by Betsy Haynes
She spun around and marched off toward the building, but she didn't go inside. Her shoulders sagged as she tried to decide what to do. She certainly couldn't go to The Fabulous Five's spot by the fence. Still, she couldn't help looking toward her former friends, and when she did, she saw that Beth was looking back at her with pain in her eyes.
Jana felt her chin quiver as she fought back tears. Maybe she should try one more time to talk to Beth. She wanted so badly to run to Beth and hug her and remind her about how strong their friendship had always been. How they had been able to tell each other their deepest secrets.
But just then Beth looked away.
"It's no use," Jana mumbled, and scuffed toward the door.
Walking through the hall, she heard the sound of someone running up behind her, and then Shawnie Pendergast called her name.
"Wait up!" Shawnie yelled as Jana turned around. "I need to talk to you."
"Oh, hi, Shawnie," said Jana. "What's up?"
Shawnie frowned and shook her head. "Honestly, Jana, I don't know what's wrong with you. Parker Donovan was going to ask you out again, but then he heard all the rumors about you and Keith."
"There's nothing going on between me and Keith," replied Jana, bristling.
"Oh, sure. Then how come everyone is talking about how you and Keith secretly planned to break up with Randy and Beth so that you could go together? All the boys are talking about it, even Randy."
"Randy believes a lie like that?" screeched Jana. "You've got to be kidding! Randy would never believe a thing like that!"
"Ha!" scoffed Shawnie. "According to what Craig and Parker told me, Randy said he heard it from Keith himself. Even you can't argue with that. Especially since Keith told him that you two had a date last Friday night."
Jana stared at her, dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say.
"Well, I've got to go. I just wanted to let you know that you blew your chances of going out with Parker anymore, that's for sure," Shawnie said, turning and trotting down the hall.
Jana watched her go, thinking that she didn't want to go out with Parker again. But Randy was another matter. Surely he couldn't believe the awful rumors about her and Keith's actually going on a date. He knew her too well. Shawnie had to be making it up!
CHAPTER 14
Jana didn't see Beth again until gym, which was the last period before lunch. Jana got her gym basket out of its slot in the locker room and headed toward the row of benches where the girls changed into their shorts and shirts for class. She was already in a grumpy mood from being snubbed by The Fabulous Five before school and from hearing Shawnie's malicious gossip, and she was certainly in no mood to answer questions from Tammy Lucero, who plopped her gym basket down beside Jana's.
"What's this I hear about you and Keith Masterson sneaking around behind Beth's and Randy's backs?"
Tammy had a catty grin on her face, and it took everything that Jana had to keep her cool. Tammy was the biggest gossip in Wakeman Junior High, and the last thing Jana needed was Tammy getting on her case.
Just then Beth came into the room. "It's true," she said in a deadly serious voice. "And that's just about as low as anybody can get."
Tears stung Jana's eyes as she looked straight at Beth. "You can't believe that," she said just above a whisper.
"I can't believe anything else," answered Beth, her eyes locked with Jana's as they stood like statues facing each other across the room.
The locker room was filling up now as more girls rushed in to change into their gym clothes. Most of them glanced at Beth and Jana, and a few reacted by whispering or giggling among themselves, but there wasn't time to do much more than scramble into their shorts and shirts and rush into the girls' gym before the second bell.
The locker room was empty of everyone except Jana and Beth when the bell rang. Still, neither of them had moved. Jana's heart was pounding as she tried to project all of her hurt and misery through her eyes. Surely Beth would see how awful she felt and know deep in her heart that Jana could never do the things Beth had accused her of.
Suddenly the door from the gym burst open, and Miss Wolfe, the physical education teacher, strode into the room.
"Vy aren't you girls dressed and on zee floor?" she demanded in her thick German accent.
The spell was broken.
"Sorry, Miss Wolfe," Jana mumbled, unbuttoning her blouse and reaching for her gym shirt.
Neither girl looked at the other as they quickly changed clothes and joined the rest of the class on the gym floor. After the class was over and Jana was dressed again and hurrying to her next class, she couldn't even remember whose basketball team she had been on or if she had scored any points.
At lunchtime, Jana wasn't hungry. Besides, she didn't know whom she would sit with if she went into the cafeteria. Instead she pitched her lunch into a trash can and went outside to sit on the steps and think.
This whole mess was Keith's fault. Why did he have to have a crush on her, anyway? She didn't want to be his girlfriend! And even if she did, she would never do a thing like that to her best friend!
The more she thought about the lies Keith was telling, the angrier she got. When kids started drifting outside after lunch, she spotted Keith coming out with Joel Murphy. Jana jumped to her feet and watched as they headed toward the baseball diamond where the boys usually congregated this time of day. She clenched her fists as she saw him horsing around with Joel as if everything in the world were perfect. Well, it wasn't! Not only that, he was the one who had gotten her into this mess, and he was the only one who could get her out of it.
"Keith!" she called. "I need to talk to you!"
Keith grinned at her and then said something to Joel before trotting in her direction.
"Not here," she grumbled. "Do you want everybody to see us?"
"Sure, why not?"
Jana frowned at Keith and then glanced around the school ground. The coast was still clear, since most of the kids who had come out so far were eighth- and ninth-graders.
"Over here," she instructed, motioning him around the corner toward the back of the building. Kids hardly ever went back there because that was where the trash dumpsters were located, and they didn't always smell terrific.
"Who are we hiding from?" Keith asked.
"As if you didn't know." Jana spat the words back at him. "Listen, Keith, everybody thinks you and I have been sneaking around behind Beth's and Randy's backs. In fact, I've even heard that you're the one spreading the rumor. You've got to tell them it isn't true!"
Keith gave her a cocky grin. "Why should I do that?"
Jana drew in a sharp breath and exhaled angrily. She was getting more furious by the minute. "Because it isn't true! You know that! And nobody will believe me!"
Keith thought for a moment, his grin getting wider. "I've got an idea. Why don't I come over tonight and we can talk about it?"
"Keith!" Jam exploded. She stepped forward, stopping so close to him that their noses almost touched. She opened her mouth to shout at him, to yell at the top of her lungs that she would never go out with him even if he were the last boy on earth. But fury bubbled up inside her and choked off the words.
Just then she heard giggling and spun around to see Tammy Lucero and Laura McCall peeking around the corner of the building.
"Will you look at the lovebirds hiding behind the dumpsters?" cooed Tammy. Then she pursed her lips and made little smooching noises.
"Riiiight," Laura said and nodded knowingly. "I guess those rumors must be true."
Jana stared at them in astonishment. She didn't look at Keith, but she was sure that he had a satisfied smile on his face.
How could I have been stupid enough to let this happen? she thought in horror. Why couldn't I have waited until tonight and talked to him on the phone?
But she hadn't waited. She had been too upset, and now Tammy and Laura would be spreading new gossip all over Wakeman Junior High.
Jana picked up the mail from the mailbo
x in the lobby of her apartment building as she headed home from school, not really expecting to find anything for her among the usual assortment of bills and junk mail. It had been an awful day, and she didn't need anything else to think about, anyway. But she stopped in the middle of the stairway when she saw the airmail envelope banded in red and blue among the other letters in her hand. It was from Christie, and the words PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL were written across the bottom of the envelope in Christie's neat handwriting.
She took the remaining stairs two at a time and hurriedly unlocked the apartment door, pitching the rest of the mail and her books on the kitchen counter and heading for her room. She flopped across her bed and ripped open the envelope at the same time.
Dear Jana,
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to answer your letter. I needed to think about the situation between you and Randy for a while before I wrote. I hope that by the time you get this, you and Randy are back together and everything is okay again.
But just in case you aren't, here is how I feel.
I think it's important for kids to go out with as many others as possible when they're just beginning to date. It helps them know what kind of person is best for them. I know that dating both Chase Collins and Connie Farrell has helped me, even though I thought I'd die when we came to London and I had to leave Chase behind.
But I also think it's more important that no one get hurt. You said that Randy really didn't want to date anyone else and that he said he knew how he felt about you. That makes me wonder if you are so determined to try your experiment that you are accidentally hurting Randy. I know you wouldn't do it on purpose.
Please write back soon to let me know how things are going. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Your friend,
Christie
Jana finished the letter and read it a second time through a blur of tears. She had never meant to hurt Randy! How could Christie even suggest such a thing? Standing up, Jana paced around her room. What was the matter with everybody? Why couldn't anybody understand?
The ring of the telephone interrupted her thoughts. What now? she thought angrily as she picked up the receiver.
"Hi, Jana. This is Randy."
Her heart stopped. "Randy?" she asked in a weak voice.
"Yeah. Listen, there's something I need to tell you."
He sounded nervous, and Jana bit her lower lip. "What?"
There was a pause before he spoke. "I'm calling to break the date we made for one month after the experiment started. That way you and Keith can start going steady whenever you want to."
"Randy! What are you talking about? There's absolutely nothing going on between me and Keith!"
"That's not what he says," Randy muttered.
Jana thought she was going to explode, and she couldn't stop the words that tumbled from her mouth. "Okay, Randy Kirwan, go ahead and break our date if that's what you want to do! I can see now that our experiment was the right thing, after all, since you don't care enough about me to believe me, and since you didn't waste any time getting a new girlfriend!"
"Sara Sawyer's not my girlfriend," he argued.
"Oh, sure. Tell me another one," Jana retorted. "I see you together everywhere. I guess I'm the one who couldn't believe the truth."
"Come on, Jana. Sara shows up everywhere I go. I don't ask her to be there. She's nice, but I don't like her for a girlfriend."
Jana exhaled and narrowed her eyes. Whom did he think he was kidding? "So what about the sleepover? Answer me that! I saw the list. You signed up together."
Randy sighed heavily. "No, we didn't. I signed up because you were going. I guess Sara saw my name, so she signed up, too."
Jana was silent. She wanted to believe Randy, but how could she? If she could just talk to him the way they used to talk . . . But somehow the words just wouldn't come out. Silence hung between them.
"Geez, Jana," Randy finally said. "Maybe the experiment was a good idea, like you said. I found out things about you I never knew before—like how stubborn you are! And maybe I would rather go with Sara Sawyer, after all!"
Randy slammed down the receiver, leaving a ringing sound in Jana's ear. Stunned, she stared at her telephone in disbelief. It wasn't just an experiment anymore. The breakup was real.
CHAPTER 15
Jana stood in the middle of her bedroom, staring into space and seeing nothing. She was drained of anger now. All she could feel was a terrible ache in her heart. After a while her gaze fell on Christie's letter, still lying on the floor beside her bed.
She picked it up and read it again, stopping when she reached the part that said, That makes me wonder if you are so determined to try your experiment that you are accidentally hurting Randy.
"Oh, no," Jana whispered. "What have I done?"
She let the letter flutter back to the floor as she stretched out across the bed on her back and covered her eyes with an arm. Was it true? Had she accidentally hurt Randy by being so stubborn? Stubborn. That was the word Randy had used to describe her. And he was right.
Deep down I knew all along that I really care for Randy and that the experiment wouldn't change anything, she thought, but I was too stubborn to admit it even to myself. I had thought up this great idea, and I was determined to stick to it, no matter what.
Jana took a deep breath and thought about Beth. I hurt her, too, she thought. It really was my fault that Keith broke up with Beth, whether I could admit it or not. I was stubborn there, too, and made things worse by not calling off the experiment sooner or at least talking to Randy. When I saw what was happening to my boyfriend and my best friend, why couldn't I just swallow my pride and do something about it? Randy and I don't have to date other people, at least not right now. Maybe later, when we're older and are starting to make plans for our futures, but right now we should just be having fun!
Jana's heart leapt, and she jumped up and raced to call Randy, but her hand stopped as she reached for the phone.
I can't do that, she thought. It won't do any good. I'm in this mess so deeply that it is going to take a lot more than just talking to Randy. First I have to get Keith to admit the truth!
Jana was waiting for Keith when he got to school the next morning, but she didn't say anything to him at first. She wanted a few more kids to arrive. Jana watched the slow trickle of students onto the school ground until she saw that the rest of The Fabulous Five were in their usual spot by the fence and that Randy was among the boys who had congregated with Keith near the gum tree.
Jana couldn't remember when she had been so nervous. Her scalp prickled as if a dozen daddy longlegs spiders were dancing on her head. But she was determined, too. This was it. It had to work, or she was doomed.
Taking a deep breath, Jana stepped to the center of the school ground and shouted as loud as she could, "Keith, I have something to ask you, and I want everybody to hear it!"
A surprised murmur rippled through the crowd, and kids slowly moved forward, gathering around Jana. She could see the puzzled look on Randy's face, and Beth, Melanie, and Katie were moving in closer. There was no turning back.
Keith gave her a cocky grin. "Sure. Ask away."
"There's a rumor going around that you're telling everyone that you and I were sneaking around behind Randy's and Beth's backs, and that we planned the breakups so that we could go out together. Did you really say that?"
Keith raised his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "Why not? It's true."
Jana was totally flabbergasted, and her eyes bugged out in rage. Incredible as it seemed, Keith was going to stick to his lies. She had never imagined that he would do something so cruel. He's getting even with me for turning him down, she thought. He's doing this to keep Randy and me from ever getting back together.
"It is not, Keith Masterson, and you know it!" She swallowed the bitter taste that had risen into her mouth and went on. "Did you also say that we had a date last Friday night?"
"Hey, how could you forget a thing like that?" Kei
th asked, strutting around and grinning at the other boys as if a date with him had to be a totally unforgettable experience.
All of the boys laughed at Keith's joke except Randy.
"Gosh, you'd better refresh my memory," Jana said sarcastically. "I can't seem to remember where we went." She knew she was grabbing at straws, hoping he would say something that would prove he was lying. So far he hadn't. She had been home alone Friday night while her mom and Pink went bowling. She hadn't even talked to her friends on the phone.
Keith didn't answer for a moment. It was perfectly obvious to Jana that he was stalling while he made up a story, but no one else seemed to notice that. The crowd was quiet, waiting for his response.
"We went to Mama Mia's," he said at last. Jana opened her mouth to explode again, but Keith raised a hand to stop her and went on, talking to his audience as if he loved every minute of being in the spotlight. "Jana didn't want to go anyplace where Wacko kids would see us because she hadn't figured out what to tell Beth yet. That's why we went to Mama Mia's."
Beth turned furious eyes on Jana, but Jana could only look at her helplessly. Her idea of calling Keith out in front of everyone and proving that he was a liar had backfired!
"We even hid out in the booth farthest away from the window to eat our pizza," Keith went on.
Jana knew she was defeated. There was nothing she could say that would convince even one single person that Keith was lying. She was so wrapped up in her own misery that she almost didn't hear Randy's question.
"What kind of pizza did you order?" he asked quietly. He had stepped out of the crowd and was staring hard at Keith.
Keith shrugged. "Large sausage with double cheese. So what?"
Jana's mouth dropped open. At the same instant, Randy grabbed the front of Keith's shirt and pulled him close. "You're a liar, Masterson! Jana didn't go to Mama Mia's with you Friday night! I know she didn't!"
Keith pulled himself free of Randy's grasp and said with a smirk, "Oh, yeah? Just how do you know that?"