Fabulous Five 022 - Melanie's Valentine

by Betsy Haynes

  He said the words so quickly that Melanie knew he was trying to get them out before he lost his nerve.

  "Sure," she replied, and gave him her biggest smile. "I'd really like that."

  "Me, too."

  For the rest of the way to school, they talked about classes and tests and the usual school stuff. Melanie tried to carry on the conversation with half of her brain, while the other half imagined being with Shane for the Valentine party. The lights would be low. The dance floor would be crowded with other couples, bumping into them and pushing them closer together. Maybe he would even kiss her right there. . . .

  "Well, I'll see you around." Shane's words cut into her daydream and brought her back to reality.

  They were inside the school ground gates already, and he was steering his crippled bike toward the bicycle rack and waving to her over his shoulder. "Right," she called after him. "See you."

  As soon as he had gone, Melanie took off running, making a beeline for the spot by the chain-link fence where The Fabulous Five met before school every morning. Her four best friends were already there, and she began jumping up and down and shouting as soon as she reached them.

  "He did it! He did it! Shane asked me to the Valentine party!"

  "Oh, Mel. That's wonderful!" cried Jana, grabbing Melanie and giving her a big hug. "I told you everything would work out."

  The others crowded around excitedly, taking turns hugging her.

  "What happened? When did he ask you?" asked Beth.

  Melanie told her story, beginning with the three calls from Scott the night before and her ducking into the bathroom to avoid answering them.

  "I'd love to have been there when you faked throwing up," said Beth. "I'll bet that was a riot."

  Melanie nodded. "The worst part was that Jeffy knew I was faking. He tried to tell Mom, but she was too busy being sympathetic to me to pay any attention to him," she admitted. Then she told them about the disastrous scene with her grandmother at breakfast, ending with missing Shane at the corner, only to happen upon him again when his bike had a flat.

  "That was when he asked me to the Valentine party. It couldn't have worked out any better if I had planned it that way," Melanie said in a dreamy voice.

  "So, what are you going to do now when Scott asks you to the party?" asked Christie.

  "Just tell him that I already have a date, that's all," she said.

  "I thought you didn't want to hurt his feelings," said Katie.

  "I don't," said Melanie. "This way I won't have to tell him I don't like him anymore. Don't you see? He'll just think I'm popular."

  Katie gave her a skeptical look, but the bell rang before Melanie could say more. You'll see, Katie Shannon, she thought smugly as she headed for her locker. Now that Shane has asked me to the party, everything is going to work out just fine.

  CHAPTER 13

  To Melanie's horror, Scott Daly was leaning against her locker, waiting for her. By the time she saw him, it was too late to duck away. He had seen her first.

  "Hi, Mel. Gosh, I'm glad you're here," he said. "When your mom told me you were sick last night, I was afraid you'd have to miss school today."

  Melanie's heart melted at the worried expression on Scott's face. His sad eyes were looking at her as if he thought she might have something terminal. An instant memory popped into her mind. It was the time a few months ago when she'd had mononucleosis—the kissing disease, or so she had thought at the time—and how worried she'd been that she might have given it to him. She remembered also all the terrific times they had had together and how it had been Scott who had given her her very first kiss.

  "Thanks, Scott," she said softly. "I just had an upset stomach, that's all. I'm fine this morning."

  "Great," he said, and a smile spread over his face like the sun breaking out of the clouds.

  Scott stepped aside so that she could open her locker and get out the books for her morning classes. Even though she was looking into her locker, she was seeing pictures in her mind of her and Scott holding hands in the movie, listening to music on her stereo, and doing all the other fun things they had done together. Melanie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was one of the cutest boys in the seventh grade. Not only that, he liked her. A rush of guilt filled her heart. How could she possibly hurt someone as special as Scott?

  When she closed her locker and looked back at him, he was still smiling.

  "Say, Mel. Would you like to go to the Valentine party at Bumpers with me?" he asked.

  Like a runaway elevator, Melanie's stomach dropped toward her shoes, and there was a funny crackling sound in her ears. The moment she had been dreading had arrived, and Scott was actually asking her to the party. She was going to have to turn him down. Maybe he wouldn't just think she was popular after all. Maybe he would be hurt. Still, she had to do it. There was no choice. She already had a date with Shane.

  She took a deep breath and started to speak, but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

  "Gosh . . . Scott . . ." she finally managed to get out. "I'd . . . love . . . to . . . but . . ."

  The rest of her words were drowned out by the bell.

  Scott's eyes lit up. "You'd love to! Great! I've got to go. I'll talk to you later." He whirled around and disappeared in the crowd of kids slamming their lockers and pushing their way to their homeroom classes.

  "Wait!" Melanie shouted, but it was too late. He was gone. She looked around helplessly. "But I . . ." she protested, but no one in the noisy mob of kids racing past heard her. "I didn't mean . . . Oh, no! What am I going to do now?"

  Melanie marched to her homeroom like a zombie. It was too incredible to be true. She had meant to say, I'd love to, but I already have a date. But when the bell rang, and the noise in the hall drowned out all but I'd love to, Scott had thought she was saying yes.

  She sank into her seat, not even hearing the roll being called so that Mrs. Clark, her homeroom teacher, had to say her name twice before she answered, "Here."

  She would have to talk to Scott and explain that there had been a terrible mistake, she decided. And she would have to do it immediately, before he told anyone that they had a date for the party. It was too awful to imagine what would happen if both Scott and Shane started telling other kids that they were going to the Valentine party with Melanie.

  "But how am I going to do it?" she whispered to herself as she hurried through the halls to Family Living, her first-period class. She bit her lower lip and tried to imagine the conversation. Scott, when I said I'd love to, I didn't really mean I'd love to go to the party with you. What I meant was . . . No, that was all wrong.

  She stopped at the drinking fountain and tried again, but her mind was blank. There's absolutely nothing that will work, she thought.

  Scott was already in his seat when she got to Family Living class. She waved at him and took her seat, glad that she didn't have to talk to him now. She needed more time. And she definitely needed to talk to the rest of The Fabulous Five. They always stuck by each other in a crisis, and this certainly was a crisis.

  Just then Shane came sauntering in the door. Melanie's heart skipped a beat when she saw him. He always looked so cool and sure of himself. Of course she wanted to go to the party with him instead of Scott. How could she have forgotten, even for a moment, how terrific he was?

  "Hey, Melanie," he whispered as he went by her desk. "Are you going to Bumpers after school?"

  "Sure," she said, aware as she said it that she hadn't given it a thought until this moment.

  "See you there, okay?"

  Melanie nodded. She'd be there, all right. Wild horses couldn't keep her away.

  Just as Shane moved away, she suddenly felt someone looking at her. Glancing up, she locked eyes with Scott. He wasn't smiling now. But he didn't look angry either. Just puzzled.

  Eeeek, thought Melanie. This is getting more complicated by the minute.

  "You did what!" Katie shrieked.

  The Fab
ulous Five were having lunch in the cafeteria, and Melanie had just explained her latest predicament.

  "I didn't mean to," moaned Melanie. "It just happened, that's all."

  Katie shook her head. "I can't understand for the life of me how you keep getting into these totally weird situations. You've got to do something. You can't let Scott go on thinking you're going to the party with him."

  "I know that," insisted Melanie. "That's why I'm telling you all this. I need your help figuring out what to do."

  "It seems to me that there's only one thing to do," said Beth. "You've got to level with him."

  "Right," said Christie. "Just explain that you'd like to go with him but that you already have a date."

  "He'll understand," said Jana when Melanie's expression turned to panic.

  Melanie took a deep breath and looked around the table at each of her friends. "Okay," she said. "I know you're right. It's going to be hard, but I'll do it. I'll go to his locker after school and talk to him then. Wish me luck."

  The five best friends slapped hands over the center of the table.

  "You can do it, Mel," said Katie.

  "Right," chorused Beth and Jana.

  Christie touched her arm. "You'll feel better as soon as it's over."

  Melanie smiled weakly. She'd have to feel better, she thought. Nothing could make her feel worse than she did right now.

  CHAPTER 14

  The rest of the day, every time Melanie saw Scott in the halls, her knees got wobbly. How could you let yourself get into such a mess in the first place? she asked herself over and over again.

  When the dismissal bell rang at the end of the day, she slowly headed for the lockers, feeling like a condemned prisoner going to her execution.

  If she had been any slower, she would have missed him. Scott was slamming his locker and twirling the combination lock when she walked up.

  Melanie took a deep breath. "Scott, can I talk to you a minute?" she said. Her voice sounded thin and whispery, and she had trouble making the words come out.

  "Sure," he said.

  He was obviously glad to see her, which made what she was about to do all the more awful. He's going to be so hurt, she thought, cringing inside.

  Melanie looked around the hall as if help might be standing nearby. Instead, the crowd was thinning as kids closed their lockers and left Wakeman for the day. By the time she turned to speak to Scott, they were almost alone.

  "I really need to talk to you," she began. "Do you remember this morning when you asked me to go to the Valentine party with you, and I said I'd love to?"

  "Of course," he said, looking confused. "What about it?"

  "Well," she said, and then hesitated, swallowing. "The bell rang before I could finish what I was saying."

  Scott narrowed his eyes. "And?"

  "And . . . the truth is . . ." she looked at him with pleading eyes, "I'd really love to go to the party with you, like I said, but I have this problem. I already have a date with Shane."

  Scott didn't say anything for a moment. He stared at the floor as if deep in thought, and then he raked his fingers through his hair. Melanie's heart was pounding. What was he thinking? Was he angry at her?

  Finally he looked at her again, fixing her with solemn eyes. "Well, if it's a problem, why don't you just tell Shane that you don't want to go with him?"

  His words startled her, and she knew she must have a strange look on her face. "But . . . I . . ." she fumbled.

  "I mean, he must know about you and me and how long we've been going out together. Doesn't he?" Scott asked.

  Melanie nodded mutely. She was totally flabbergasted. How could he have misunderstood her so badly?

  "So it won't come as any big shock to him or anything," Scott went on.

  "You mean break my date with Shane?" she whispered.

  "Of course," said Scott. "I mean, you were the one who said it was a problem. There's no reason you have to go with a guy who's a problem. Not when you want to go with me and I want to go with you."

  Melanie stared blankly at Scott. She felt as if she were drowning in quicksand.

  Just then there was the clatter of footsteps in the empty hallway, and Bill Soliday popped around the corner. "Hey, Daly. Come on. The guys are waiting," he yelled, jerking his head in a motion for Scott to follow. "Oh, hi, Melanie," he added, and grinned.

  "Yeah, I'm coming," called Scott. Then he turned back to Melanie. "Don't forget. Just tell him. And if you lose your nerve, I'll tell him for you."

  Scott was gone in a flash, and Melanie stared at the spot where he had been standing.

  "Scott Daly, why don't you ever stay in one place long enough to hear the whole story?" she cried angrily, knowing he was too far away to hear. "Why don't you let me explain . . . or something . . ." Her words broke off as tears of frustration filled her throat.

  Melanie went to her own locker and got out her peach-and-white jacket. It seemed more like days than hours since she had pulled the jacket out of her closet, hoping to look especially nice when she accidentally met Shane at the corner before school. So much had happened since then that the mere thought of all of it made her head spin.

  She shivered as she stepped out into the cold, even though she had put on her hat, gloves, and scarf. As she hurried down the sidewalk away from the school building, she thought she heard someone call her name. Turning toward the bike rack, she saw Shane, and he was waving her over.

  "Hey, Mel. I'm not going to be able to go to Bumpers after all," he said, motioning toward his crippled bike. "I totally forgot about this flat."

  "That's okay," she replied. "I probably should go on home, anyway. Big test in math in a couple of days."

  They said good-bye, and she headed for home, feeling terribly depressed. What was she going to say to Scott now? She had put her foot in her mouth twice. If she leveled with him after all that had happened, he not only would never believe another word she said, but would probably hate her, as well. And even if she got everything straightened out, she would have a hard time having fun at the Valentine party after all the trouble she had caused.

  Why had Mr. Matson decided to have a Valentine party, anyway? she wondered as she turned for home. If he hadn't, none of this would have happened.

  Grandma Dee must have been watching out the window, because as soon as Melanie started up the back steps, her grandmother threw open the door.

  "I'm so glad you're home," chirped Grandma Dee. "Wait until you hear what I have planned for all of us after supper."

  Melanie's shoulders sagged as she sighed and looked at her grandmother. What now? she thought.

  "We're going ice skating in the park!" With that, Grandma Dee began gliding around the kitchen floor as if she were skimming across the ice. "Won't it be fun? I went through the box of old skates in the basement and found a pair that fits me perfectly. Your mother says that the rest of you have good skates, so we're all set."

  She looked so proud of herself that for an instant Melanie almost let herself get excited, too. Skating on the pond in the park on a winter night was always fun, and there were usually lots of families there with kids she knew. There would be a warming fire on the bank, and her mother would bring a big thermos of hot chocolate. But still, she thought, and sighed, she needed the time to work on her problem. And she really did have homework.

  "Gosh, Grandma Dee, I'd love to go," she said apologetically. "But this is a school night, and I have a big math test in a couple of days."

  Her grandmother's face fell. "Can't you get away for a little while?" she asked. "We won't be out late. I want to show you some tricks on the ice."

  Melanie shook her head. "Afraid not. I'll go with you some other time. And I'll bet you're a terrific skater."

  Grandma Dee's eyes twinkled. "Debbie Thomas and Caterina Witt—look out!"

  After supper her parents bundled up Jeffy, and then everyone except Melanie piled into the teen taxi and headed for the park. As Melanie watched the van pull out of
the driveway, a lump the size of a snowball crowded her throat. She felt so lonely. Perhaps staying home to work out her problem hadn't been such a good idea after all.

  Just then she heard a soft whimper, and she looked down to see Rainbow sitting at her feet.

  "Oh, Rainbow, you're just the person I need to talk to," she said, kneeling and stroking the dog's soft head. "If only you could really help."

  Rainbow looked up at her with sympathetic eyes and then trotted along behind her all the way back to her room. Melanie stretched out on her carpet, and Rainbow snuggled up beside her. They lay there quietly for a while, and then Melanie said, "I just don't know what I'm going to do, Rainbow. I'm trying so hard not to hurt Scott, but everything I do just makes things worse."

  Rainbow rested her chin on Melanie's outstretched arm and blinked her understanding.

  "And I can't break my date with Shane just to keep from telling Scott that I don't want to go out with him anymore."

  A sudden noise caught her attention. It was the garage door opening.

  "They're back?" Melanie whispered in amazement. "They just left a little while ago."

  Rainbow's ears had perked up, too, and she scrambled to her feet and hurried down the stairs, barking a happy greeting. Melanie followed close behind. She couldn't imagine why her family had come back from skating so soon. They had scarcely had time to put on their skates and go once around the pond.

  Jeffy was the first one into the kitchen from the garage. His face was red, and he looked as if he was about to cry.

  "Mellie! Mellie!" he cried. "Grandma Dee fell down!"

  The next instant Mr. and Mrs. Edwards came sideways through the door, forming a pair of human crutches for Grandma Dee, who was limping along between them. The ski cap with the pom-pom on top that she had borrowed from Melanie was askew, and the twinkle was definitely gone from her eyes.

  "What happened?" cried Melanie. "Grandma Dee, are you hurt?"

  No one said anything for a moment as Melanie's parents helped Grandma Dee into the family room and lowered her onto the sofa. Then Mrs. Edwards shook her head and said, "She took a hard fall almost as soon as she stood up on her skates."