by Betsy Haynes
"I'm interviewing people for the Media Club. Can I interview you guys?" Beth asked. "You'll be able to see yourselves on TV."
"You forget," Tony said with a laugh. "Katie doesn't watch TV."
"I didn't say I wouldn't like to be on television," joked Katie. "After all, I might have to try a famous court case when I become a judge someday, and there's bound to be publicity."
"Just think of it as a news program, which is really what it is," said Beth. "Roll it, Jon," she commanded.
Katie and Tony were bathed in the light of Jon's camera as he squinted through the viewfinder.
"Tell me, Katie Shannon," Beth said, sticking a microphone in Katie's face, "what was the most interesting thing that you did instead of watching television during the last two weeks?"
Everything that had happened during the TV turnoff raced through Katie's mind. She thought about her fight with Tony and her problems with Laura. Of course there had been some nice things, too—working on the turnoff with Willie and The Fabulous Five, playing Monopoly with her mother, and making up with Tony. But she didn't want to talk about any of those things on television.
"Oh, nothing special happened, really," Katie said.
Beth stared at Katie in disbelief. "You're kidding! That's all you have to say about the last two weeks?"
Katie shrugged.
Beth shook her head. "Kill that, Jon," she said. "We'll find someone else to interview."
Katie laughed and turned to Melanie. "Have you watched any of your Interns and Lovers tapes, now that the turnoff is over?" she asked.
Melanie made a face. "Yes, and I almost died!"
"Why?" asked Katie.
"I watched last week's shows, and Sylvia was still in intensive care, hooked up to all those machines. She hadn't even regained consciousness! Then I checked the tapes for this week, too, and would you believe, she's still in intensive care? I ended up fast-forwarding through most of it, and the only thing that really happened was that her eyelids fluttered for the first time today." Melanie slapped her forehead. "I didn't miss a thing by not watching for two weeks."
"Well, at least you didn't pay Laura to watch the show for you," said Jana.
Melanie nodded.
Just then the band played a fanfare. The lights brightened, and Mr. Bell walked out onto the stage with Willie and Mrs. Karl. He held up his hands for quiet.
"Students of Wakeman Junior High," he began, "let me first introduce two ladies who had a great deal to do with the success of the Wakeman turnoff, Wilma Shannon and Mary Karl." The audience applauded.
"If it had not been for Mrs. Karl's hard work and Mrs. Shannon's research and her articles on the problems of watching too much television, as well as her suggestion that Wakeman Junior High conduct a turnoff of its own, we wouldn't be having this party tonight!" The applause was even louder.
Katie felt a swelling of pride as she looked at her mother standing in the spotlight on the stage.
"Let me get right to the thing I know you're waiting to hear," said Mr. Bell, "the results of our competition with Branford Junior High."
There was a flurry of applause, and Mr. Bell smiled as he waited for it to stop.
"At the end of their one-week turnoff, sixty-four percent of the Branford students had not watched television. At the end of Wakeman's two weeks, seventy-eight percent of you had not watched TV, which means that Wakeman Junior High won!"
A cheer went up from the audience, and kids slapped each other's backs in congratulations. Katie beamed as Jana and Melanie hugged her.
Katie looked up at her mother. When she caught Willie's eye, she gave her a thumbs-up sign.
"Now," continued Mr. Bell, "since we have so many people who get certificates and awards, we've set up a table here on the stage. At your convenience, please come up and get them from Mrs. Shannon and Mrs. Karl. Thank you all, students. Congratulations, Wakeman Junior High! We're proud of you."
"Isn't it great?" said Christie, who had wandered over with Beth, Dekeisha, and Mandy. "Wakeman won, and you had a lot to do with it, Katie."
"We all had a lot to do with it," said Katie. "Every one of you helped." She squeezed Tony's hand.
"One of the interesting things I found out as I interviewed people this evening," said Beth, "is how much everyone really enjoyed the turnoff. Lots of kids said they had a blast doing other things. I would never have expected that in the beginning."
A warm glow filled Katie as she realized just how worthwhile the TV turnoff had been. People had liked doing other things besides watching television, and they were paying more attention to each other; which was the most important thing of all.
As the party drew to a close, Katie looked up at Tony and asked, "What do you want to do for the rest of the evening?"
"Well . . . the Sox are playing the Angels on TV, and I thought we might . . ."
Katie swung and hit him on the shoulder.
Tony held up his hands in protest and grinned. "Hey, I'm only kidding, Your Honor. I'm only kidding."
CHAPTER 14
Christie finished the math test and skimmed back over the questions. Her answers looked correct. Sticking her pencil into her book bag, she walked to the front of the class past boys and girls still working hard on their papers.
"Egghead," whispered Richie Corrierro, as she walked by his desk.
"Quiet!" Mr. Snider said firmly. "No talking, or I'll have to give you a zero on the test."
Christie shot Richie a dirty look as she dropped the paper on the teacher's desk. Richie grinned devilishly back at her.
"Wow!" Melanie flopped down on the seat next to Christie in the cafeteria. "I just took an IQ test in social studies, and I think I flunked."
"You can't flunk an IQ test," said Christie. "That's not what they're for. All they do is give you some idea about how smart you are."
"Eeek! That's worse," replied Melanie. "What if I find out that I'm terminally stupid?"
"Don't be silly, Mel," said Jana. "You're not stupid."
"But what if the test says I am? I'm terrible at taking tests. I just know I got a zero on it. Everyone will find out, and I'll get teased."
"Everybody gets teased," said Christie. "I just got teased by Richie Corrierro because I finished a test before anyone else."
"Well, that's different," argued Melanie. "You're a genius, and he's just jealous."
"I'm not that smart. The test was just easy."
"For you, maybe," said Beth.
Christie rolled her eyes. It wasn't just because it was her. In most of her classes all you had to do was memorize things. If you were interested in what was going on and read a lot, they didn't teach you much. It was getting harder and harder to keep her mind on school, and to be teased because she got good grades was a real pain.
"Teasing is all the same," replied Christie with a sigh. "It gets old."
"Don't worry about it, Christie," said Katie. "Richie and his friends are just stupid. You don't need them, anyway."
"Yeah," added Beth brightly. "We're your friends, and we don't tease you for being brilliant. We love you in spite of it."
"You're all heart," said Christie, smiling.
"Truthfully," joined in Jana, "isn't that what The Fabulous Five's all about? We're friends forever, remember? No one can put any of us down as long as we have each other."
Christie smiled at her friend. Jana was right. Whenever any of them had a problem, the others would rush to help. As long as I've got Jana, Katie, Melanie, and Beth, nothing can bother me, she thought resolutely. As a matter of fact, nothing in the world can hurt me.
But what will Christie do if she finds out that she may not have The Fabulous Five to be friends with anymore? And what will happen if someone special encourages her to break rules? Read The Fabulous Five #25: The Fabulous Five Minus One, and find out.
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 s
erious 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 Marco Island, Florida, with her husband, who is also an author.