by Betsy Haynes
Only silence greeted them, and after a moment they tiptoed inside in single file.
"It sure is spooky in here," whispered Funny.
Jana nodded and looked around. The morning light was slanting in the windows, causing long shadows to angle off eerily. But most of all, somehow Mark Twain Elementary looked smaller than she remembered it after a week at Wakeman Junior High.
"Beth Barry? Are you here?" Mrs. Winchell repeated insistently. This time when no one answered, she added, "Okay, let's fan out in all directions. Be careful, though. She's very upset. We don't want to scare her any more than she already has been."
Jana motioned to Katie, Christie, and Melanie to come with her. "I'll bet I know where she is," she whispered.
When they reached their old sixth-grade classroom the door was closed. All the others along the hall were open. Jana pointed to the door. "She's in there," she said, forming the words by moving her lips and not making a sound. The others nodded that they understood.
Now what can we do? wondered Jana. She agreed with Mrs. Winchell about how upset Beth was. They had to be careful. Suddenly it dawned on her. She knew exactly what to do.
She pressed her face against the door. "Beth," she called softly. "It's Jana. Listen. I have something wonderful to tell you. That doctor you heard in the waiting room wasn't talking to you. Your mother's okay. She came through the operation just fine, and she's going to get well. Please come out now. She wants to see you."
The four friends joined hands and held their breaths. Was Beth really inside? Had she heard what Jana had said? Finally the door opened a crack. From inside came one sniffling sound and then another.
"Beth?" Jana pleaded. "Did you hear what I said? It was all a misunderstanding. Your mother is okay."
This time the door swung open all the way and Beth stepped out. Her eyes were puffy and her hair a tangled mess, but she was smiling.
"Oh, Jana," she cried, rushing into her best friend's arms. "I've been so scared. I thought that she was . . ."
"It's okay," said Melanie, putting her arms around Beth and Jana. Christie and Katie joined in, and the five of them stood in the middle of the hall hugging and crying tears of happiness.
CHAPTER 16
The next day was Sunday, and Jana's mother invited Beth and her father to come over for dinner after they visited Mrs. Barry at the hospital.
Beth was all smiles. She even looked normal again in a bright fuchsia miniskirt and matching knit top and huge, brightly colored earrings in the shape of parrots. "You should see Mom! She's walking up and down the halls, and the doctor said she can go home sometime this week."
"That's terrific," said Mrs. Morgan. "I'm glad that everything worked out so well." She excused the girls right after dessert, saying that she and Jana would do the dishes later.
It was only then, after the girls were in Jana's room with the door closed, that Beth told Jana the rest of the story.
"It's hard to explain," she said, "and I know you think that I get carried away and overly dramatic about things sometimes, but this is true. I was really worried that my mother would die and that it was all my fault."
"Beth!" Jana exclaimed. "How could you believe such a thing?"
Beth gave her friend a helpless shrug. "Believe it or not, it all started when I was five years old. I yelled at Mom. Things like, 'I hate you,' ' I wish you were dead.' The kind of things little kids say without thinking. Later that afternoon Mom was in an automobile accident coming home from the grocery store. I thought she was going to die, and I thought it was all my fault. And then last weekend we had a big fight over new clothes for junior high. Later that night I found out she was going into the hospital for surgery, and—I couldn't help it—the old guilt came back again." She wiped away a tear.
"But your mother didn't die in the accident or in surgery," Jana insisted. "Besides, you don't really believe in superstitions like that anymore. You're old enough to know better."
"I know," confessed Beth, sighing. "But it's happened a couple of other times. Nothing as serious as a car accident or an operation, but I guess it was enough to make me superstitious, like you said. I told you it was going to sound weird. That's why I couldn't talk to you about it and why you thought I was mad at you and didn't want to be friends anymore. I was mad at myself for hurting my mom."
"Oh, Beth," cried Jana, throwing her arms around her best friend. "I didn't know what to think. And then you were always playing with that little bracelet. What was that all about?"
Slowly Beth pulled the bracelet out of her pocket and dropped it into Jana's wastebasket. "I guess I won't need this anymore." She grinned sheepishly. "It goes back to Mom's car accident when I was five. There was a lady in the hospital waiting room that time who was holding beads. I was too small to know that they were a rosary and that she was praying, so when she got good news, I decided I would get my beads, too. When I went home that night I got out my bracelet and held it in my hand all night long. The next morning they told us Mom was going to be okay. Even though I knew the bracelet didn't have any magical powers, I just couldn't help it. I got it out again when she went into the hospital. Does that make any sense?"
Jana nodded. She really did understand. It was easy sometimes to believe something even though you knew deep down that it couldn't possibly be true. Poor Beth, she thought. All these years she's been blaming herself for things she had nothing to do with, and her superstitious fears had even made her run away.
"Promise me one thing," she said, taking Beth's hand. "You won't forget that The Fabulous Five always stick together and talk their problems over with each other."
Beth laughed. "I promise," she said. "Now let's decide what we're going to wear to school on Monday."
"Okay," said Jana. "I can't wait to get back to Wacko Junior High!" It surprised Jana to hear herself say that, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew it was true. She had grown up a lot over the past few days, and she was ready to leave Mark Twain Elementary behind and go on to junior high.
Later, after Beth and her father went home, Jana went to the phone and called Funny.
"Hi," said Jana. "I just want you to know how much I appreciate your help in finding Beth. I have to admit that I was wrong, especially about Laura. If she hadn't come up with that idea, we might still be looking for Beth."
Funny laughed a tinkling little laugh. "I told you Laura was okay. She just comes off wrong sometimes."
"Yeah, well, I shouldn't have been so quick to believe the rumors I heard. I should have tried to find out the truth for myself."
"You mean about my being a bubblehead?"
Jana gasped. "You know about that?" she shrieked.
"Sure. I think it's a riot."
Jana couldn't help breaking up over that. All this time she had thought that calling Funny a bubblehead would be a put-down, and Funnv, with her usual sense of humor, thought it was . . . funny.
"Do you still want to try for coeditors of the yearbook?" Jana asked once they had stopped laughing. "My friends can handle it now. They're still my BEST friends, and I'll go around with them most of the time, but I'd like to be your friend, too."
"I feel the same way," said Funny. "I guess my deepest loyalties are still to Laura and Tammy and Melissa. We've been friends for a long time, but I like you, also."
After they hung up, Jana gave herself a hug. It had been quite a first week at Wacko Junior High. Her friendships and her loyalties had been put to the test. She had found out that you couldn't believe all the rumors you heard, and she had made a new friend without losing her old ones.
In fact, she thought with a grin, the best news of all was that things had never been more fabulous among The Fabulous Five.
CHAPTER 17
Beth was breathless as she raced to the spot by the school fence where The Fabulous Five met every morning before class. "You're not going to believe this," she said, "but the rumor we heard before is true. Laura McCall is going to have a party, and—get
this!—she's asking everyone from her old school, but she's inviting ALL of the boys and NONE of the girls from Mark Twain!"
"Wait a minute," said Jana. "How do you know? It's probably just some rumor The Fantastic Foursome are spreading to make us mad." Even though Laura had come up with the idea that had led them to Beth when she was missing, Jana still wasn't certain they could trust her.
"Lisa Snow said that Laura and her friends are passing out invitations in RED ENVELOPES to the boys," said Beth.
"Red envelopes?" said Katie, making a face. "How corny. Are they supposed to look like valentines or something?"
Beth shrugged. "Who knows? But Lisa found out from Mark Peters. He said that he got one and so did every other seventh-grade boy from Mark Twain. And even worse, they're all planning to go."
"Boy, that's sneaky," said Christie. "Everyone says that her dad lets her do anything she wants to do and that he isn't even home when she has her parties. How could the boys resist going?"
Melanie was fuming. "Laura wants all the boys for herself," she blurted out. "She's been trying to get Shane Arrington for ages, and now she's going after my boyfriend, Scott Daly, too. Well, she can't have either one of them. I'll make sure of that!"
Will Laura succeed in having all of the Mark Twain boys and none of the girls at her party? What will Melanie do to keep Laura away from both Shane and Scott? Find out in The Fabulous Five #2: THE TROUBLE WITH FLIRTING.
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17