by Betsy Haynes
Christie shrugged. "I don't know, but that's what Jon overheard him saying to Richie Corrierro."
Melanie nodded. "Alexis Duvall said she heard it, too. Tony Sanchez and Bill Soliday were talking about it in one of her classes."
Beth sank against the back of the booth. A knot of anger and frustration was gathering in her stomach. How could Keith do such a thing? What crazy reason could he possibly have to lie?
"Uh-oh," whispered Jana. "Speak of the devil."
Beth looked toward the door where Keith, Richie Corrierro, and Derek Travelstead were just coming into Bumpers. They headed for the order line and immediately began horsing around, shoving and pushing and trying to get ahead of each other.
"Look at those guys," Katie complained. "You'd think they were in first grade instead of junior high."
"Totally immature," Melanie agreed.
"Well, I'm getting out of here," said Beth, gathering her books and taking a final sip of her Coke. "I don't even want to see Keith right now, much less talk to him. I have lots of homework anyway. I'll see you guys in the morning."
She ducked through the crowd and out of Bumpers, heading for home and the safe harbor of her room. As soon as she put her books down on her desk, she opened her notebook and got out Trevor Morgan's letter, slowly reading it again.
It said so many things that applied to the celebrity auction, such as believing in yourself, standing up for what you think is right, and trying to understand other people's point of view. She thought about Keith. Could she apply any of Trevor's advice to her problems with him? She did believe in herself, and she knew it was right to break up with him after the way he had been acting. But what about understanding his point of view? Did he really prefer the company of a bunch of immature show-off boys to being with her? She shook her head in wonder. If the answer to that was yes, then breaking up really had been the best thing to do.
Beth was summoned to Mr. Bell's office between second and third periods the next morning, and she hurried through the hall wondering if something was wrong.
"Go right on in," Miss Simone said cheerfully when Beth entered the office.
Mr. Bell was all smiles. "I wanted you to be the one to open this since it's the first thing that's come to the school," he said, pointing to a large package on his desk.
Beth sucked in her breath in surprise and rushed forward. The box was addressed to "Celebrity Auction" in care of Wakeman Junior High. She was all thumbs as she tried to tear away the paper, and Miss Simone, who had followed her into Mr. Bell's office, handed her a pair of scissors.
"Wow," Beth said excitedly. "I wonder what it is."
"It's postmarked Denver, Colorado," offered Miss Simone.
Beth carefully lifted the lid off the box and looked down at a football covered with names.
"It's an autographed football from the Denver Broncos," cried Mr. Bell. "Look. Here's John Elway's signature." He whistled low and picked up the football, turning it over in his hands. "I'm certainly going to bid on this beauty."
Beth could hardly contain her excitement. First, a coupon for four tickets to a Brain Damage concert, and now, a real autographed football from the Denver Broncos professional football team. The celebrities were going to respond after all.
Over the next few days, donations poured in. Autographed posters, pictures, records, and tapes came from all sorts of musicians, from country and western to rock and roll. The President of the United States sent an autographed pen, and dozens of movie stars sent autographed pictures or letters. Each day, The Fabulous Five opened the donations and put the new ones on display in the trophy case where the glass broken by Steve and his crowd had now been replaced. Then they took out the ones from the day before and stored them in Mr. Bell's office.
Then one morning as Beth and Melanie were checking the school's morning mail, Melanie gasped and clutched a large manila envelope to her heart. "It's from him!" she shrieked. "He answered!"
"Who answered?" asked Beth.
"Jason Rider," Melanie said ecstatically. "You know, Chad on Interns and Lovers."
"Terrific," said Beth. "Open it. Let's see what he sent."
Melanie's eyes sparkled as she carefully opened the envelope and extracted the donation. It was made of slick-finish paper and appeared to have been folded several times. Unfolding it, she let out a shriek of joy. "It's a life-size poster!" she cried. "And it's autographed!"
Melanie was skipping around the room and holding the poster of Jason Rider in her outstretched hands as if he were her dancing partner. "Isn't he gorgeous?" she demanded. "And just think, after the auction he's going to be all mine."
Beth smiled, thinking about how Melanie was constantly getting a new crush. First it had been Scott Daly. Then Shane Arrington and Garrett Boldt. She had even been interested in Derek Travelstead for a little while. And now Jason Rider, a television soap opera star. Sighing sadly, Beth wondered if she could ever find anyone to replace Keith.
CHAPTER 18
Beth was too nervous to eat supper the evening of the auction. Instead, while the rest of her family ate, she paced the floor in her room, with Agatha at her heels, and went over in her mind all the preparations that had been made to be sure nothing had been left out.
"Jana's mother works at the newspaper and she was able to get us free publicity," Beth said to Agatha. "And Jon Smith said his mother, Marge Whitworth, promised to bring a television camera crew to the auction."
Agatha sat down, lolling her long pink tongue out the side of her mouth and listening attentively.
"And The Fabulous Five will hand out the numbered cards that people will hold up when they bid. And Mr. Bell, Mr. Dracovitch, and Miss Dickinson will collect the money and give people the items they buy. Oh, Agatha," she said, sinking to her knees and giving the shaggy dog a big hug. "Wish us luck! Okay?"
She grabbed her jacket and bounded downstairs where the rest of the family was waiting. Brittany looked bored out of her mind, but Beth had overheard her on the phone telling a friend that she was planning to bid on autographed pictures of at least three handsome stars. Brian made no secret of the fact that he was interested in some of the things rock stars had sent, and even Alicia proudly displayed seventy-seven cents that she had saved especially for the occasion.
"Well, sweetheart, this is your big night," said her father as they climbed into the van for the ride to the gym. "I'll have to admit that this idea of yours was pretty good after all. You certainly changed my opinion on a few things."
Beth smiled to herself. No matter how successful the auction was, changing her father's mind was a major victory.
Shoppers had been invited to come early to look over the items before the bidding actually started, so the parking lot at Wakeman Junior High was already packed by the time they got there, and she could see people streaming in the door to the gym. She excused herself from her family and ran on ahead, squeezing through the door and rushing to the stage through the milling crowd.
"Oh, Beth. There you are!" cried Melanie. "Isn't it great? Look at how many people are here."
"The auctioneer is here already, too," said Christie.
"Yeah, wait until you see him," Katie said with a grin. "He looks just like Curtis, black-rimmed glasses, hair sticking up in back and all."
Ten minutes later it was time to begin. Beth stepped up to the microphone and looked out at the crowd. Her heart was racing so fast that she thought surely it would come crashing through her chest, and she crossed her fingers that she wouldn't forget the little speech she had prepared.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she began. The crowd quieted. All eyes turned to her. Clearing her throat, she went on, "As you all know, Wakeman Junior High was badly damaged by vandals a few weeks ago. The vandals have been caught, and with your generous help tonight we, the seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders, hope to raise enough money to pay for the repairs to our school. Thank you, and good luck with your bidding."
The audience broke out in loud applause,
and one by one, people got to their feet, standing like exclamation points as they thundered their approval. Beth stepped back from the mike, handing it to Curtis's uncle, and looked out at the sea of smiling faces through tear-filled eyes.
Marvin Trowbridge, the auctioneer, held up the first item. "I have here an autographed football from the Denver Broncos football team." Then he began in his singsong voice, "Whatareyougonnabid? Whatareyougonnabid? Letmehearatwentydollar. Letmehearatwenty . . ."
Bidding cards flashed in the air as people held up their hands to bid, and Beth couldn't resist applauding when Mr. Bell won the football with a bid of one hundred dollars. Alexis Duvall and her parents outbid Laura McCall and her father for the Brain Damage ticket coupons, and Melanie almost exploded with excitement when she was able to buy the life-size poster of Jason Rider. Even Alicia managed to borrow enough money from her parents to get the autographed picture of Alf that Igor had written for.
One by one, all the items were sold. The concession stand did a booming business, and as the bidding finished and the audience began heading for home, Marge Whitworth left her camera crew, who had been filming much of the auction, and strode purposefully up to Beth.
"Congratulations, young lady," she said, taking Beth's hand and shaking it firmly. "You and your friends have done a fine thing. It looks as if you've made more than enough money to pay for the repairs to the school. Would you come to the television station after school tomorrow afternoon? I'd like to interview you on the evening news."
"Wow! I mean, sure. I mean . . . thank you, Ms. Whitworth," Beth stammered. "I'd love to."
The gym was almost empty now, and Beth turned for one last look around before heading to the van where the rest of her family would be waiting. She stopped when she saw Keith standing to one side. She had seen him in the audience earlier, but now he seemed to be hanging around and looking at her as if he wanted to talk.
Sighing, she went toward him. "Did you buy anything?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.
Keith nodded. "I got the Bon Jovi tape," he said, holding it out for her to see. "But I don't like them nearly as well as Brain Damage." He paused and looked down at the floor. "I was wondering if I could come over tomorrow night and bring my Brain Damage tape. I'd really like for you to hear it."
Beth was flooded with all the same anger and frustration she had been feeling for the past few weeks. "I don't know, Keith," she began, shaking her head. "Things go super between us when there are just the two of us, but I can't stand the way you act when your friends are around. Like squirting green slime in my hair. That was gross!"
"I know," confessed Keith. He scuffed the floor with the toe of his sneaker and looked at her sheepishly. "And I really am sorry. I don't mean to act like that, but when I'm around them, I just do it. I don't know why."
"And I even heard that you were telling them you broke up with me."
"They were teasing me. You heard Richie and Derek pretending they were us smooching, didn't you?" said Keith.
Beth gave an exasperated sigh. So what? she almost shouted. But something stopped her: the words from Trevor Morgan's letter. 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.
She looked at Keith. She had never seen him look so sad. She had also never given a lot of thought to how hard it must be to take all that teasing. After all, they were his friends, and sometimes friends influenced you a lot. Thank goodness her friends were The Fabulous Five, she thought. They were so mature and caring. Maybe Trevor was right and she should try to understand what Keith was going through. I really ought to give him another chance, she decided. He's definitely worth it. And maybe now that I understand his problem, I can influence him at least as much as his other friends do.
"But you'll never guess what they're saying now," he added before she had a chance to speak. "Now that the auction was such a great success after being all your idea, they're saying that you're terrific and that I'm a real jerk for breaking up with you."
They both broke up laughing at that, and a few minutes later when the laughter had died down, Beth slipped her hand inside Keith's.
"Why don't you bring your Brain Damage tape over tomorrow night?" she said softly.
"Super," said Keith. "I'll be there. I promise." He crossed his heart for emphasis.
They said good-night, and Beth skipped toward the van, thinking that it had been a perfect night. The auction was a success. Adults had seen that not all kids were irresponsible and materialistic. And Keith and she were back together. She was even going to be interviewed on television. She would tell her friends the good news in the morning. But right now she could hardly wait to get home and tell Agatha.
CHAPTER 19
Melanie was sitting in the media center, trying to concentrate on her biology homework, when she suddenly had the feeling that someone was looking at her.
Ooooh, maybe it's a cute boy! She tingled at the thought and glanced over her left shoulder, trying to act casual.
Most of the study tables were full, although naturally, not everyone was studying. Curtis Trowbridge and Whitney Larkin were whispering together at one table, and Tammy Lucero was passing a note to Laura McCall at another. But Melanie couldn't see anyone who seemed to be paying the least bit of attention to her.
She twirled a strand of reddish-brown hair around a finger and twisted slightly to the right, scanning the room in that direction. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Shane Arrington sitting two tables over. Shane was definitely cute. In fact, he was one of her mega-crushes. But Shane was bent forward, looking down intently at what appeared to Melanie to be a picture he was drawing.
"Probably another portrait of Igor," she whispered under her breath.
Suddenly she felt eyes upon her again, and she jerked her head farther to the right, this time coming face-to-face with the clownlike grin of Brian Olsen. The instant she looked at him, his eyes began to glow. Melanie froze. The dazzling smile she had been prepared to flash came out instead as a sickly smirk.
Horrified, she whirled back around and buried her nose in her biology book. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was encourage Brian Olsen, otherwise known as Mr. Obnoxious. Brian was huge and muscular, and he liked to show off his strength by sneaking up behind girls and lifting them over his head while they squealed in fright and begged him to put them down. So far, Melanie had escaped such treatment, possibly because Mr. Bell had threatened to send Brian to Teen Court if he did it again. So lately, Brian had turned all of his attention to flirting with Melanie.
Melanie scrunched down in her chair, wishing she could become invisible. She was an expert at knowing how to flirt with boys, but how on earth, she wondered, could she do the reverse?
How will Brian Olsen's crush on Melanie affect her life at Wakeman Junior High? And even worse, how will it affect her romances with Scott and Shane? Find out in The Fabulous Five #18: Teen Taxi.
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 Colleyville, Texas, with her husband, who is also an author.
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
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
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
ABOUT THE AUTHOR