by Betsy Haynes
Just then Jon came up the stairs carrying his camcorder. He winked at Christie, and she almost melted with relief. Maybe he wasn't terribly angry with her after all.
Just as Christie was about to focus on what Mr. Neal was saying again, a thin girl with straight black hair that hung to her waist came onto the stage. She had big almond-shaped eyes and her skin looked as smooth as ivory. Christie did a double take. That must be Kimm Taylor, she thought.
Christie sneaked a glance at Jon. He was busy talking to the drummer and wasn't paying any attention to Kimm. What difference does it make anyway, Christie told herself firmly. Jon and I are just friends.
As the custodian started dusting the podium and cleaning the tables, Jon's camcorder started making a whrrring sound. He was running around the stage taking pictures from different angles. Glancing back at Mr. Neal, Christie wondered how he could keep things straight with all the activity going on around him.
"After we've had a round of questions for each of the other categories," the teacher was saying, "we'll get to the current events category. Answers for the current events are worth five points each and can be answered by anyone, regardless of his or her grade. In the tryouts, however, we'll stick with answering by grade. During the Trumbull match, keep in mind that if you're wrong and the other team answers the question correctly on the rebound, it's worth ten points. A team can catch up really fast with current events.
"Does anyone have any questions?" Mr. Neal looked from student to student, and no one spoke. "Okay, study hard and lots of luck to you tomorrow."
"Are you feeling better now that we've had the walk-through?" Tim asked Christie as they all began to file out of the auditorium. She looked quickly to see if Jon was watching them. He was involved with the band and was looking the other way. Kimm was standing very close to Jon, and Christie couldn't help feeling a little twinge of jealousy.
"Much better," she said, giving Tim a bright smile. "All I have to do now is memorize a whole history book, a whole social studies book, a whole math book, and a whole science book."
"I hate to scare you, but the really tough part is the current events category. That's the one people really bomb out on. The only way to study for that is to read the whole encyclopedia and every current events magazine that comes out."
"Oh, great! What am I supposed to do about that?"
"Nothing." He chuckled. "Some kids got it, and some kids don't. You'll find out if you've got it when they ask you the questions."
"You're really encouraging," she said. "I thought I'd probably lie awake half the night worrying about the tryouts. Now I'll stay awake all night."
"Any little way I can help," he kidded.
When they reached the big double doors at the front of school, Christie stopped in her tracks.
"I've got to go," she said abruptly. "I'll see you tomorrow." Tim gave her a puzzled look and waved good-bye.
As Christie rushed away down the nearest corridor, her mind was racing. During the meeting she had noticed Tim looking at her several times. She liked Tim. He was fun to be with, and when she stood near him, she got goose bumps all over. But she liked Jon, too. Very much. Even if they had agreed to try being best friends, she didn't want to push it too fast by seeing someone else.
That evening, Christie spent most of her time cramming for the tryouts. She went through all of her books and made a zillion notes to remind her of the answers to possible questions. By the time she went to bed, she felt as if her head would burst from all the things she had forced into it. Every nook and cranny of my brain must be filled to overflowing, she thought.
Instead of lying awake the way she'd expected, she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. During the night she had a dream about Jon and Tim.
She was looking out a window, and the two of them were looking up at her.
"Go out with me," begged Jon, who was down on one knee. "I'll make you the star of one of my videos."
"Forget him. Go out with me," said Tim. "I'll help you study for the Super Quiz. I'll even help you do math problems."
"I'll make videos of you doing math problems," offered Jon, frowning at Tim.
Christie watched both boys carefully, hoping they wouldn't start fighting. She only wanted to be friends with Jon, and she had never thought about going out with Tim. In her dream she looked from one to the other in total confusion—not knowing how to answer either of them.
CHAPTER 6
"Okay, everyone," Mr. Neal called as the Super Quiz team regrouped in the auditorium the next morning. "Please take the seats you had yesterday."
After everyone was seated, he continued, "We almost had a big problem this morning. I couldn't find my folder with the tryout questions in it, but I talked to each of the contributing teachers and they gave me copies of the questions. You're probably surprised to find out that all teachers aren't perfect."
The boys made hooting noises, and the girls giggled.
"All right, I know you've been dying to do it, so get it out of your systems. Hit those buzzers!"
Hands flashed to slap the buttons that set off lights and the buzzers, filling the room with baaap, baaap, baaap. Christie laughed and fought off Curtis Trowbridge, who was trying to hit her buzzer, too.
"YOU CAN STOP NOW!" yelled Mr. Neal, and the baaap, baaap noises slowly quieted. Everyone was laughing and joking about who had beaten whom and who had made the most noise.
"Remember," Mr. Neal continued, "the top two scorers in each grade will represent Wakeman next Friday in the match against Trumbull.
"Now, I'm going to throw a switch up here at the podium, and from now on only the buzzer and the light connected to the button that is hit first will go off." Suddenly one buzzer sounded and a light blinked. Mr. Neal frowned jokingly at Brad Cochran.
"Okay, LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" Mr. Neal called out dramatically. The questioning started with the ninth-graders in the social studies category, and then Mr. Neal moved to the eighth-graders. When he began quizzing the seventh-graders, Melissa took an early lead in scoring.
As Christie had suspected, Curtis, Whitney, and Melissa were well prepared, and the competition among the seventh-graders was hot and heavy.
During the next round of history questions, Curtis passed Melissa, and Christie was next, with Whitney a close fourth.
The next category was science, which was Whitney's best subject, and she quickly pulled ahead of Christie. Christie began to worry that she might even come in last. She nervously tapped her fingers on the stack of books in front of her and noticed the edge of a blue folder sticking out from between the two books. Mom must have left this for me to bring back to Mr. Bell, mused Christie, pulling it out and laying it on top. I'll have to stop at his office after the tryouts.
Finally they came to the math category, and Christie was able to pull ahead of Melissa and Whitney. Now she was only a few points behind Curtis.
The questioning had been going on for nearly an hour, and the stage was very quiet except for Mr. Neal's voice as he asked the questions, the buzzer, and the voice of the answering student.
Christie saw that Tim was pulling ahead of the other eighth-graders. It looked as if he would make the team easily. He has looks and brains, thought Christie.
Then came the current events questions. Christie was amazed that she knew most of them, and she pulled into a tie with Curtis.
Mr. Neal held up an index card. "Okay, this is the final question. Who is the number one ranked women's tennis player in the world?"
Christie slapped at the buzzer as quickly as she could and saw Curtis's hand hit his buzzer at the same time. Her number lit up.
"All right, Christie. You and Curtis are tied in points. If you give the right answer, you win first place. What is your answer?"
Christie couldn't believe the question was about tennis. She knew just about everything there was to know about tennis without even studying. She pulled herself up confidently and said as clearly as she could, "Steffi Graf
."
"That's right," Mr. Neal said with a smile. Christie sank back in her seat with a sigh of relief. She had made the team.
"Good going," said Curtis. "Congratulations." She thanked him and looked across to the other table. Tim was smiling at her and Melissa was frowning. Melissa had come in third and wouldn't be on the team that played Trumbull. When Laura McCall found out that Christie would compete against Trumbull, and Melissa wouldn't, she'd probably be furious.
"Congratulations, everyone," said Mr. Neal. "You all did great. Those of you who didn't make the team for the Trumbull match will get another chance for our next competition. If any of the players who have been selected for the Trumbull match gets sick or for some reason can't compete, then one of you will take his or her place as an alternate. Lots of luck, everybody."
The kids rose from their seats and Christie picked up her books. As she tried to squeeze between the podium and Whitney, who was talking to Air. Neal, her elbow was bumped and her books tumbled onto the floor. The blue folder fell open and a stack of index cards spilled out.
"Let me help," Curtis said. As he bent down to pick them up, Melissa pushed him aside.
"What are these?" she cried. "They're questions!" The room was totally silent as everyone looked at the cards and then at Christie.
Mr. Neal took the cards from Melissa and then picked up the blue folder from the floor. His face looked very grim. "Okay, everyone, the tryouts are over. Christie, could I talk to you in my office?" The others left quietly. Christie saw Tim glance back at her. He gave her a weak smile and a thumbs-up.
CHAPTER 7
Christie sat in a chair in front of Mr. Neal's desk. Her mind raced as she tried to sort out what had happened. How had the cards gotten into the folder that Miss Simone had given her to deliver to her mother? Or was the folder really Mr. Neal's? It couldn't be. How could she have gotten it?
She felt like wilting in her seat as she faced Mr. Neal. She had never seen him look so stern.
"Tell me about how you got the note cards," he ordered.
"I don't know how I got them, Mr. Neal. Honest." She gave him a pleading look. "On Wednesday, Miss Simone asked me to bring home a blue folder from Mr. Bell for my mom. When I saw the folder with my books this morning, I thought my mother had given it back to me to return."
"You need to think very hard about how you got the note cards, Christie. It doesn't look good. I've known you for a long time and I've never known you to cheat, but you know how it's going to look to other people. When could you have gotten my folder?"
"I don't know. I just don't know," she said, making tight fists in her lap.
Mr. Neal sighed. "I hope you realize just how serious this is, Christie. I'm on your side, but I need help. If we can't find a way to prove you got the cards without knowing it, I'm going to have to take you off the match team with Trumbull. I don't want to suspend you from the Super Quiz team, but I can't promise it won't happen. It depends on how things go."
His words hit Christie like a bolt of lightning, and she sank back in her chair dumbfounded. Suspended from the Super Quiz team for cheating! That couldn't happen! She had worked so hard all her life to make good grades and to do the right thing. How could this be happening to her?
Her astonishment must have shown on her face. "I'm sorry, Christie," Mr. Neal added more gently. "I don't want to do it, but right now it looks as though I won't have any other choice."
Christie's lower lip quivered and she fought back the tears that threatened to spill out. She clenched her fists so hard her fingers hurt.
"You think about it hard, Christie. If we're going to come up with anything, we have to do it by Wednesday so I'll know if I should tell Melissa whether or not she will be taking your place. Come and talk to me anytime you think of something that might solve it for us, Christie."
Christie whispered, "Okay," and got up and walked out of the room like a zombie.
What could she do? What could she say to her friends and everyone else? Mr. Neal would have to take her off the team for the match with Trumbull Junior High and maybe even suspend her from the team altogether. It would be the biggest embarrassment of her whole life. How could she face her friends and everyone else? What would she tell her parents? And Melissa McConnell, of all people, would take her place on the team. Laura McCall would have a field day over that.
As Christie walked down the hall, she felt like a convicted criminal. Tammy Lucero, the gossip of The Fantastic Foursome, was talking to Sara Sawyer and Heather Clark. They were looking at Christie, and she knew that Tammy was talking about her. Tammy and her Fantastic Foursome friends would tell everyone in school as fast as they could. Christie felt her face heat up and she turned and walked away.
When lunchtime came, she dreaded walking into the cafeteria by herself, so she stood outside waiting for one of The Fabulous Five. It was almost worse standing there by herself as Melinda Thaler and Alexis Duvall passed her and started whispering to each other. Christie knew they were talking about her. She was relieved when Tim stopped to talk. She could ignore everyone else.
"How's it going?" he asked. "Did you find where the cards came from?"
"No. But I didn't take them, honest I didn't. I don't know how I got them."
He looked sympathetic. "I believe you. What's Mr. Neal going to do?"
Christie's voice cracked when she replied, "He says that if we can't prove I didn't take them, he's going to have to take me off the team for the Trumbull match." And then she whispered, "He might even have to suspend me from the Super Quiz team. I've got until Wednesday to find out how it happened."
Tim frowned. "Can't you think of any way the folder could have gotten in with your books?"
"No. I just don't know."
"Did anyone touch your things at the tryouts?"
"I don't think so. I had them with me all the time. Why would someone do it, anyway?"
"To keep you off the team?" he asked.
Christie hadn't thought about that. Would Melissa McConnell have done it? When would she have had an opportunity to get Mr. Neal's folder and put it with Christie's things? She thought hard but couldn't think of when it might have happened.
"Tell you what," Tim said. "I'll ask some of the other kids on the team if they saw anything. Don't worry. We'll find out what happened." He squeezed her arm reassuringly.
"Thanks," said Christie. It was nice to have somebody on her side. Just then Jana and Katie came up.
"Hi!" they both chirped.
"Hi. I'll see you later," Tim said as he turned and left.
"How did the tryouts go?" asked Jana.
"Terrible," Christie answered. "You mean you haven't heard?" She was so glad to see her friends that the words tumbled out as she told them what happened.
"Gee," said Katie with a shocked look on her face, "how could you have gotten the cards?"
"I don't know," answered Christie. "That seems like all I've been saying, but I just don't know. Tim said he'd ask the other people on the team if they had any ideas."
"You don't think it was Melissa who put them there?" asked Jana.
"I don't know how it could have been," Christie answered. "But believe me, The Fantastic Foursome's not wasting any time telling people about what happened. I saw Tammy talking to Sara and Heather, and I know she was telling them about me. That's why I was waiting for one of you to come by. I didn't want to go into the cafeteria by myself."
"Don't worry," said Katie. "Just stick with us. We'll take care of Laura and her crowd if they try to make trouble."
Christie felt relieved that she was with two of her best friends. Jana, Katie, Melanie, and Beth would stick by her, no matter what. And Tim was trying to help. And there was Jon, too. Jon was one of her very best friends. He really cared about her and would definitely be on her side. There was no doubt about that. She could hardly wait to talk to him and see if he had any ideas to help her get this whole thing straightened out. He could surely come up with something. She felt
relieved just thinking about it.
Jana and Katie each got on one side of her, and the three of them locked arms, straightened their backs, and held their heads high. Christie felt a swelling of pride as her two friends marched with her into the cafeteria.
She looked around the room defiantly, and the first thing she saw was Jon sitting next to Kimm. They were at a table in the corner sitting so close they touched, and they were laughing.
CHAPTER 8
Christie's heart dropped into her shoes. What were Jon and Kimm doing together? She felt as if something had been stolen from her.
But no, she shouldn't feel that way, she reminded herself. She had told Jon she just wanted to be best friends, hadn't she? And she had even thought that his getting interested in Kimm or some other girl might help keep her own relationship with Jon from getting too serious. So why shouldn't he talk to Kimm?
But did he have to sit so close to her? He seemed to be having a lot of fun talking to her, too. Knowing that she and Jon were just best friends now didn't help that little feeling of jealousy that had crept into her at the sight of Jon and Kimm together. He has every right to be with her, Christie thought, pulling herself up to her full height.
She headed with Jana and Katie to their table without turning to look at Jon and Kimm again. Melanie and Beth were already sitting there.
"Christie," Melanie whispered as if she were a spy with a big secret. "What's this about your getting kicked off the Super Quiz team?"
Christie drew a deep breath and glared at the table where Tammy Lucero sat with the rest of The Fantastic Foursome. Laura McCall smiled back. Christie gave her an angry look.
"I have not been kicked off of the Super Quiz team," she insisted. "There's been a big mistake. Somehow I got Mr. Neal's folder with the questions for the tryouts mixed in with my books, and I dropped it and the cards with the questions spilled out. I don't know how I got the folder. And that's THAT!" she added firmly.
"Sorry," said Melanie, drawing back. "I didn't mean to make you mad."
