by Betsy Haynes
"Not another campaign," said Scott, putting both hands over his eyes.
"How much is it going to cost us this time?" asked Tony.
"Only some of your time and talent, which isn't worth much to begin with," said Katie, laughing.
"I'll remember that the next time Mr. Bell sends me to Teen Court, Your Honor," Tony responded. "See if I make it easy on you judges by pleading guilty again." Everyone except Katie laughed that time, but she punched him on the arm.
"Listen up!" commanded Melanie loudly. "We've got poster boards and Magic Markers. Let's get to work or we'll be here all night."
Shane stood up and saluted Melanie as if she were an officer as everyone took one of the sheets of poster board and chose bright-colored Magic Markers.
While Jana thought about what to put on her poster, she looked around at the group of friends and thought about how hard they were working to help her and Randy run for Mr. and Miss Seventh Grade. They were all wearing their bright-yellow ribbons and chattering happily to each other. Geena's accusation that Jana thought she and her friends ran the school was absolutely false. She wouldn't have thought about running for Miss Seventh Grade if Funny Hawthorne hadn't started the rumor that she was going to. And then the rest of The Fabulous Five started telling her that she should run. Randy was right though. Just because you had lots of friends who might vote for you, it didn't make you better than anyone else. But it also didn't make you any worse. So why did Geena think so badly of her? It made her head spin trying to figure it out.
The next morning, Jana and her friends raced through the halls before school putting up the posters. By the time the bell rang for homeroom, they had finished. Besides the posters for her and Randy, she had seen posters for Kaci Davis, Marsha Reel, Chet Miller, and D. J. Doyle for ninth grade and Daphne Alexandrou, Shelly Bramlett, and Garrett Boldt for eighth grade. Jana was glad to see that someone had talked Garrett into running. She would have to tell him that she wished she could be in the eighth grade for one day so she could vote for him. There were still no posters for anyone else who was in the seventh grade.
During the day, Jana was swamped with people wanting to tell her that they were glad she was running, and they would vote for her. Twice, as she talked to groups of kids, she saw Geena McNatt staring coldly at her from a distance.
As she hurried into her social studies class that afternoon, she spotted Shane wearing his yellow ribbon, and the kids sitting near him were talking to him about it. Good, she thought, straightening hers a little and sticking out her chest to show it off, maybe some others will start wearing them, too.
Jana slid into her chair and waved to Mona Vaughn, who was sorting through makeup and other odds and ends she had taken out of her purse. Jana smiled at the bottle of bubble mix that was among the things spread out on the top of her desk. Mona's family couldn't afford a pet, so she managed to save money from her lunch allowance to buy the bubble mix, which she took to the animal shelter some days after school. She would blow bubbles into the cages of the dogs and cats, and they would chase and bite at them. It was Mona's way of making the animals happy until someone came to take them home.
At that moment Geena McNatt came down the aisle. When she reached Mona's desk, she stopped and picked up the bubble mix and shook it. "Baby stuff," she said with a sneer and dropped it. Mona had to grab for the bottle to keep it from rolling off onto the floor as Geena took her seat.
How could Geena be so mean? thought Jana, shaking her head. It was no wonder no one paid any attention to her when she hung around. And she dressed so sloppily. All the other girls wore things that made them look attractive and most put on some makeup, but Geena wore baggy sweats that looked terrible on her and she never seemed to comb her hair. No boy would ever ask her out.
I guess I should feel sorry for her, thought Jana, but it's hard. The best thing probably is to ignore her. She's really just a pain, but I can put up with it.
Mr. Broderick called the class to attention and began the day's lesson. As the lecture droned on, Jana's attention was pulled back to Geena. She had a ruler and was using it to slowly push the books on the corner of Mona's desk off the edge. Mona was concentrating so hard on what Mr. Broderick was saying that she didn't notice what was happening.
Jana watched, frozen for a few seconds. Should she warn Mona? Before she could decide what to do, the books went crashing to the floor.
Mona nearly jumped out of her chair, and Mr. Broderick stopped speaking as everyone turned to see what had happened.
Mona's face turned bright red, and she scrambled to pick up her books. "Sorry," she said in a tiny voice.
The teacher cleared his throat and began again.
As the lecture continued, Jana watched Mona peek over her shoulder at Geena, who smiled at her sweetly and waved her ruler.
Geena really is a menace, Jana thought angrily. First she took Whitney Larkin's homework, and now she's knocked Mona's books onto the floor. I don't mind her picking on me. I can handle her, but why does she have to pick on people like Mona and Whitney? Something had to be done about Geena McNatt.
CHAPTER 8
"She deliberately knocked Mona's books off her desk," Jana said angrily. She, Katie, and Beth were on their way to Bumpers together after school.
"Not to mention her knocking you down once in the school yard and almost running over you in the hall," said Beth.
"And then she spilled the chocolate milk all over me and the petitions," Katie added.
"I know," said Jana. "But I really think the two times she ran into me were accidents. She's just rough and careless. I don't know if she spilled the milk on purpose or not, but what she did to Mona and Whitney was definitely on purpose."
"And don't forget the catsup that got squirted on the stuff in your locker," said Katie, brushing her windblown hair out of her face.
"I didn't actually see her do that," responded Jana. "And why would she want to pick on me, anyway? If you can give me a good reason, I might understand it."
"Because she thinks you saw her take Whitney's homework, and she wants to intimidate you," said Katie. "Besides, who else is there to suspect?"
Jana shrugged. "I can't believe that's the reason. It has to be more than that."
"Being just plain mean must be in the McNatts' blood," said Beth. "Max and Joe are both rough, and most of the other guys stay out of their way. I don't know their older brother, George, but I'll bet he's just like them."
Melanie and Christie were drinking colas and sitting in one of the brightly painted carnival bumper cars that had given Bumpers its name when Jana, Katie, and Beth arrived. Melanie quickly undraped her legs from over the front of the car as she and Christie hopped out to join them in a booth.
"Well, how's the future Miss Seventh Grade of Wacko Junior High?" asked Melanie.
"I haven't won yet," answered Jana. "Have you heard yet whether anyone else is running?"
"I haven't," said Christie. "But I can't believe that Laura McCall won't sign up."
"Me either," said Katie. "She'll run just because Jana's running. She won't be able to stand it if Jana gets elected Miss Seventh Grade."
"I haven't heard of any other seventh-grade boys running either," said Melanie.
"All the most popular ones are friends of Randy's and won't run against him," said Beth. "I know Keith wouldn't, and I don't think Shane, Tony, Scott, or Jon would either." The others nodded agreement.
"I've been talking to everybody I see about voting for you," said Christie. "They all say they will."
"Me, too," said Melanie, and the others said they had been also.
"Oh, look!" cried Christie. "There are Dekeisha and Marcie Bee, and they're wearing yellow ribbons."
Jana turned to see the two girls coming through the door and waved. Each one had a bright-yellow bow pinned to her jacket. "That's neat. I hope more kids wear them."
Just then Jana saw Geena McNatt slip through the door and stroll casually over to the Wurlitzer jukebo
x and stand by herself. Jana couldn't help wondering why Geena came to Bumpers anyway. She was always alone because she didn't have any friends. She never sat with anyone. Mostly she just hung around looking totally out of place.
"Look at that, will you," said Christie, giggling.
Jana did a double take and broke out in laughter. Coming through the door were Clarence Marshall and Joel Murphy, and they were both wearing yellow bows, only theirs were made from wrinkled ribbon that was at least four inches wide and covered half of their chests. Clarence and Joel had big grins on their faces and strutted in among the bumper cars and tables showing off their ribbons as if they had just won first place in some big contest.
"Well, what do you think?" asked Clarence when they got to The Fabulous Five's booth. He pushed his messy hair out of his eyes. "We found this ribbon in a garbage can outside the art room."
"I'd say you've got the spirit," said Melanie. "No matter how wrinkled your bows are, you can't miss them."
"It's the thought that counts," said Joel. "Igor is one of our favorite people, and we thought we'd show that we care about him, too." He made a halfhearted attempt to stuff his dangling shirttail into his jeans but failed, and the two of them continued their promenade around the room.
As The Fabulous Five sat and talked, Jana noticed several other yellow bows around the room. There were a lot of people who cared about good old Igor, she thought.
"Now, look at that," gasped Katie, pointing toward the door again.
Jana turned again, expecting to see another yellow ribbon since there had been a regular parade of kids coming through the door with them on. Instead she saw Mona Vaughn come in and head directly for the girls' room. It looked as if she was crying.
Jana heard Melanie say, "What in the world!" behind her as she slipped out of the booth and hurried after Mona.
Jana found her washing her face. "What's wrong, Mona? Can I help?"
"Nothing," Mona said, trying to suppress a sniffle.
"It doesn't look as if it's nothing to me," Jana said, digging into Mona's purse to find a tissue.
"Yeeek!" cried Jana, jerking her hand back out and holding it up as sticky stuff dripped off the ends of her fingers. "What's that!"
"Bubble mix," answered Mona, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.
Jana wiped her hand on a paper towel and cautiously opened the purse wide. Inside, the gooey liquid covered Mona's wallet, papers, pencils, and all the other things she kept in her purse. It looked as if it were some strange stew and it smelled like soap. "Is that the bubble mix you take to the animal shelter?" Jana asked as she touched the tip of one finger in the fluid again to test it.
Mona nodded.
"Did the lid come off?"
Mona shook her head solemnly.
"What did happen?" Jana asked.
Mona looked at her. "Geena McNatt grabbed my purse, and I tried to get it back, but she wouldn't let me have it. Then she took the bubble mix out and dumped it inside."
Jana stared at Mona openmouthed. She felt hot anger rise up inside her, and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. She was madder than she had ever been. Spinning on her heel, she burst out of the girls' room and looked for Geena. She was going out the door.
Jana dodged through the tables and bumper cars and ran after her, catching her as she was starting down the street.
"Geena McNatt, that was the most despicable thing you've ever done!"' Jana shouted. "Mona Yaughn saved her lunch money to buy that bubble mix so she could play with the animals at the shelter, and you had to waste it and ruin the things in her purse on top of that! Don't you have any sense?"
Geena first looked surprised, and then fire came into her eyes. "It's none of your business! I didn't do anything to you, did I?"
Jana heard someone come out of Bumpers behind her. "I'm not sure about that!" she said. "I think you squirted that catsup in my locker, for one thing. And you may have squirted it in Whitney's and Mona's lockers, too, and you spilled chocolate milk on Katie and on Randy's and my petitions on purpose!"
"What are you saying to our sister?" a boy's voice asked.
Jana turned and was facing Max and Joe McNatt. She looked back at Geena, and Geena was grinning.
CHAPTER 9
Even though Jana was surrounded by McNatts, she stood her ground. "Your sister is a menace! She stole Whitney Larkin's social studies homework, knocked Mona Vaughn's books off her desk, squirted catsup in a bunch of lockers, and now she's dumped bubble mix into Mona's purse!"
Joe McNatt looked at her contemptuously. "I don't want you to say things like that about our sister," he drawled. "She doesn't do things like that."
"Yes she does!" insisted Jana.
Geena pushed her way in between her brothers. "Just because you think you're some big deal, running for Miss Seventh Grade, doesn't mean you can go around accusing people of things. You and your friends don't run Wakeman!"
"Run Wakeman?" That was the second time Geena had said that. "We don't run Wakeman," Jana insisted. "We've never said we did."
"Well, you act as if you think you do!" Geena retorted, her eyes shooting fire.
"Hey, Max! What's going on, friend?" Shane strolled into the middle of the argument with a sideways smile on his face.
Max reached out and grabbed Shane by the front of his shirt and shoved him against the wall. "Don't get funny with me, Arrington! You're one of the baby seventh-graders who thinks he's a big deal."
"Whoa!" said Shane, spreading his hands to show he didn't want to fight. "You've got it. I'm no big deal. I'm just a lowly Wacko seventh-grader."
"Remember that!" said Max, giving Shane one last push before letting go of his shirt.
"I don't think you ought to do that." Tony Calcaterra's voice was so soft and low Jana barely heard him. He, Randy, Keith, and Jon had come out of Bumpers, and the rest of The Fabulous Five were right behind them. Tony was almost as tall as the ninth-grader, and the intensity of the expression on his face surprised Jana.
Max and Joe stared at Tony and then looked at the other boys who had encircled them.
"Come on!" Max snarled, shoving Joe and grabbing Geena by the arm and pulling her after him.
Jana hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until she let out a "Shooo!" and felt herself shaking.
Randy put his arm around her. "You didn't have to take on the whole McNatt clan by yourself, you know," he said teasingly.
"I know," she said. "But I was so mad that I couldn't think."
"What did she do to Mona?" asked Katie.
After Jana explained what had happened and the boys had gone back inside, she looked at her friends and asked, "Could we have an old-fashioned Fabulous Five meeting at my house?"
They all nodded.
Soon Christie and Melanie were sprawled on Jana's bed, Katie sat in the chair at her desk, and Beth sat cross-legged on the floor of Jana's room. They each had a soda and were munching on potato chips. Seeing them in her room this way made Jana feel as if they were back at Mark Twain Elementary at one of their weekly Against Taffy Sinclair Club meetings.
"This is how I feel about it," said Jana, standing in the middle of the room. "Geena McNatt is truly a menace. I didn't mind so much when it seemed as if she might be mad at me, but when she picks on people like Mona Vaughn, and spills the bubble mix Mona takes to the animal shelter in her purse, Geena has gone too far. Mona has to save every penny she gets to buy that bubble mix."
The others solemnly agreed.
"I've got a proposal," Jana continued. "We need to get evidence to prove that Geena is doing nasty things to people so we can take her to the Teen Court. Then she can be punished, and everyone will know what kind of person she is. I think we should come up with a plan for one of us to be watching her as much as possible."
"What can the Court do to her?" asked Melanie.
"It depends on the seriousness of what she's done," answered Katie. "If we could prove that she stole Whitney's homework and squ
irted catsup in the lockers, that's pretty serious. The Court might make her do work around the school, or they might even put her on probation. If she did something worse after that, they could recommend that she be suspended from school for a few days."
"Wow," said Jana. "We'd better be pretty careful. That's serious stuff. I wouldn't want her to get into that kind of trouble unless she really deserves it."
"What kind of evidence do we need?" Christie asked.
"Well," Katie said, raising her eyebrows as she thought. "It has to be something besides our word against hers. That would just seem as if we were picking on her. I heard what she said about you, Jana, thinking you were a big deal because you're running for Miss Seventh Grade and us believing we run Wakeman. It's not true, but she might try to get other people to believe it. They won't know how we had to twist Jana's arm to get her to run for Miss Seventh Grade."
"And I sure don't want to run Wakeman," said Christie. "I've got enough trouble running my own life."
"Everybody knows you talked Curtis Trowbridge into running for class president so you wouldn't have to," Beth said to Christie, laughing. "That shows how badly you want to be a big deal."
"That's not the way Geena sees it, though," said Jana. "And what she says might sound logical to someone else. If we don't handle it right, we could turn out to be the bad guys instead of her."
"We have to have hard evidence that she has done something wrong," said Katie. "And I'll have to disqualify myself from the Teen Court if we accuse her of something. I'm one of The Fabulous Five, so she'll claim I'm prejudiced, and she'll be right."
"The first thing we have to do is figure out her class schedule so one of us can be where she is at all times," said Jana. "Is Geena in anyone's homeroom?"
"Mine," answered Melanie. "Why don't I follow Geena to her first class, then I'll tell Christie, who's in my first class, what room Geena's in, and she can tail Geena to her second class. Whew!" Melanie flopped back on the bed as if she were exhausted.