by Betsy Haynes
"I got it," she said in a prayerlike whisper as she closed her eyes and stepped back from the tray return.
"I just hope you didn't smudge out his prints," Katie said as The Fabulous Five hurried up the steps to the science lab a few minutes later.
"Oh, my gosh," groaned Beth. "I never thought about that."
Mr. Dracovitch greeted the girls with his usual vampire-type smile and rubbed his hands together in obvious anticipation when he saw what they were carrying. "I gather that you had some luck finding a fingerprint," he said as they made their way toward his desk.
"I hope so," said Beth, offering him the plate in her outstretched hands.
Mr. Dracovitch held up a finger. "One moment," he said. Then he carefully put on a pair of transparent surgical gloves and reached for the plate. "Let me look at this under the microscope."
He set the plate under the lens, adjusted the microscope first one way and then another. With each adjustment he would bend low and peer at the plate. Finally he snapped to attention and smiled at the girls. "There it is. One perfect print!"
Her friends seemed relieved, but Beth was still unsure. "It isn't mine, is it?" she asked.
The teacher shook his head. "As I said before, the one on the plate is a perfect print.
"Now to get on with our little experiment," said Mr. Dracovitch. "Are you girls ready to begin telling everyone that I have a fingerprint that I believe belongs to one of the vandals and that I'm testing it here in my lab?"
The five friends looked at each other and grinned. Then they nodded to the science teacher and hurried out of the room.
It was almost time for the bell ending lunch period, and The Fabulous Five each went their separate ways toward their afternoon classes. Beth was deep in thought as she moved through the hall, wondering for the hundredth time if her plan to trap the vandals would really work, when she rounded a corner and almost smacked into Keith.
"Oh, my gosh!" she cried, jumping back and juggling her books to keep from dropping them. "There you are, Keith Masterson. I've been looking all over for you. I really need to tell you something," she said before she could lose her nerve.
Keith glanced around quickly as if he were looking for a place to hide, but he had his back to the wall, and Beth was standing directly in front of him. "Hi," he finally said sheepishly. Then he swiped a lock of blond hair off his forehead and asked, "What's up?"
Beth had practiced what she would say a zillion times, but when she opened her mouth to speak, the words tumbled out helter-skelter. "I think that . . . well . . . it's just that . . ." She sighed in exasperation. "What I'm trying to say is that I think we ought to break up. I can tell you don't want to be my boyfriend anymore. You don't even want to come over and play your Brain Damage tape. And if you don't want to go with me anymore, then I certainly don't want to go with you either."
Their eyes locked, and they stared at each other for a moment. Beth felt as if a steel hand were squeezing her heart. Keith was the only boy she had ever really liked, and she had just told him that she didn't want to go with him anymore. But at least she had put it into words. His actions had been telling her for a long time that he felt the same way.
Finally Keith looked down. "Okay," he said with a shrug. "If that's how you feel."
Beth nodded, praying that the tears she felt wouldn't spring into her eyes and give her away. Then she turned and walked slowly down the hall.
She stumbled through her afternoon classes, barely aware of what was going on in them and completely forgetting to mention the fingerprint to anyone. After school, she avoided her friends, even though she had told them she planned to break up with Keith. She just wasn't ready to talk about it yet. When she got home, she tiptoed up to her room, relieved that no one was in the kitchen to stop her and ask about her day. Brian's music was going full blast in his room, and when she slipped into her own room and closed the door behind her, what she saw there made a lump form in her throat.
"Agatha," she cried, jumping into the middle of her bed where her shaggy friend waited with her nose between her paws. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here. You knew I needed you, didn't you?" she said, hugging the huge dog and letting flow the tears she had held back since that awful conversation with Keith.
CHAPTER 16
The next day, the rumor that Mr. Dracovitch had one of the vandal's fingerprints and was testing it was flying around Wakeman like crazy. Beth heard it herself from Shawnie Pendergast when she stopped at the drinking fountain between two of her morning classes.
"Dekeisha Adams told me she actually saw Mr. Dracovitch looking at a piece of broken plate under a microscope. The boys must have left it when they trashed the cafeteria," said Shawnie. "Those jerks weren't as smart as they thought they were."
"Right," said Beth. "That's what I heard, too." She smiled to herself. Since so many kids were talking about it, surely the word would spread to Steve Melchior and his crowd soon, if it hadn't already.
She didn't have to wonder long. As she was closing her locker after school, John Mauhl and Jay Romberg walked hurriedly past her. They looked worried, and she heard Jay ask John, "What's Melchior mad about?" but she couldn't hear John's answer as they went out the exit.
Beth clutched her books to her chest and scampered after them just in time to see the two boys meet Steve Melchior and Tucker Cobler in a corner of the outside wall of the school. Steve looked very angry, and he was waving his arms and shouting at the others. Beth ducked behind the gum tree and listened to what he was saying.
"Which one of you stupid idiots took his gloves off? Was it you, John? Were you afraid you'd get your gloves all dirty?"
"No, I didn't do it," John protested, holding his hands up. "I had them on the whole time."
"Me, too," said Tucker.
Steve looked at Jay. "Hey, no! Not me, man. I kept my gloves on."
"Well, somebody fouled up, and it wasn't me," said Steve angrily. "And now we've got to do something about it."
Steve's voice faded and Beth peeked from behind the tree to see what they were doing. They were huddling with their heads together, and Steve was telling the others something she couldn't hear. Beth took the opportunity to sneak away. She had pushed her luck far enough.
When she reached the street, she let out the breath she had been holding and did a little dance step. Her plan was working. Now, the rest of it was up to Steve and his crowd. Somehow she just knew they would come through for her. She did another little dance step and headed for Bumpers.
"Hi, sweetheart," Mrs. Barry greeted Beth when she entered the Barry kitchen later. Beth had met the rest of The Fabulous Five at Bumpers and had told them about what she had seen and overheard behind the gum tree. They all agreed to keep their fingers crossed for good luck. Melanie had even crossed her eyes until Katie playfully hit her behind the head to straighten them out.
"Bethy, you got a letter!" shouted Alicia. She was holding an enormous white envelope and jumping up and down.
"Let me have that!" said Beth, grabbing for it. Alicia twirled and scampered under the table. "Mom-m-m!" Beth pleaded.
"Alicia, give your sister her letter," said Mrs. Barry without looking up from the recipe she was reading. Alicia crawled out from under the table with her lower lip covering her upper one and handed it to Beth.
Beth looked at the return address. It was an official Brain Damage envelope with their emblem on it and everything!
"WOW! It's from Trevor Morgan. He's answered already." Turning, Beth went running to her bedroom where she could read the letter in private.
Beth flopped down on her bed and held the envelope to her chest with both hands. Trevor had answered her! The envelope was so big it had to contain an autographed picture. He didn't think her request for something to auction was silly after all. She sat up quickly and carefully tore open the flap, trying not to damage the envelope's contents.
Inside was a picture of the Brain Damage band signed by every member and a separate picture of Trevo
r Morgan. The bold signature on his was the most beautiful handwriting she had ever seen. The pictures were accompanied by a letter and four coupons for free tickets to any Brain Damage concert.
Beth's hands were shaking as she spread the letter out and read it.
Dear Beth,
She shivered at the thought of his calling her "dear Beth."
I very much appreciated receiving your letter. It made my day.
I was sorry to hear about how someone did so much damage to your school. It's a shame there are people like that in the world. I want you to know how much I admire you and your friends for what you are doing to help repair the situation. It's just what I would expect from The Fabulous Five.
It's also a shame that some of the adults are putting all you kids in the same category. I can certainly understand how you feel. It's not fair. Some people think all rockers are the same, too, but we don't all play hard rock and get into trouble. Some of us are quite wholesome fellows, and proud of it. It's just that not everyone takes the time to understand the other person. We need to look below the surface sometimes and find out what really is going on inside of others.
Tell the students at Wakeman, for me, not to let other people's opinions shape their view of themselves. Tell them to stick by the things they believe in, and sooner or later other people will recognize the good in their actions. I'll be pulling for them on the day of the auction, and I know you'll do well.
Beth, I must close for now. As you can see, I am enclosing a few things for your auction. I hope they are satisfactory. With regard to the four coupons for our concert, they are for the auction. When we are playing in your town again, I expect The Fabulous Five to be my special guests.
Trevor Morgan
Beth rolled over and clutched the letter to her. She thought she would die of ecstasy. Trevor Morgan thought their auction was a great thing and wanted The Fabulous Five to be his special guests at his next concert. She popped up off the bed. She had to call Jana, Melanie, Christie, and Katie right away.
Beth was the first person to reach school the next morning. Mr. Bartosik, the head custodian, waved to her as he carried a trash can around to the back of the building, and she was tempted to show Trevor Morgan's letter to him just to have someone to show it to.
Shortly, however, kids started coming down the sidewalks leading to Wakeman Junior High, and she saw Jana and Katie hurrying toward her. She hopped up and down and waved the letter at them.
"I can't wait to see it!" said Jana. "Is it in Trevor's handwriting?"
"His signature is," answered Beth. "It's not one of those stamp things, at all."
"Let me see where he mentions The Fabulous Five," said Katie, craning over her shoulder.
Melanie and Christie came running up and wanted to see the letter, too.
"Dekeisha! Come see what we've got," shouted Beth. Soon a crowd was gathered around Beth, and she had to read the letter out loud eight times as new people joined the crowd.
"Wow!" said Marcie Bee. "Stars really do answer their letters, don't they? I've only written two, but I'm going to write a bunch more if that's the kind of letter you get."
"Me, too," agreed Kaci Davis. "I didn't think we'd get anything, but four tickets and those pictures, those are super."
Everyone began chattering excitedly about the auction, and several people left to go to their homerooms to begin writing more letters.
Jana winked at Beth. "Well, Beth, I think you've done it again. With everyone as excited as they are, our auction can't fail." The other girls wrapped their arms around her and hugged her.
Beth laughed. "I know. But there's one more thing we've got to find out about."
There was still ten minutes until the first bell when The Fabulous Five marched into Mr. Dracovitch's classroom. The teacher had five Bunsen burners lined up in a row with glass beakers sitting on them that were filled with bubbling, yuck-colored liquids. He was staring so closely at one, Beth thought he would burn his nose. He looked up and arched his eyebrows in that curious way that made Beth think of the Dracula she had seen in the movies.
"Well, I was expecting a visit," Mr. Dracovitch said. "I suppose you want a report on how your plan is progressing?"
"Uh, yes, sir," answered Beth, moving from one foot to the other. "I saw Steve Melchior and his friends yesterday, and he was very mad. I kind of thought something may have happened."
Mr. Dracovitch stroked his chin. "Whenever deductive reasoning is used properly, you can be guaranteed that your conclusions will be correct."
"Yes, sir," said Beth. She didn't understand what he meant, but she hoped he wasn't going to give them a lesson in science. If he did, they would all be late for homeroom.
"And in this case," he continued, "the logic used in the reasoning was infallible."
"What does that mean?" asked Katie. Beth could tell that Katie was getting anxious to find out what he was talking about.
He looked at each of them in turn. "That means," he said, pausing for effect, "that your plan worked excellently. The culprits broke into this classroom last evening and were apprehended by the police, who were waiting in the adjacent room. Mr. Melchior and his friends had found the broken plate and were caught red-handed with it. Thanks to you, the case is closed," he said with a big smile. "And my integrity is still intact, because I only said that I was investigating what I believed to be one of the vandal's fingerprints, which it turned out to be. I never said that the plate was part of the vandalism of the school. Nor did I say I had proof of who the vandals were."
Beth and the rest of The Fabulous Five began cheering and pounding each other on the back.
"Now everyone will know we not only are trying to repair the damage, but they'll know for sure who did it and quit blaming all the kids," said Beth. She stuck her hand in the air and the others, including Mr. Dracovitch, gave her a high five.
CHAPTER 17
When Beth showed Trevor Morgan's letter to Mr. Bell, he asked her to read it to the whole school over the public address system. When she had finished, she could hear a roar of cheering go up all over the building. The rest of the afternoon, kids yelled things like "Right on, Beth!" when they saw her in the halls. She felt like an instant celebrity. Still, she knew that it was really Trevor's letter that had turned things around and made kids want to get involved.
From that moment on, Beth and the rest of The Fabulous Five were swamped by enthusiastic kids asking to help with the celebrity auction. The girls decided that it was time to start using the form letter Beth had written earlier, and Miss Simone ran off five hundred copies for them on school stationery. And when a boy or girl took a letter home to address, he or she was encouraged to add a personal message at the bottom. Christie kept a checklist of who had been written to, by which student, and on which day the letter was mailed.
Jana headed a committee consisting of Daphne Alexandrou, Jennifer Wray, Kim Baxter, and Marcie Bee that copied more names and addresses at the library. Most of the football team volunteered to help Katie set up the gym the night of the auction, which would include putting up tables for displaying the items to be auctioned as well as chairs on the gym floor. Melanie took charge of signing up students to bring home-baked goodies and lemonade for a concession stand, which would also add money to the project.
"I can't believe how this is all coming together," said Beth one afternoon after school when The Fabulous Five collapsed, near exhaustion, in a booth at Bumpers. "Everyone is being so fantastic. Even some of the teachers have asked if they can help."
"What a switch," said Katie. "It wasn't very long ago that most of them thought we were all a bunch of self-centered, materialistic—"
"But lots of them have changed their minds," interrupted Melanie.
"That's right," Beth assured her. "Mr. Naset, Mrs. Lemane, and Mr. Waldrop have offered to help the night of the auction, and they said several other teachers want to help, too."
"Naset, Lemane, and Waldrop?" Katie gasped. "Those three we
re really putting down all of us right after the vandalism happened."
"I guess they've had a change of heart," offered Christie. "Maybe Trevor's letter, plus all of our hard work, got to them, too."
"Well, it definitely got to my parents," Beth said, and chuckled. "All they've talked about for the past week is how proud they are of me and The Fabulous Five. My dad actually said that it proves our generation isn't self-centered after all."
They were laughing over that when Melanie glanced toward the door and cried, "Look. Here comes Shane!"
"Hey, girls. Igor wants to volunteer his services," Shane said, dragging up a chair and sitting down.
"I thought he had already helped," joked Beth. "Didn't you tell us he was writing to Alf?"
"Oh, sure. He did that already," said Shane. "But now he wants to lick envelopes."
"Lick envelopes?" the girls cried in unison.
Shane shrugged. "Sure. Did you ever watch him catch flies? His tongue moves at supersonic speed. Why, he could have all the envelopes licked and sealed faster than I can eat this french fry." Shane picked up a catsup-drenched fry off Melanie's plate and popped it into his mouth while the girls shook their heads at him and laughed.
"We'll let you know," said Beth.
"Right," added Katie, grinning. "Don't call us. We'll call you."
After Shane left, Jana scooted closer to Beth and exchanged worried glances with Melanie, Katie, and Christie. "There's something else we need to talk to you about," she said to Beth, and the others nodded soberly. "And it doesn't have anything to do with the celebrity auction."
Beth's heartbeat accelerated as she looked nervously at her friends. "What?"
"We've been hearing things . . ." Jana began. "Things that Keith has been saying to his friends." She paused and looked at the others.
"Right," said Katie. "We hate to tell you this, but he's actually bragging that he broke up with you."
"What?" gasped Beth. "You've got to be kidding. Why would he say a thing like that?"