by Betsy Haynes
And Beth was so theatrical. Christie had confided in Jon that she thought Beth was a little bit of a show-off and that she said some pretty wild things at times. It was the kind of thing she would have said to any of The Fabulous Five. But she had told Jon, not one of them. And as far as Christie knew, Katie didn't tell anyone outside of The Fabulous Five that she thought Melanie was boy crazy. If Jon got mad at her, would he tell someone else what she had said about Melanie and Beth? As much as she didn't think he would, the thought made her uncomfortable, as if she were a traitor.
Inside the theater it was a madhouse. Kids were moving in and out of the rows of seats to talk with friends, and every once in a while an empty popcorn box would go whizzing through the air.
Christie held on tightly to her popcorn as Jon led her down the aisle, zigzagging through the crowd. Finally they reached the row that Beth and Melanie had saved for The Fabulous Five and their dates. Jana and Randy moved in so Jon and Christie could have the seats nearest the aisle.
Elizabeth Harvey, who had been elected secretary of the seventh-grade class when Christie had run for president, saw her and stopped in the aisle to talk.
"Hi, Christie. Hi, everybody." She waved to the others. "Is it true that you might not be on the Super Quiz team, Christie?"
Christie took a deep breath and said, "I don't know yet. There's been a mixup, but I think everything will be all right."
"I wouldn't believe everything you hear," Jon added. "There's just been a mistake. Everyone knows Christie didn't do anything wrong."
"I hope so," said Elizabeth. "But you and I are prejudiced because I like Christie and you're her boyfriend. Sometimes the right thing doesn't always happen, you know."
"You're not making our day," Jon grumbled.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sure everything will turn out okay. Have a good time, you two," Elizabeth said with a knowing smile.
Christie cringed. Why did Elizabeth have to make those remarks about Jon's being Christie's boyfriend? Couldn't anyone realize that just because she and Jon were at the movie together didn't mean they were going steady or that they were going to have a big love scene later. Was Jon embarrassed at what Elizabeth had said? Christie couldn't tell.
"I've got to go to the ladies' room," said Beth. "Does anyone want to go with me?"
"I'll go with you," said Christie.
"Me, too," said Katie.
There was a long line in the ladies' room, and they had to wait their turn. Christie dug in her purse for a tissue.
"Hi, Katie, Christie, and Beth." Kaci Davis was brushing her blond hair and had seen them in the mirror. Kaci was a pretty ninth-grader who was on the Teen Court with Katie.
"Got a big date with Jon, Christie?" Kaci asked.
"No, not really," Christie answered, trying to sound as casual as possible. "We're here together, but we're just friends."
Kaci's hand stopped in midstroke, and she looked at Christie's reflection. "Right! Just like Katie's only friends with Tony Calcaterra." Kaci nudged Colby Graham, an eighth-grader standing next to her, and they both laughed.
Christie could feel her face turning red. Not again, she thought.
Today had been full of the same things happening over and over. First, she had had to explain about the mixup at the tryouts. Now she had to tell everyone that Jon and she were just friends. She held back an exasperated sigh and gave Kaci a forced smile. When would everyone finally get it?
To make things worse, the movie wasn't as great as Christie had thought it would be. Maybe it was because she had ducked down to keep from being seen every time someone she knew came by their row. It didn't work, though. If kids didn't see her at first, they saw one of the other Fabulous Five and stopped. Then they saw her, and inevitably there would be a comment about Jon and her going together.
She did find a quarter and a dime on the floor, however, which was the good part. The bad part was that she bumped her head against the seat in front of her and a glob of gum stuck to her forehead. She was very glad when the credits came on the screen and the movie was over.
Jon didn't take her hand the way he usually did as they made their way out of the theater. She decided it was probably for the best even though it made her a little sad. Why couldn't people understand that boys and girls could like each other and not always have to have romantic relationships? This just might be the most miserable day in my whole life, Christie thought. First, I'm accused of cheating at the tryouts, and now people won't let Jon and me have a normal friendship.
Jon didn't say anything as the two of them stood at the curb away from everyone else waiting for his dad to pick them up. Was Jon upset about all the questioning? He hadn't even suggested that they go to Bumpers with the rest of the crowd. Would he want to be seen with her after this evening? She looked at his handsome profile. Most girls would love to have Jon as a boyfriend. But I'm not ready to go steady, she thought stubbornly. She glanced in the direction Jon was staring. Kimm Taylor was looking at them and smiling. Or was she just smiling at Jon?
CHAPTER 11
Except for Mr. Smith's attempts to make conversation, the ride home from the movie was made in silence. For the first time that she could remember, Christie felt ill at ease sitting next to Jon. The evening, which she thought would prove that they could be best friends, had turned out to be a disaster.
When they reached Christie's house, Jon had walked her to the door, and they stood there, neither one of them seeming to know what to do or say next. At one moment she thought he was going to kiss her, and she almost wanted him to. She wasn't sure. She liked him so much, but she just didn't feel as romantic about him as she had before.
Instead of kissing her, he looked at her, said good-bye, and walked back to the car. She stood on the porch watching as the taillights of his car disappeared around the corner of the block.
Later, Christie tossed and turned in bed. Everything in her life was a mess. Jon had been awfully quiet when he dropped her off. Was he disturbed by the way the evening had gone, or was he mad at her? People never stopped asking questions about their going together, and everyone except her best friends thought she had cheated on the Super Quiz tryouts. Even Mr. Neal, whom she had known ever since he was her fifth-grade teacher at Mark Twain Elementary, probably thought she was a cheat.
How had she gotten Mr. Neal's folder with the questions? If she could just figure that out, at least she would solve one of her problems. She went over her movements of the last few days in detail one more time.
She had gotten a blue folder from Miss Simone on Wednesday. Then she ran into Tim outside the office and dropped her books. Tim had helped her pick them up and had given them and the folder back to her outside on the school grounds. She had thought that was the folder with her books on Friday, but it wasn't. She had checked with her mother, and Mrs. Winchell had assured her that she still had the folder Mr. Bell had sent her containing forms for the budget.
Thursday had been normal. She had gone to all of her classes. She had kept her things, except for what she needed, with her or in her locker.
Then there was the walk-through meeting for the tryouts. But she couldn't remember anything unusual happening then. The Dreadful Alternatives had come on stage, but she couldn't recall their getting near the Super Quiz team. Oh, yes, Jon had come out with his camcorder and started taking pictures. There was nothing else. She had gone straight home to study on Thursday evening. So she couldn't have picked the folder up at Bumpers. Her mind whirled with confusion. There had to be an answer. There was an answer to everything. She could figure out any math problem. Why couldn't she figure this one out?
It was well into the night before Christie went to sleep. And then she tossed and turned and had dreams about being in jail and Laura McCall and her Fantastic Foursome friends standing outside her cell laughing and pointing at her. Jon stood by himself off to the side, watching but not saying anything. She heard hammering outside, and when she looked outside her cell window, she saw The Fant
astic Foursome out there. They were pounding nails into a platform with a trapdoor in the bottom. A rope hung from a crossarm, and Kimm Taylor was tacking a sign up that read:
BIG CELEBRATION MONDAY
THE HANGING OF CHRISTIE WINCHELL
The next morning was Saturday, and Christie slept later than usual. When she looked at her face in the mirror, she couldn't believe the red rings around her eyes. When she went downstairs, she discovered that her mother and father were already out. Christie was just finishing her toast when the phone rang.
"Christie?" It was Jana. "Are you going to the Milford football game today? It's an important game. If we win we'll be four and oh and in first place."
"I don't know. I don't think I could stand to have people ask me anymore about the Super Quiz team. I am really sick and tired of talking and thinking about it."
"Have you come up with any new ideas?" asked Jana softly.
"No. None at all," Christie said tiredly. "I've thought and thought until I can't think about it anymore. I was awake all night thinking about it." She didn't tell Jana that part of the time she had been thinking about Jon, too.
"I'm sorry," said Jana. "I wish there was something I could do to help."
"I know you do. You're a great friend. All of you are. But I just don't know what more to do."
"Well, The Fabulous Five have got to stick together!" said Jana. Her voice sounded as if she were ready to fight anyone who argued with her. "We're special, and everyone knows it. I think we should go to the game together and show the whole world that nothing has changed. We're still fabulous. Are you game?"
Jana's loyalty made Christie feel good deep down inside. They had been friends for a long time, and Jana, along with the rest of The Fabulous Five, had never let her down.
"It's too bad we don't still have our Fabulous Five T-shirts," Christie said with a laugh. "We'd really show them, if we did."
Christie and Jana called Melanie, Katie, and Beth, and they all agreed that they would meet at Jana's house and go to the game together. Since they didn't have T-shirts, and since Melanie and Beth had to wear their cheerleading outfits, they all agreed to wear two red ribbons in their hair as a symbol of their friendship.
Christie followed Katie and Jana into a row in the cheering section. The stadium was crowded, and it seemed as if everyone from Wacko Junior High was in the stands to watch the Wakeman Warriors play the Milford Mariners.
Christie spotted Melanie and Beth down on the field with the other cheerleaders. Laura McCall and Tammy Lucero were on the field with them and so was Taffy Sinclair.
The crisp fall air felt good, and Christie was glad Jana had talked her into coming. For the first time since yesterday she felt as if everything would work out. Maybe, someday, she would even be able to laugh at her problems.
Just then Tim came walking up the stairs with Kyle Zimmerman, his long legs taking the steps two at a time. He saw Christie and waved. She smiled and waved back. For a second it looked as if he were going to come over to her, but several boys started yelling for him to sit down. Tim yelled back and went to argue with them. Christie wished he had come to talk to her.
She looked around the stands to see who else was there, and she waved at Sara Sawyer and Shawnie Pendergast. In the row in front of them were Mona Vaughn and Matt Zeboski.
Christie looked to her left. Two rows over, she saw Jon. He was sitting with Kimm Taylor and he had his arm around her. Christie's stomach turned a flip-flop. What was he doing with Kimm? It's okay, she told herself, quickly. Calm down. He can do whatever he wants. I'm the one who said we should just be friends. But a little voice in the back of her mind asked her, how could Jon date someone else so soon?
CHAPTER 12
Christie tried not to watch Jon and Kimm, but they looked so natural together as they talked and laughed while Jon pointed out things that were happening on the football field. It reminded Christie of how she and Jon had been when they first started dating. They had laughed a lot and played tennis and gone to football games. Being best friends would probably mean they wouldn't do all of those things together anymore. Especially if Jon was dating Kimm. Christie sighed. She knew that being best friends meant not being jealous or making unreasonable demands. Jon was living up to his part of the friendship. Why couldn't she?
After the game, the crowd moved slowly out of the stadium gates. Wacko had won and now had a perfect record of four and oh, and the kids were shouting and holding one finger in the air to show they were number one in the conference.
When Christie and the others reached the field, Beth and Melanie came running up. They shook their pom-pons as they jumped up and down with excitement.
"Wasn't that fantastic?" cried Beth. "Did you see Keith's touchdown?"
"It was great!" Christie agreed.
"We're NUMBER ONE!" shouted Melanie.
"Let's go to Bumpers and celebrate!" yelled Jana.
Bumpers was packed with Warrior fans who were busy celebrating their team's victory. Clarence Marshall had a big Styrofoam hand with one finger pointing up that he kept shaking in the air as he and Joel Murphy yelled, "NUMBER ONE! NUMBER ONE!"
Christie saw Jon and Kimm come in together. They were holding hands and laughing. Kimm's long black hair swung gracefully to her waist, and her round face and almond eyes were turned up to Jon. She is pretty, Christie thought. And she must be an awfully nice person for Jon to like her.
When Randy Kirwan, Shane Arrington, Keith Masterson, and the other players came in, everyone started applauding and cheering all over again. The players bowed dramatically to the crowd and then raised both fists as a chant went up. "Wakeman! Wakeman! Wakeman!"
Christie chuckled as she noticed Mr. Matson, who owned Bumpers, covering his ears with both hands. She was pointing him out to the others when Dekeisha Adams and Mandy McDermott came bouncing over to their table.
"What a game! What a game!" Dekeisha shouted. She and Mandy did cheer kicks and nearly knocked Bill Soliday over.
Then Dekeisha's face grew serious. "Did you and Jon break up?" she asked Christie. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked up in the stands and saw him with Kimm Taylor."
"We decided that we would be best friends instead of going steady," Christie answered. "He can date whomever he wants." She tried to sound natural.
"Best friends?" Dekeisha looked disbelieving. "You've got to be kidding."
"It's true."
Dekeisha shrugged. "If you say so." Christie could see the doubt in her eyes.
The rest of the afternoon was the pits for Christie. It seemed as if every girl she knew stopped to make some comment about Kimm and Jon—even girls who were supposed to know that they had decided to be just friends. It was as if it were just too much for anyone to believe and so they had to keep checking with her to make sure it was true. She was glad when the afternoon was finally over, and she and her friends were walking home.
"What a day!" Melanie said, laughing. "I think junior high is definitely more fun than elementary school."
"No comparison," said Jana. "Do you remember how the biggest thing that happened to us in the fall was the Halloween party?"
Everyone nodded.
"Remember how Miss Wiggins, our homeroom teacher, used to act so tough?" asked Beth.
"Yes. And then I think she cried when we graduated," said Katie.
"I think she really liked all of us," said Christie. Thinking about Miss Wiggins and Mark Twain Elementary brought back a flood of memories to Christie. They were a lot like the video Jon had made of Wacko, except the pictures didn't flip over. Jana, Katie, Melanie, and Beth were suddenly silent, too. Christie wondered if they were thinking about their elementary school days, too, and even Miss Wiggins.
Katie broke the silence. "What's everyone going to do tonight?"
"Keith and I are going out," volunteered Beth.
"Randy and I are going bowling with Mom and Pink," said Jana.
"Tony's going to pick up a video, and he, Mom,
and I are going to watch it and make popcorn," added Katie.
"Your mom's going to watch with you?" asked Jana incredulously.
"She goes to bed early," Katie assured them. The others laughed.
"Well, I've got a date with Shane," said Melanie. "He asked me at Bumpers."
"Is Igor going with you?" Beth asked, and giggled.
"I asked Shane about that. He said no. Igor peeks too much." Melanie's remarks sent them all into fits of laughter again.
"What are you going to do, Christie?" asked Jana.
"Not much. I'll probably just stay home and watch TV."
"Jon hasn't asked you out?" Everyone waited to hear Christie's answer to Melanie's question.
"I told you we're just friends now. No one seems to be able to believe me."
"It doesn't bother you that he was with Kimm?" asked Katie.
"He can be with whomever he wants," answered Christie stubbornly.
That evening, Christie was glad to be home alone. Her mother and father had gone out, and she popped a gigantic bowl of popcorn and turned on a horror movie. Although the day had started out being fun, she was sick and tired of all the questions about Jon and her. Especially since she had so many questions of her own. Could she really keep from being jealous of Kimm and make a go of this "best friends" business? As much as she wanted it that way, it was certainly harder than she had expected. Still, she did need space, and she truly wanted Jon as her friend.
She sank back against the pillows on the couch and stared at the television set without really seeing the movie. She was exhausted and wasn't looking forward to next week. There would probably be more questions about Jon and her, and Melissa was going to talk to Mr. Neal about deciding earlier whether Christie was going to be on the team.
Christie thought about looking up Mr. Neal's telephone number and calling him to tell him she didn't want to be on the team, anyway. She had totally run out of ideas about how she had gotten the folder, and she wasn't likely to get any brainstorms between now and Wednesday. Or Monday, if Melissa had her way. Calling and quitting might be less embarrassing than having Mr. Neal suspend her for cheating. Besides, she was just plain tired of all of it.
