by Betsy Haynes
Jana blinked and glanced at the photo again. Why did it seem so strange to see Liz looking like a normal kid? Was it because Jana had never been able to see Liz that way, in spite of how hard she tried? Had she always thought of her as "homeless" first and as a "real person" second? Worst of all, had Liz been able to tell?
Jana slipped the picture back into Liz's book and hurried to the kitchen.
"Have some cereal. Then we've got to go," Liz said when Jana sat down beside her. Liz shoved a spoon and a single-serving box of Cheerios at Jana. "Eat it out of the box. We're out of clean dishes. Here's some milk."
Jana almost choked on her cereal. Her mind was still on the picture of Liz and her friends. She remembered at the start of the project thinking that if things had been different, she and her mother might have had to live like the Flaggs. But never in her wildest imagination had she known what it would really be like.
Within seven minutes, the girls were out the door and on their way to school. Jana glanced at Liz walking along beside her and felt a rush of admiration for her. She was in a terrible situation, but she was dealing with it extremely well, when you considered everything. Liz was a real survivor. Jana knew she was going to make it.
CHAPTER 14
"Okay, so here I am," Melanie said, plopping down in the booth at Bumpers. "Let the good times roll."
"That's the attitude, Mel," Jana said. She yawned. She'd been yawning all day and could barely keep her eyes open during classes.
Melanie rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "I was kidding, Jana," she said. "I mean, I'll have good times with The Fabulous Five, as always, but boys . . ." Her voice trailed off sadly.
The Fabulous Five had met after school to spend some time together. They had all been so busy lately, they hadn't had a chance to see one another as much as they liked. Jana thought it was good to be together as a fivesome again. Then she was going straight home to take a long bubble bath and wash her hair.
"Don't bet on having no boys in your life," Christie told Melanie. "I heard Shane Arrington telling someone in the hall that he was coming here today."
"That doesn't mean he'll even look at me," Melanie said glumly.
"We'll see," said Katie. Then she turned to Jana. "So your overnight at the shelter went okay?"
"What was it like?" asked Beth. "Was it fun?"
"I wouldn't call it 'fun,'" said Jana. "It was certainly an eye-opener. I can see now how Liz can't get her homework done. It's very noisy, and there really isn't any place to study."
"What were the people like?" asked Christie.
"The adults were tired, mostly," Jana said. "The kids entertained themselves and got pretty loud." She paused. There was a lot more to it than that, but she wasn't really ready to talk about it yet, even to her friends. She would, though, very soon, and she knew they'd understand. "I'm glad I went," she added. "I think Liz was glad, too."
Suddenly Melanie grabbed Jana's hand. "Don't look now, but guess who just walked in the door."
"Uhm, don't tell me," Beth murmured, her hand to her forehead, pretending to think very hard. "Uhm, the name is on the tip of my tongue—don't tell me—"
Melanie's breathless whisper interrupted her. "It's Shane Arrington."
"Oh, you told me," Beth said, with exaggerated disappointment. Then she grinned and winked at Jana.
"He's with Randy," Melanie said. "Jana, maybe you can call Randy over, and Shane will come with him."
"Sure," said Jana. It was good to see Randy. She waved to him. "Hi, guys," she called.
Randy grinned and poked Shane in the ribs. Then the two boys sauntered toward The Fabulous Five's table. Jana felt Melanie stiffen next to her.
"Relax," Jana whispered. "Just relax and be yourself."
"Hi," said Randy. "Howl's it going?"
Jana gave him her best smile. "Great," she said, and nudged Melanie under the table.
"Uh, Shane," Melanie started out nervously. "How's Igor these days? I haven't heard much about him lately."
Melanie had asked about Shane's favorite subject, his pet iguana, and his face lit up. "Oh, he's awesome as usual," Shane said proudly. "He's been showing up when I experiment in the kitchen." Shane grinned. "Actually he says he's always had a secret desire to be a chef and go to the Cordon Bleu cooking school in France."
Melanie laughed. "Igor is pretty talented."
"You've got that right," Shane said. He dug into his jeans pocket. "I think I'll play a song on the jukebox. Want to help me choose one, Melanie?"
Melanie's eyes grew wide. "Oh, yes, I'd love to!" she said, beaming.
She got up and started across the crowded room with Shane, then glanced back over her shoulder and mouthed the word wow! to her friends. They all laughed.
Beth pulled Jana toward her and whispered in her ear, "You didn't say anything to Randy about Mel's love test, did you?"
Jana frowned. "Of course not," she whispered back, being sure that Randy couldn't hear.
"And you didn't just suggest that he talk to Shane about Melanie, did you?"
"You know me better than that," Jana said indignantly. "Whatever's happening right now is strictly Shane's idea."
Beth nodded her approval and then pointed toward the door. Liz was walking into Bumpers and heading straight for the table where the girls and Randy were sitting.
"Hi, Jana," Liz said. "I thought I might find you here."
"Liz! I'm glad you came," Jana said, smiling. "Sit down with us."
"I can't," Liz said. "Mom and I are getting ready to leave."
"Leave?" asked Jana.
Liz grinned. "We're leaving town, going back home. Mom got that job she interviewed for, and they want her to start work right away."
"Liz, that's wonderful!" Jana said, clapping her hands.
"Congratulations!" said Christie.
"Terrific," added Katie.
"Thanks, guys. Uh, Jana, could I see you alone for a sec?" Liz asked.
Jana slid out of her chair. "Sure."
Liz led Jana to a spot away from the crowd. "I just wanted to say thank you," Liz said, turning to her.
"For what?" asked Jana.
"For—well, for being a friend when I was hard to like," Liz said with a little smile.
"Hey," Jana said, "we had a rocky start, that's all."
"Well, you're a special person, Jana," Liz said. "That's why I'd like for you to have these." She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and unfolded it.
Jana gasped. "Your earrings!" she said. "Your grandmother's beautiful earrings! You can't give those to me!"
"I want you to have them. Honest," Liz said softly.
Jana started to protest again, but the look on Liz's face stopped her. She really does want me to have them, Jana thought. It's important for her to be able to give something to me.
"Thank you, Liz," Jana said, her eyes moistening as she slipped an earring into each ear. "I'll treasure them. I really will."
"Hey," Liz said with a grin, "call me Lizzie, okay?"
Jana grinned back. "Sure, Lizzie."
Lizzie leaned over and gave Jana a tight hug. "I'll write when we get settled," she said.
"And I'll write back," Jana promised, returning the hug.
"Take care," Lizzie said. "I hate good-byes, so I'll just say, 'See you later.'"
"See you," Jana said.
Lizzie held up her hand in a little wave to the rest of The Fabulous Five and disappeared out the door. Jana watched her go and felt both happy and sad. It was hard to have a friend leave, but she knew that Lizzie and her mother had a good chance of making a success of their lives. They were going home now, and Lizzie would be back with her old friends. Jana sighed and walked back to the booth.
"Sad to see her go?" Beth asked.
Jana nodded. "But I'm really glad her mother got a job. Now they can start living normal lives again."
"Uh-oh," Christie said, watching the door. "Shane just left. I hope Melanie isn't upset."
"From the look on her
face," Beth said, "I'd say that her mood has improved quite a bit."
Melanie skipped up to their table, beaming. "You'll never guess what!" she said. "Shane asked me out! Can you believe it?"
"Sure," Jana said with a grin. "You're a nice girl, and Shane likes you."
"Wow!" she said, clasping her hands under her chin. "I never would have thought it was possible."
"So, now do you believe that the love test was just a silly game?" asked Jana.
"Well, I suppose so," Melanie said slowly. "On the other hand, maybe the song Shane and I chose cancelled out the love test spell."
"What song?" asked Katie.
"'Do You Believe in Magic?'" said Melanie in a dreamy voice. Then she giggled and added, "I always thought that song had some mystical qualities—"
The girls all groaned at once and then laughed. It had been a tough couple of weeks, but it was obvious that things were finally back to crazy-normal. And that's the way Jana liked life with The Fabulous Five. Crazy-normal!
CHAPTER 15
The Fabulous Five sat by the window at Bumpers finishing their sodas. Outside the street was filled with icy slush from snow that had fallen the night before and refused to melt completely as the temperature stayed around thirty-four degrees. The sky was still a dirty gray, and it matched the girls' moods.
"Jeez!" complained Beth. "There's nothing to do around this place."
"Tell me about it," said Christie. "There's no good movies on anywhere, and I looked at the TV schedule and there's nothing except reruns coming up."
"What makes it worse," joined in Katie, "is that the winter break between semesters is coming up, and it's not going to get any better."
"Over a whole week with nothing to do," sighed Melanie. "I may go stark raving mad. What are you going to do, Jana?"
"Randy and I'll probably watch a lot of reruns and eat popcorn. I'll bet I gain ten pounds before school starts again."
"What we need is something to stir up a little excitement around here," said Beth.
"Yeah," agreed Melanie, "I need some pizzazz in my life."
"You'd probably like a handsome guy to come driving up in his own three hundred ZX and sweep you off your feet," said Christie, laughing.
"Yeah," agreed Katie, "and carry you away to La La Land, where you'll live happily ever after."
"Not me," Melanie protested. "I've finally got a date with Shane, and I'm not going to take any chances of blowing it with him. But that doesn't keep me from wanting to have fun."
"Some fun doesn't sound too bad to me," said Beth. "I'm ready for it, too."
"You guys," responded Jana. "Can't you be happy with what you've got? We all have great boyfriends and as much to do as most people have. What more could we really want?"
"Well, a little sunshine wouldn't hurt," said Christie, looking out at the miserable weather.
"And a little variety and excitement in the things we have to do," added Katie.
Unbeknownst to The Fabulous Five, that's exactly what's going to happen during their winter break. Melanie's father wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to the island of Barbados in the Caribbean, and the whole group gets to go along. On Barbados they find lots of sunshine, palm trees, and sandy beaches, all kinds of exciting things to do, and more romance than any of them ever dreamed of. Don't miss The Fabulous Five Super Edition #2: Caribbean Adventure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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 Marco Island, Florida, with her husband, who is also an author.
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
ABOUT THE AUTHOR