed and let her mind play with the thought and develop it.

That's it! she thought excitedly when she had it worked out
just right. The maid had started this whole thing. And now the maid would get
her out of it!

All the kids at school greeted Laura with friendly smiles
and waves on Monday morning. Tammy must have spread the word about Alexis, she
realized. They're all on my side now.

Laura thought about letting go of the whole incident and not
going through her with plan. It was tempting. Even the best plans could
backfire, and if hers backfired, everyone would know she had lied.

Laura went into the empty bathroom before lunch and into one
of the stalls. A minute later she heard the bathroom door open and feet shuffle
in.

"It's so hard to believe," a voice said. Laura
recognized it as Beth Barry's.

"I know," replied her friend Jana Morgan. "Alexis
has always been such a great person. How could she possibly have done something
awful like
steal
?
"

Laura peeked at the girls through the crack in the door.
Jana and Beth were brushing their hair in front of the mirror.

"I can't believe it, either," Beth said. "But
when you've got the word of two people—even when those two people happen to be
Laura McCall and Tammy Lucero—against one person, you have to wonder a little."

Laura gritted her teeth at the mention of her name.

"I always thought Alexis was almost perfect," Jana
commented. "She gets good grades, she's nice to people, she has lots of
friends—"

"Not so many now," Beth interrupted. "I heard
that Sally and Jennifer had planned to invite her to their party, but now they've
decided not to. They say they're not going to hang around with her until it's
proven one way or the other if she's a thief."

"They're afraid Alexis might steal from them?"
asked Jana.

"Right," said Beth.

"Wow," exclaimed Jana. "I thought in this
country we're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty."

"But have you seen Alexis today?" asked Beth. "She
looks like something the cat dragged in! She's acting weird, too, keeping to
herself, walking along the hall as close to the lockers as she can get."

"I don't know what to think," said Jana. "I'm
going to be nice to her, but I'm going to be careful, too. It's just so sad.''

The girls filed out of the bathroom.

As soon as they were gone, Laura opened the stall door and
moved to the mirror. She took out some blush from her backpack and brushed it
on, all the while thinking about Alexis.

If Jana and Beth were questioning Alexis's honesty, then
everybody
must be wondering about her.

Laura looked at herself in the mirror. She suddenly didn't
like what she saw. Oh, sure, she was still good-looking. It wasn't that. She
just felt different about herself the last few days.

She thought about the lie for the millionth time. Laura hadn't
planned to hurt anybody. But she had ended up lying about Alexis to protect
herself. She had told the lie only to her friends, true, but Tammy had spread
it. And now she felt like the world's biggest jerk. She felt as if she had a
rock in her stomach. She was sick of feeling this way, sick of the whole thing.

She had to put her plan into action—right now. She stuffed
the blush into her backpack and hurried out of the bathroom.