by Betsy Haynes
"I think so, too," said Beth.
"And red and gold are Wacko Junior High's colors," said Jana. "All of the Wacko teams wear red tops, so it just makes sense, if we're going to use the school colors, that we have red with gold lettering."
"I really think it will look good on you, Katie," said Christie.
"Oh, all right, but are we going to put our names on them, too?"
"I think it would be a good idea," agreed Jana, reaching for another slice of pizza. "We could put them in different positions, like when we write things on our notebooks."
"Great idea!" said Beth. "Boy, will Laura and the rest of The Fantastic Foursome be green with envy."
"I bet they get T-shirts when they see ours," said Melanie.
"But they won't be able to use the school colors, and everyone will know they're copying us," said Christie.
"Yea, for The Fabulous Five!" yelled Beth. "First again!"
"YEA!" they all yelled, holding slices of pizza in the air.
"Changing the subject," said Jana, "I'm sure glad things turned out all right for you with the Super Quiz team, Christie."
"You're glad?" said Christie, rolling her eyes. "I thought I was dead. If we hadn't been able to prove how Mr. Neal's questions got with my books, I wouldn't be able to hold my head up in school or at home. Jon and Kimm saved me with his video recording."
"And now you're the hero of Wacko Junior High," said Jana. "It's super the way it worked out."
"What I think is a riot, is the way the last question turned out to be the one that Katie kept asking you," Melanie added. "I guess Katie's being a feminist paid off for you this time, Christie."
Christie looked at Katie and smiled. "It sure did. Katie, I'll never, ever, get on you again about being too much of a liberated woman."
"I don't think she's as liberated as she wants us to believe," said Beth. "Look at the Macho guy she dates."
"You just don't understand Tony," Katie responded. "He's really a kind and sensitive person."
"Now you sound like Jana when she talks about Randy," interjected Melanie. "By the way, how's your nonromance going with Jon, Christie?"
"Fine. He has a date with Kimm for Saturday."
"That's probably the last you'll see of him," said Melanie.
"No. Not true. We're going to play tennis Saturday morning, and he'll be over a couple of nights a week to study. Besides, I'm really starting to like Kimm. I'm sure everything's going to work out fine."
"Now you can look at the other boys again," said Melanie. "There are a lot of yummy ones. But stay away from Scott, Shane, and Garrett. They're mine."
"Sheez!" said Katie. "You'd think every boy in Wacko was her personal property."
"No, I don't," Melanie said with a pouty look on her face. "I'd never go after guys that any of you four were dating."
"Just kidding," responded Katie.
"No. I really don't want to date right away," said Christie. "I broke up with Jon because I wanted more space, and getting another boyfriend right away might put me right back where I was. And it might make Jon think I wanted to break up just so I could date someone else, and that's not true. I'll date eventually, but not right now."
"I saw Jon's video of The Dreadful Alternatives in Mr. Levine's acting class the other day," said Beth. "He showed it to us as a good example of what can be done with a home video camera."
"What's Jon going to do with his movies? Anything?" asked Katie.
"I think he might," said Christie. "He was telling me that his mother and father like what he's doing, and his mother asked him if she could include part of this last one as a clip in one of her news shows. It would be a little thing about The Dreadful Alternatives.
"I think he might just be starting to feel pretty good about himself. Who knows? He might even end up with a career in screen photography."
After the others had left, Christie cleaned up in the family room and threw away the empty pizza boxes. She stuck her head in the living room and said good-night to her mother and father and went up to her room.
She hummed to herself as she brushed her hair and smiled. The face of a happy, blond-haired girl smiled back at her from the mirror.
Everything had turned out so great. A week ago she was in the pits, and now she was the school heroine for answering the question that won the match for Wakeman. Of course Kyle, Pam, Tim, Daphne, and Curtis had gotten a lot of answers right, too. It just happened that she got the last question.
She could still hear Tim's voice telling her to "Go get 'em, Christie!" He was nice. And a good hugger, she thought with a giggle. But she didn't want to jump in and start dating right away. The last thing she needed was another commitment. She'd just wait to see who was available that she might like to go out with. When the right person came along and asked her, she'd start dating again.
CHAPTER 17
Beth was panting when she caught up with Jana, Katie, Christie, and Melanie on the way to Bumpers. "I did it! I did it!" she squealed, jumping up and down.
"What did you do?" asked Christie as they all bent to help pick up the books she had dropped in her excitement.
"The play! Mr. Levine told me I get to try out for the lead role in the play." She whirled around, billowing her long skirt and looking as if she were a ballerina.
"And Mr. Levine said his friend, Mr. Stapleton, who's a casting director from New York, will be here to help with the casting. Maybe he'll like me. This will be the biggest part I've ever tried out for in my whole life. This may be the start to my acting career."
"All right!" shouted Melanie.
"Oh, I'm so glad," said Jana. "It's a great chance for you." They crowded around Beth and hugged her, laughing and chattering happily.
As they continued walking toward Bumpers, Katie looked at Beth and asked cautiously, "Uh, who else is trying out?"
"Mr. Levine said Kaci Davis, Laura McCall, and Taffy Sinclair have signed up, too."
Katie let out a low whistle. "That's pretty tough competition."
"It sure is," said Melanie.
"I can do it, though. I know I can," Beth responded, sticking out her chin. "I want it so badly, all I have to do is try my hardest."
"We know you can," said Jana. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Not really. I just have to learn my part and practice like mad. And if I win, we'll have practice three nights a week until opening night."
"And then you'll have homework the other nights," said Christie, "and cheerleading practice after school. I guess we won't be seeing much of you for a while. Have you talked to Keith? How does he feel about losing you for such a long time?"
"Keith and I have been going together since the sixth grade. I know he'll understand. He won't care," she said confidently, but she couldn't help remembering the odd look on his face when she had told him about the play and how much time the practices would take.
"I don't know about that," said Melanie. "I wouldn't want to take a chance on being out of circulation like that for that long. I'm not sure Scott would understand."
"I won't be out of circulation," protested Beth. "I'll see him at school, and Bumpers, and we can still date some."
"You remember what happened to me when I tried to do too much," responded Melanie. "Mono, the kissing disease," she said, making a monster face and holding her hands up as if they were claws.
"Won't your parents keep you from going out as much as you have?" asked Jana. "They know what happened to Melanie."
"My mother would ground me if I were out every night during the week," added Katie.
"Oh, you guys are just worrywarts," said Beth. "Everything will be great between Keith and me." But she couldn't forget that look on Keith's face, and a little spot of doubt formed deep inside of her mind and started to grow.
Will everything be okay between Beth and Keith, or will Beth have to make a choice between stardom and romance? Find out in the The Fabulous Five #10: PLAYING THE PART.
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 serious 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 Colleyville, Texas, with her husband, who is also an author.
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
