Fabulous Five 007 - The Kissing Disaster

by Betsy Haynes

  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."

  CHAPTER 17

  Melanie's scalp tingled as if a thousand daddy longlegs spiders were dancing in her hair. "What about the kissing disease?" she whispered.

  "Well," Christie began importantly, "my brother Mike called a little while ago to say that he's coming home this weekend. He's in medical school, you know."

  "I know! I know!" insisted Melanie, slapping the wall behind her impatiently. "What about the kissing disease?"

  "I'm getting to that. Anyway, I answered the phone, and after he told me he would be home for the weekend, I asked him if he had studied anything about mononucleosis in medical school yet. At first he thought I had it, and he laughed, calling it the kissing disease and asking me where I got it."

  Christie paused, and Melanie's heart sank. This didn't sound like anything she wanted to hear. She was about to say so when Christie started talking again.

  "So I said, no, I don't have it, but do you really get it from kissing? And he laughed again and said, no, that's just a myth. It's really a virus that makes kids sick when they get too tired and run-down and don't eat right or take care of themselves. He said it's really hard to catch from someone else, and t
hat the odds are about a billion to one against getting it from kissing. Isn't that terrific!"

  Melanie was too weak-kneed to answer right away, and she slid slowly down the wall and sank to the floor as a giddy smile spread across her face. If you couldn't get it from kissing, then she hadn't passed it on to Scott or Shane, either.

  "Are you there?" demanded Christie. "Answer me!"

  "I'm here," said Melanie.

  "You didn't faint, did you?" Christie asked anxiously. "Maybe you'd better get back to bed."

  "I didn't faint. In fact I've never felt so great in my life. And what's more, no matter what that witch Laura McCall and her friends are trying to spread, I couldn't have started an epidemic of the kissing disease!"

  "Right," said Christie. "The trouble is that she has practically everybody convinced that you did and that you're a walking disaster."

  Melanie's happy mood fizzled away like a balloon with a slow leak. "Is it that bad?"

  "Worse," said Christie. "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but at noon I overheard Elizabeth Harvey telling some girls that she had accidentally touched your locker with her left hand and that she was heading straight to the girls' room to wash it off."

  "What!" shrieked Melanie. "I thought mono was supposed to be a kissing disease, not a touching disease."

  "That was before Laura and her gossipy friends started talking about it," conceded Christie.

  Neither of them said anything for a moment. Then Melanie asked in a small voice, "What am I going to do?"

  "I don't know yet, but I'm thinking," Christie assured her. "And so are the rest of The Fabulous Five. I've already talked to them. Meet us at the fence in the morning. Maybe by then one of us will have thought of a way to stop the lies that Laura and her friends are telling."

  Melanie tumbled into bed as soon as they hung up, but she had too much on her mind to go to sleep. She wanted to hug herself with joy now because Christie had found out that mono wasn't really a kissing disease, and because Christie and the others wanted to help fight the rumors Laura had started. But at the same time, she felt confused. The real reason she had gotten mono was because she had been going to all those dance committee meetings so she could make new friends and had been going out with cute boys and trying to be popular. And the reason she had worked herself silly trying to be popular was because she had thought that her old friends in The Fabulous Five didn't want to be friends with her anymore, and she wanted to show them that she didn't need them either.

  No, she corrected herself. I didn't just work myself silly. I worked myself into a big, fat case of mononucleosis. And for what? Just so that The Fabulous Five can help me get out of all the trouble that I created for myself! The thought was so funny that she rolled over onto her back and giggled in the dark.

  When Melanie got to the fence the next morning, the rest of The Fabulous Five were already there. For the first time in weeks they acted genuinely glad to see her, gathering around her and asking how she felt.

  "Lots better," she said, "but I still don't know what to do about Laura's lies. Does anyone have any ideas?"

  "No," confessed Christie. "I thought and thought and thought last night, but I couldn't come up with anything."

  "Me, either," said Beth.

  "I guess all we can do is talk to as many kids as possible and tell them that mono isn't really a kissing disease," said Melanie.

  "But who's going to believe us?" argued Katie. "They all know Melanie is one of our best friends. They'll think we're just saying it to make her look better. What we need is someone with authority to tell them."

  Everyone sighed and lapsed into silence again. Melanie knew that Katie was right. There was no use in going around saying one thing when Laura and her friends would be saying the opposite. Just as many kids would believe Laura as would believe them. What good would that do? What they needed was someone with authority. But who?

  "What about the school nurse?" asked Jana.

  "She visits a different school every day," Melanie reminded her. "This is only Tuesday, and she won't get to Wacko until Friday. I can't wait that long."

  Jana shrugged apologetically and everyone went back to thinking again.

  "I know this is far out," Katie said, "but what about Mr. Dracovitch?"

  "Get real," Beth said incredulously.

  "The biology teacher?" murmured Melanie.

  "Sure," said Katie.

  "Maybe you've got something," said Melanie. "He knows about all kinds of medical things. You should have heard what he told our class about eyeballs. And everybody believed him. I'll bet if he made a scientific announcement about mono's not being a kissing disease, kids would believe him about that, too."

  "I don't know," said Jana, shaking her head.

  "Wait a minute," said Katie. "It's a great idea. Let's at least go ask him. If we hurry, we can talk to him before the bell rings."

  Melanie was still feeling weak from her illness so she trailed the others as they raced into the school and up the stairs to the biology lab. She kept her fingers crossed the whole way that he would be in his room by now, and her heart was pounding from both exertion and excitement when she peeked inside the laboratory door and saw him sitting at his desk.

  "Mr. Dracovitch?" she asked softly.

  He looked up and smiled at her. "Hi, Melanie. Come on in. Oh, I see you have friends with you. They're welcome, too."

  "Go on," whispered Katie, nudging her forward. "We'll back you up."

  Melanie took a deep breath and approached her teacher's desk while the others lingered near the door. He was looking at her kindly, but she couldn't help noticing for the zillionth time how his shiny, black toupee made him look exactly like Dracula. Why would anybody in her right mind go to him for help in putting a stop to untrue rumors? she wondered.

  She shifted from one foot to the other, trying to find a way to begin. It all sounded so crazy when she tried to say it out loud.

  "What can I do for you?" urged Mr. Dracovitch.

  "Someone in this school is spreading terrible lies about why I've been sick, and I need scientific proof that mononucleosis isn't a kissing disease and that I haven't started an epidemic." Melanie blurted the words out, but once she did, she began to feel better. She told him the whole story, leaving out only the names of the guilty so that he wouldn't think that her motive was only revenge.

  Mr. Dracovitch listened quietly. When she had finished talking, he leaned back in his chair, touched the tips of his fingers together, and looked at her thoughtfully.

  "Hmmm," he said at last. "I can see that you do have a problem and a serious one at that. It isn't much fun to have vicious rumors spread about you."

  He paused, and Melanie swallowed hard and waited for him to go on. "I think I can help you," he said. Smiling, he motioned for her to come closer. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he whispered conspiratorially, "In case I can't find mononucleosis in any of my science books, is it okay if I check with your doctor?"

  "Sure," she whispered back. "He's Dr. Garroway."

  Melanie could hardly contain her happiness after she left Mr. Dracovitch's room. She didn't even mind that some kids stepped out of her way in the halls and others turned away and began whispering. She wasn't sure exactly how good old Dracula was going to help her, but she knew he would.

  Homeroom period dragged on forever. Mrs. Clark, Melanie's homeroom teacher, took attendance, collected lunch money, and read the morning announcements just as she did every morning. "All right, students, please work on your homework assignments or sit quietly for the rest of the period," she said.

  Just then the door opened and Miss Simone, the school secretary, came bustling into the room carrying a stack of papers. She took one off the top and thrust it toward Mrs. Clark.

  "This is an additional announcement," said Miss Simone. "Please read it right away."

  Mrs. Clark glanced at the announcement, looked surprised for an instant, and then said, "This is from Mr. Dracovitch."

/>   Melanie sprang to attention like a jack-in-the-box as Mrs. Clark went on.

  "'It has come to my attention that some incorrect information is circulating around Wakeman Junior High about mononucleosis. As your science teacher, I want to inform you that there is no scientific basis for believing that mono is a kissing disease.'"

  Giggles and whispers interrupted Mrs. Clark, and Melanie could feel eyes turning to her.

  "'Furthermore,'" Mrs. Clark went on reading. "'I have consulted with a prominent local physician, and he has confirmed that mononucleosis is a virus that attacks only the most hardworking, busy, and popular students.'"

  Pandemonium broke loose as kids stamped and whistled and applauded. Everyone in the room was in an uproar except Melanie. She just leaned back against her seat and smiled.

  CHAPTER 18

  "You know, what Mr. Dracovitch said about mono's being a virus that attacks hardworking, busy, and popular kids is true," said Katie when The Fabulous Five met at Bumpers after school.

  Melanie was only half listening. She was thinking about how much better her life had become since homeroom this morning. Laura McCall had gone around looking mad enough to spit hornets. Dekeisha and Chandra had both asked Melanie if she was feeling well enough to come back to the dance committee meetings. Scott had stopped at her table in the cafeteria to ask her if it was okay to double with Mark Peters and Alexis Duvall for the dance, and Shane had slipped her a note in biology class saying that if she wasn't busy Friday night, he'd like to come over and listen to Definitely Yes and Probably Yes records with her. And then, after school the rest of The Fabulous Five had waited for her beside her locker so that they could all come to Bumpers together.