by Betsy Haynes
"How dare those boys go to Laura McCall's party," Melanie said. "And if Scott Daly thinks he has me wrapped around his little finger and can get away with a thing like that, he has another thing coming. Besides," she added, and smiled to herself, "Garrett Boldt called me a few minutes ago, just the way Christie said he would. Maybe I'll go out with him. And if you want me to, I'll ask him if he has a friend for you."
"I don't want to go out with anyone but Randy," said Jana, and Melanie couldn't be sure, but she thought Jana was crying again.
After they hung up, Melanie thought the situation over. She liked Scott, but if he was going to do something as rotten as going to Laura McCall's party, she would just have to concentrate on the other boys in her life, Shane and Garrett. Shane was difficult. She only had biology class with him, and she had already asked him about his pet iguana, Igor. She would have to think of some way to get his attention.
And then there was Garrett. Gorgeous Garrett, she thought as she closed her eyes and pictured his handsome face with the big dimple that always appeared in his left cheek when he smiled. He wouldn't be much easier since he was an eighth-grader and didn't even have the same lunch period. She would have to depend on his phone calls, at least for now.
She picked up the new teen magazine that had come in the day's mail and sank onto her bed again. She was depressed from Jana's call about the boys' going to Laura's party, and she certainly didn't feel like writing her name plus the boys' names or picking names for the children anymore. She made a face at the smiling model on the magazine cover and turned to the table of contents. Reading quickly down the list of articles, she was jolted by the title of an article on page 49: "Seven Tips for Flirting" by Miriam Dunmore.
"Seven tips for flirting!" she whispered gleefully. "That's just what I need." She turned to page 49 and began skimming the article, not taking time to read the entire piece, but looking for the numbered tips and jotting them into her notebook.
"This is terrific," she said out loud as she began repeating the tips over and over to memorize them. "(1) Make eye contact with the boy you are flirting with; (2) Act happy and self-confident; (3) Use positive body language; (4) Give compliments; (5) Show genuine interest in him; (6) Ask him questions; and (7) Be a good listener."
Wow! she thought. That's all there is to flirting? This is a piece of cake. Look out, guys. Here I come.
By time for school Monday morning, Melanie had practiced the seven tips for flirting until she was sure could recite them in her sleep if she had to. Also, she had almost forgotten her anger at Scott over Laura McCall's party and was feeling ecstatic again over Garrett's phone call.
"You should hear his dreamy voice over the phone," she bragged to her friends as they waited in their special spot by the fence for the first bell to ring. She had spent at least half an hour on the phone with each one of them over the weekend talking about Garrett's call, but she couldn't resist bringing it up again. "And he said that he actually looked for me at Bumpers. Thank goodness he didn't catch me sitting with Scott."
"Do you think he'll ask you out?" asked Beth.
"Yeah," said Christie. "Maybe he was just being friendly."
"Of course he'll ask me out," said Melanie. "I mean, a guy doesn't ask for your phone number just to call and say hello. He was probably just getting up his nerve."
"I think you're right," said Jana.
"I think you're boy crazy," snipped Katie. "You ought to get involved in something worthwhile for a change. School elections are coming up in a few weeks. Have you thought about running for an office?"
Melanie frowned at Katie instead of answering. She could never understand Katie's attitude. How could any girl be so uninterested in boys and so interested in boring things such as school elections? Besides, once she put her flirting tips into action and got results, Katie would see that she had been wrong.
Melanie looked around the school ground for someone else she knew. She was bursting to tell everybody about Garrett. She spotted Alexis talking to Sara and Kim near the gum tree. Its bark was polka-dotted with wads of gum stuck there by students when the bell rang every morning, and it was near the front door of the school.
"I'll see you guys later," she called as she hurried away from The Fabulous Five. "Hey, Alexis, Sara, Kim, guess what!"
"Who knows?" answered Kim.
"Whatever it is, it must be pretty terrific," said Alexis.
Melanie could hardly control the grin that was spreading across her face. "Do you know who Garrett Boldt is?"
"Sure," said Sara. "He's an eighth-grader, isn't he? The hunk with the dimple?"
"That's the one. Well, I met him at Bumpers last week after school. Then Saturday, at the soap game, he saw me in the stands and waved at me. Taffy Sinclair thought he was waving at her, and she made an idiot of herself weaving back. Then later at the refreshment stand, he asked Christie for my name and phone number, and after the game, he called me."
"Wow!" said Alexis. "You are so-o-o-o lucky. I'd give anything if he would ask for my phone number. What did he say? Did he ask you out?"
"Not yet," said Melanie confidently. "But he will, and I can't wait to see the look on Taffy Sinclair's face when she sees us together. She was so sure that he was waving at her."
"Uh-oh," said Sara. "Look over there." She pointed toward the front gate of the school.
Melanie gasped. "Oh, no," she murmured. Garrett Boldt was standing there. He was smiling so broadly that she could see his dimple, and he was talking to Taffy Sinclair.
The bell finally rang, and the school ground emptied as students filed into Wacko Junior High. Melanie was glad. She couldn't stand to watch Taffy Sinclair flirting with Garrett. Everybody knew what a terrible flirt Taffy was, of course, but that didn't help much. Neither did the memory of Taffy's waving at Garrett during the soap game. It was pretty clear that Taffy was after him, too.
CHAPTER 5
Melanie struggled to pay attention in her morning classes, but her thoughts kept focusing on her boy troubles instead. What was she going to do? She kept seeing pictures in her mind of Taffy Sinclair flirting with Garrett. There was only one thing to do. Flirt. If Taffy could do it, now she could do it better.
She got her first chance during lunch period. Stepping into the cold-drink line, she was amazed to see Shane Arrington standing just in front of her. She took a deep breath and mentally ran down the list of seven tips for flirting that she had read in the magazine. 1. Make eye contact. 2. Be self-confident and friendly. 3. Use positive body language. 4. Give compliments. But Melanie never got to number five, because just as she was wondering how she could possibly get up enough nerve to pay a compliment to Shane, he turned around and looked at her.
"HI!" she said, gazing straight into his eyes and gMng him her best smile. She couldn't help worrying that her voice had been too loud or her eyes were bugged out, but it was too late now. She was into it, and she had to keep going. "That's really a great-looking shirt you're wearing. I just love plaid."
"You do?" Shane asked, and then he smiled so big that Melanie felt certain he couldn't have been more pleased if she had announced that she loved iguanas.
Her mind was whirling. Use positive body language. Stepping closer to him, she put a hand on his arm just the way the girl in the magazine picture had done and said, "Doesn't the hot lunch smell gross? I always bring a sandwich from home. I think they must use ground-up lizard in their meatloaf." Melanie gasped, suddenly realizing what she had just said. "I didn't mean iguanas," she sputtered. "Honest! I meant things like crocodiles and alligators. They're lizards, aren't they?"
Shane was laughing and nodding his head at the same time. "Actually, alligator meat is supposed to be pretty tasty. You can get it in restaurants in places like Florida and New Orleans. It's stuff made out of iguana that you have to watch out for. YUK!" Then his face got serious and he added, "You don't have an iguana sandwich in that lunch bag, do you?"
"Nope. Just plain old peanut butter and je
lly." She tried to match his serious expression, which she knew was fake, but her mouth kept slipping into a grin.
By now the line had moved forward, and Shane was paying for his milk. As he started to walk away, he turned and smiled at her again. "Your name is Melody, isn't it?"
"Melanie," she corrected. "You were close."
"Okay, Melanie. See you later."
It had worked! She wanted to jump up and down and shout the good news to everyone in the cafeteria, but of course, she didn't. Instead she bought a carton of chocolate milk and drifted over to the table where the rest of The Fabulous Five had already gathered and sat down, feeling too dreamy and romantic to eat.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Katie.
"I just had a super conversation with Shane Arrington," she said. "All about crocodiles, alligator meat, and iguanas."
"Sounds dMne," said Beth, crossing her eyes and making a silly face.
"You would have to have been there to understand," Melanie sniffed. Then breaking into a grin, she said, "I actually flirted with him and he flirted back."
Melanie scanned the crowded cafeteria, trying to catch sight of Scott. She was on a roll now, and she didn't want to stop. Even though she was still semi-angry with him. Unfortunately, she would have to wait to flirt with Garrett because he ate lunch next period with the eighth-graders.
She finally found Scott at the end of the hot-lunch line. He was talking to Tony Sanchez and Bill Soliday, two seventh-grade football players who had gone to Copper Beach Elementary. Not only that, but Laura McCall and Tammy Lucero were only a little way ahead of him in line, and both girls kept turning around and looking at the boys. That could spell trouble, Melanie thought. Gulping down her chocolate milk and stuffing her unopened lunch bag under her bulky sweater, she jumped to her feet.
"Anybody for hot lunch besides me?" she asked.
Her friends looked up at her in amazement.
"Are you kidding?" said Jana, waving a half-eaten cream cheese and jelly sandwich in the air. "We never buy hot lunch."
"I thought you brought your lunch today, too," said Christie.
"I did," Melanie confessed, "but I suddenly have a mad craving for mystery meat. See you guys in a few minutes." Tossing them a smile, she hurried to get in line behind Scott and silently rehearsed the tips for flirting as she went.
"Hi, Scott," she said sweetly. She opened her eyes wide and looked directly into his, wishing that she was wearing mascara and eye shadow to make them more noticeable.
He seemed a little surprised to see her as he shifted his attention away from Tony and Bill. "Oh, hi, Melanie. How's it going?"
"Super." Frantically she tried to think of a compliment. "That's really a great-looking shirt you're wearing. I just love solid colors."
As soon as she said that, she felt foolish. Nobody loved solid colors. It had sounded dumb, but Scott was smiling anyway, as if he thought she had wonderful taste. Flirting was working for a second time! The idea made her ecstatic.
The end of the hot-lunch line had reached the steam tables, and Scott was loading his tray with a giant submarine sandwich, fries, chocolate cake, and milk. She grabbed a tray and skimmed it along beside his, aware that Laura and Tammy were trying to hear what they were saying. It was time to try flirting tip #3, use positive body language. She leaned toward Scott and rested her hand gently on his arm. "I was so impressed with that great tackle you made in the soap game that I've been telling everybody about it."
It wasn't quite the truth, but Scott beamed at her so brightly that she forgot about feeling guilty.
"Really?" he asked. "I didn't think you liked football that much."
"It depends on who is playing," she said coyly.
Scott was still smiling at her, and she could feel Laura's and Tammy's eyes boring holes into her. This was a double whammy—flirting with Scott and making Laura and Tammy jealous.
Laura and Tammy paid for their lunches and stomped off to find a table, sticking their noses in the air to let her know how they felt about her flirting with Scott. He followed Tony and Bill away from the cashier, leaving Melanie to gaze after him and feel triumphant. This is almost too easy, she thought with a giggle.
"So, what's the big idea? Are you eating, or what?" The lady behind the cash register was glaring at her, and it took a few seconds for her to realize why. She had gone the whole length of the steam tables without putting a single thing on her tray.
Melanie fought down a wave of embarrassment. How could she have forgotten to get any food? Glancing around quickly, she saw that Laura and Tammy were on the other side of the lunchroom and Scott had his back turned. She was safe.
"Not today," she said, flashing a bright smile. Then she reached under her sweater and pulled out her lunch bag, plopping it down on the empty tray. "I brought my lunch." She tilted her chin triumphantly, and then she picked up her tray and went gliding across the cafeteria toward her friends, leaving the puzzled cashier staring after her.
CHAPTER 6
After school Melanie joined the crowd of girls shuffling into the gymnasium for the first meeting of seventh-graders who were interested in trying out for cheerleader. She looked around, just in case Jana or Beth had beaten her to the gym and saved her a seat, but they hadn't. The sight of so many girls competing for the eight positions on the seventh-grade squad made her more nervous than ever. Taffy Sinclair had managed to get a seat in the center of the front row, and beside her were Alexis Duvall and Sara Sawyer. In the second row Laura McCall twirled her long, blond braid and listened to Tammy Lucero, who was busily pointing out other girls in the bleachers and whispering to her. They were gossiping again, Melanie thought indignantly. A few rows higher Mandy McDermott waved when Melanie looked her way. Mandy had gone to Copper Beach Elementary and had been in the modeling class with her that was held at Tanninger's Department Store last spring. There were dozens of other girls sprinkled across the bleachers. Some she knew, but most she didn't.
She sat down in the fourth row and spread books on either side to save seats for her friends, thinking about how badly she wanted to be a Wakeman cheerleader. Over and over again she had lain in bed at night, gazing into the darkness and imagining herself in one of those darling little red pleated skirts and matching gold letter sweaters jumping around in front of a cheering crowd and waving her pompoms. And now, she realized, cheerleading would also put her near the three boys of her dreams. She could see it all. Garrett on the sidelines taking pictures for the yearbook and maybe even getting her into a shot or two, and Scott and Shane on the field of battle, inspired to victory by her enthusiasm and by the excitement she and the other cheerleaders could whip up among the fans. She had to make the squad, she thought. She simply had to.
A moment later Beth stumbled breathlessly through the row and sank down beside her. It was obvious she had been hurrying. "I waited around at Jana's locker for ages before I remembered that she won't make this first cheerleader meeting. The yearbook has its first meeting today, too, and she and Funny Hawthorne are applying for seventh-grade coeditors."
Melanie nodded. She had forgotten, also. She started to ask Beth if she thought Miss Wolfe would count the absence against Jana in competition when the gym teacher strode into the room and held up her hand for silence. Gitta Wolfe was tall and slim with hair the color of ripe wheat and with a fun-loving personality. She had moved to America from her native Germany as a child and pronounced both her own last name and the name of the school as if they began with V's instead of W's. What's more, she didn't seem to mind the occasional giggles that her mispronunciation inspired.
"Good afternoon, ladies," she said with a smile. "As you know, I am Miss Volfe, and I vill be coaching the seventh-grade cheerleading squad. At today's meeting I vill explain the categories you'll be judged on, and also the Vakeman varsity cheerleaders vill demonstrate some of the cheers and the gymnastic moves that you'll be required to do as members of the squad. Before you leave, you'll each get a set of mimeograph
ed sheets containing the cheers so that you may study and practice them before tryouts on Friday. Any questions?"
Melanie was too awed to ask questions, and so, apparently, were all of the others since no hands went up.
"Then, good luck to each of you."
For the next hour they watched as the experienced eighth- and ninth-graders went through intricate routines full of finger snaps, foot motions, claps, straddle jumps, cartwheels, walk overs, splits, and pyramids, and all without missing a beat or garbling a word of the cheers.
"Impossible," said Beth as they collected their mimeographed sheets and filed out of the gym. "We've got to learn all that plus concentrate on the judging points: pep, execution of routines, personality, eye contact, personal appearance. What does she think we are, anyway?"
"Don't forget recovery from mistakes on the list of judging points," said Melanie. "That's going to be the biggie as far as I'm concerned. I can tell already."
Grinning, Beth pulled herself up to her full height and said in her best imitation of Miss Wolfe, "If you vant to be a cheerleader for Vacko Junior High, you vill recover from your mistakes!"
Both girls broke up laughing as they made their way down the hall, and Melanie couldn't help thinking that although she had lots of hard work ahead to make the squad, one thing was certain: with Beth around, it was going to be fun.
After supper she was in the living room going over the cheers on her sheets and self-consciously practicing the motions in front of Jeffy when the phone rang. "I get it! I get it!" Jeffy screamed as he dove to answer it. Melanie glared at him, thinking what a pest he was, as he put the receiver to his ear and announced proudly, "Edwards residence. This is Jeffy." Slowly his smile drizzled away as he listened. "Okay," he said dejectedly, and thrust the phone toward her. "It's a boy."