by Betsy Haynes
Christie shrugged. "I don't know, Katie, he might think it's a good idea." The two girls crossed the street and continued on their way to Wakeman Junior High.
"You know him well enough to know he won't listen to just one person's suggestion," Katie continued. "He'll just smile at me and say, 'That's nice, Katie. How are your classes going?'"
"Come on. You're the one who talks about being fair," Christie responded. "I bet he gets a thousand suggestions about how to improve classes at Wacko. I know my mom does at Mark Twain Elementary. Because she's the principal of the school, everyone tells her what she should be doing. The school board tells her, parents tell her, the PTA tells her, everybody tells her how to run her school."
"I know," said Katie dejectedly. "But it's so important! Wakeman needs a class on women's history. You should have heard the way the girls were talking in the locker room. All they can think about is boys. They don't think about themselves at all. How are they going to do anything except what boys want them to do if they don't start now?"
"I hear you," said Christie. "I'm the one who broke off with Jon because I've got too many other things I want to concentrate on, remember?"
Katie knew it was true. Christie had dated Jon Smith when he needed someone to help him feel good about himself. His mother was a TV anchorwoman and his father, a sports director for the same channel, and Jon felt like a nothing next to them. He was a lot different now, and Christie had decided she didn't want to be tied to one boy any longer.
Christie looked at her. "You're right about Mr. Bell's not listening to one person, but remember the petition you and Tony started to change the school dress code so boys could wear earrings? Why don't you do that again? Maybe he'd at least add a section about women's rights to the Family Living class."
"I guess I'd settle for that, if I have to," said Katie. "But I don't think I'd be able to get any other girls to sign the petition in the first place. They don't care." Katie kicked at a rock on the sidewalk and sent it skittering ahead of them.
Christie put her hand on Katie's arm. "You know four girls that care," she said, smiling. "Let's talk to the other three when we get to school."
"Count me in," said Jana.
"You know I could never pass up a good cause." said Beth.
"Where you guys go, I go, even if it means . . . uuggh!" Melanie pulled her scarf up as if it were a noose and she were being hanged.
Katie punched her in the ribs with her elbow. "Quit it, Melanie," she said, smiling at her comic friend.
"Why don't we go to the yearbook office after lunch," suggested Jana. "We can type up a petition and make copies there."
"I still think we're going to have a hard time getting girls to sign it," said Katie. "Most of them can't get their minds off boys long enough to think about anything else."
"No sweat," said Beth. "When The Fabulous Five goes after something, we get it done." The others solemnly agreed.
"I don't know if I want to sign your petition if it means more homework," said Alexis Duvall.
"Me either," said Mandy McDermott, wrinkling her nose. "I spend all my time studying as it is. One more class would sink me."
They were standing outside fifth-period English, where Katie had stationed herself to get signatures. "But it's for our own good," pleaded Katie. "There are lots of things we should know about being female."
"We get that in our Family Living class," said Mandy. "Why do we need more?"
"Family Living doesn't get into why men get all the best jobs and how come they're paid more money than women." Katie remembered Gwyneth's problem. "The teachers don't talk about why people think women should do certain jobs and not others."
"Like what?" asked Alexis Duvall. "What jobs shouldn't we do?"
"Uh . . . like politics. How many women presidents have we had? How many vice presidents? One woman, Geraldine Ferraro, ran for vice president, and people jumped all over her."
"Politics? Who wants to go into politics?" Mandy stuck out her tongue and made a face as if she had tasted something terrible. Alexis laughed, but Katie didn't think it was funny.
She tried to think up a better example. "Well, what about corporations? How many women presidents of corporations are there?"
Mandy and Alexis looked at each other. Alexis shrugged. "All those that aren't men, I guess."
Katie tried to remember some other things she had read. "Did you know that only thirty percent of the people receiving medical degrees and thirty-eight percent of the people receiving law degrees are women? And"—she waved her finger for emphasis—"women are paid only sixty-four percent of what men are paid."
"Excuse me," said Mandy, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn. "I've got to get into class. I've got to finish my assignment if I'm going to get into medical school."
"Me, too," said Alexis, hurrying after her.
Katie stamped her foot. She had collected only three signatures all afternoon. What was wrong with these girls? Couldn't they see how much discrimination there was against women in the world?
"So you're collecting signatures on another petition."
Katie hadn't noticed that Laura McCall had been listening to her conversation with Alexis and Mandy. Tammy Lucero, Funny Hawthorne, and Melissa McConnell were with her.
"What great crusade are The Fabulous Five working on now?" Laura asked with a haughty smirk.
Katie narrowed her eyes at the group of girls. Laura wore her long blond hair in a braid that started at the top of her head and came down over her left shoulder. She had a habit of twitching the end of the braid like a cat twitching its tail.
Tammy Lucero was small and dark-haired and had enormous brown eyes. She was the biggest gossip in Wakeman Junior High.
Melissa McConnell was blond and stuck-up and very meticulous. She was also a brain.
Funny Hawthorne had long, wavy brunette hair and wide blue eyes. She was more friendly than the others and had a bubbly personality. She and Jana had even become good friends, and seventh-grade coeditors on the yearbook, The Wigwam.
The girls had surrounded Katie, and she was immediately on the defensive. "It's something that every girl should be concerned about," said Katie, sticking out her chin defiantly. She expected to be ridiculed by The Fantastic Foursome, no matter what she did.
"Can I see the petition?" asked Laura, twitching her braid. Katie reluctantly gave her the petition.
"The Fabulous Five are always trying to be big deals and change everything," said Melissa, her nose stuck in the air. "You think you're something."
Laura put her hand out to quiet her. "I'll sign this," she said, digging a pen out of her purse. Both Tammy's and Funny's mouths dropped open, and Melissa looked as if she had just been sabotaged.
Katie was at a loss for words, too, as Laura scribbled her name on the petition and then shoved it at Melissa for her signature.
As the rest of The Fantastic Foursome took turns signing, Laura said, "This is one idea you've come up with that I agree with, Katie. I'm like you, I can't understand those other girls wanting to let boys run over them. A class at Wakeman on women's rights would be a great thing. In fact, it should be mandatory for girls."
Katie blinked in amazement. It was the first nice thing Laura McCall had ever said about one of The Fabulous Five. But maybe Laura did understand. She lived with her father, who was supposed to be a swinging bachelor. Katie had heard rumors that Laura had to take care of the house for him. "I'm glad you think so," Katie said cautiously.
"I heard about the boys-only computer game club some of the guys have started," Funny said. "A lot of boys are joining. I guess Kevin Walker-Noles has a humongous family room downstairs, and other guys are going to bring their computers over."
Laura looked at Funny thoughtfully and then back at Katie. "You know, it would be kind of nice if someone would start a club for girls. That would show them we're as good as they are."
"Yes, it would," Katie agreed.
"It's kind of hard to d
o something like that on a school night, but maybe Saturday night would be a good time."
"Saturday night?" asked Katie. "I don't know if you'd get any girls to come. You heard them talking in the locker room about wanting to be with boys. Alexis Duvall said she'd do anything for a date with Bill Soliday. With the boys playing computer games on Friday, the girls wouldn't give up Saturday night and not have any dates on the weekend."
"You're thinking like those other girls now," said Laura, "and that's exactly my point. If the boys don't mind giving up one of the weekend nights, why should the girls? We've got to show them we're just as unconcerned about dating as they are. Otherwise they'll know they've got us wrapped around their little fingers."
It seemed strange to hear Laura say "we" when she was talking about her own clique and The Fabulous Five. "I see what you mean," said Katie. "But how can we convince the other girls to go along with it?"
"The Fabulous Five have a lot of pull with the girls from Mark Twain Elementary, and The Fantastic Foursome have pull with the kids from Riverfield. All we need is to get them to do it, and the kids from Copper Beach Elementary will want to because everyone else is. Right?"
"Right," Katie said. She couldn't believe she was actually making a pact with Laura McCall.
Laura motioned The Fantastic Foursome closer. "This is what we'll do," she said in a conspiratorial voice. "Katie, you and The Fabulous Five start working on the Mark Twain girls, and we'll do the same with the Riverfield girls. We'll all talk to the Copper Beach kids. It'll be a cinch. We can also get some signatures for your petition."
Katie looked at her dubiously. It did sound logical, and Laura was right about the girls' having to show the boys that they could do without dating just as easily as the boys could. But would the other girls really go along with it? There was only one way to find out.
CHAPTER 7
"Spend Saturday evening with a bunch of girls? You've got to be kidding!" Melanie had a look of panic on her face.
"I'm just talking about doing it long enough to teach the boys a lesson," said Katie. The Fabulous Five had gathered at her house after school at her request. They were sprawled around her bedroom.
"I'm sort of mad at Randy, too," said Jana, looking at Katie. "I never thought he'd make plans to do something on Friday nights without talking to me about it first."
"Me, too, with Keith," said Beth. "And I really let him have it."
"I heard that Richie Corrierro, Curtis Trowbridge, and D. J. Doyle have joined the computer club," said Christie.
"D.J? He's a ninth-grader," said Jana.
"All the boys are joining," said Beth.
"Laura McCall said The Fantastic Foursome would talk to the girls from Riverfield who are going with boys in the computer club, if we talk to the girls from Mark Twain," Katie said.
"That's the part that worries me the most," said Jana. "I don't trust Laura McCall any more than I'd trust Freddie from Nightmare on Elm Street. How do we know she'll do what she says?"
"We could check with some of the kids from Riverfield to see if she's really talking to them about joining," suggested Christie.
"And Jana, you could talk to Funny Hawthorne," added Beth. "She wouldn't lie to you."
"I don't want Laura to pull something on us any more than you guys do," Katie said. "We'll just have to watch her real close."
Jana picked up Gwyneth Plum's notebook and flipped through the pages. "Okay, we all agree that we should try to get girls to join a girls-only club. What are we supposed to do at the meetings? Do we give the club a name?"
Katie cleared her throat, and the others looked at her. "What about calling it GRIT?"
"GRIT?" echoed Christie. "What does that stand for?"
"Girls' Rights are Important Too," answered Katie. "That's what Gwyneth Plum named her club."
Beth shook her head. "I think if we get too heavy into feminism we'll scare people off. Most of the girls we know just want to have a good time. They really don't feel discriminated against at Wakeman."
"I agree," said Jana. "They might think it's fun to shake the boys up, but they won't want to take a chance on making them permanently mad. Would you want to do that with Tony?"
Katie hesitated. "I guess not," she said quietly.
"What about the petition?" asked Christie. "How many names do we have?"
"I've got three," said Jana. "And one's mine."
"Eight," said Katie. "It would only have been four if Laura and her friends hadn't signed."
"I got five," volunteered Beth.
"Three for me," said Melanie.
"And five girls signed mine. That makes a total of twenty-four," said Christie. "That's not enough to interest Mr. Bell in starting a class for girls." She gave Katie a weak smile of sympathy. "We tried."
"I can't understand it," said Katie. "Why don't the girls care?"
"As I said," Beth injected, "they don't feel discriminated against at Wacko. Hey, Katie, I just remembered. Can we see the time capsule?"
"It's in my closet," said Katie, getting up to get it. "Jana's got Gwyneth's notebook."
She put the metal box on the floor and the others gathered in a circle around it.
"I always thought time capsules were shiny, bullet-shaped things," said Melanie.
"They can be any shape," said Christie. "All they are is something that will protect what you put in it for a long time."
"Hey, look at this picture of a boy with a monkey," cried Melanie. "That's cute."
"That's Tommy and Cho Cho," said Katie.
She went through the different items in the box and explained what she had read about them to the others, including the pictures of Gwyneth and her family.
"She's cute," said Jana. "Do you ever wonder where she is now?"
"Probably dead," said Beth.
"She'd be, let's see . . . in her eighties now," said Christie. "My grandmother is seventy-nine. Gwyneth could still be alive."
"I guess that's true," admitted Beth. "My grandma Barry is around seventy-seven, and she takes all those tours to other countries."
"Until I started reading Gwyneth's book, I never thought much about older people being young," said Katie. "But reading Gwyneth's notebook and seeing her picture is sort of like meeting her when she was our age."
"It makes me wonder what she looks like now, if she's still alive," said Christie.
"It makes me wonder what I'm going to look like seventy years from now," said Jana.
"Hanging on to Randy Kirwan for support," said Melanie. She put her arm over Beth's shoulders and hung on to her as if she couldn't hold herself up.
"Hey," said Jana, pushing her playfully. "I was being serious."
"Me, too," said Beth.
Katie held up the picture of the Plum family so she could see it better. "That's her," she said, pointing to Gwyneth, standing by her father. "I think my room was Gwyneth's when she made the time capsule. She might have sat where we're sitting and played with her cat or something." They all looked at Libber, who was sleeping peacefully in Katie's lap.
"Okay, back to business," Jana ordered. "What are we going to do in the girls' club? We can't just sit around and talk."
"Well, it's got to be fun," said Melanie, "or else no one will come."
"Did Laura have any suggestions?" asked Christie.
"We didn't discuss it, but when I talk to her again, I'll ask her if she and the others have any ideas," said Katie.
"I've got an idea," said Beth. "Why don't we ask everyone to bring extra clothes, and we'll all try on different things. We ought to come up with some super new outfits."
"And pizza!" said Melanie. "Tell everyone to bring money for pizza."
Katie waved her hand. "I've got an aerobics tape we can use. Remember, this should be a self-improvement club."
"That's great!" said Jana. "We can tell the girls how beautiful they'll get to be if they belong to the club."
"That's a superficial reason," said Katie. "I'd rather have lessons
in self-defense."
"We've got to get them interested first," responded Jana. "Then you can bring in a karate expert."
"Maybe we can get Brian Olsen to teach us when we get to that," said Melanie. "But where are we going to meet?"
"My house," volunteered Christie. "My mom will go for anything that has to do with self-improvement."
Everyone cheered, "ALL RIGHT!"
Katie pushed back the covers and crawled into bed. Libber's purr sounded like a miniature outboard motor as the cat jumped up onto the end of the bed and marched directly to Katie. Katie reached out and stroked the yellow cat, and Libber moved closer, rubbing her face against Katie's. "Oh, Libber, I'm tired. Sometimes I wish I could lie around the house and sleep like you do." She scratched the cat behind the ears, and it scrunched its face in pleasure.
Katie took a deep breath. She was tired. From all the excitement and trying to get the Wakeman girls to recognize that the way they acted and what they thought of themselves had everything to do with the way other people thought of them. If they wanted to be taken care of all their lives, acting like little girls and letting boys think they couldn't live without them was the way to do it. But it also meant that when you grew up, there was no reason to expect people to treat you any differently. Maybe with the ideas The Fabulous Five had come up with and what Laura might come up with, they could get enough girls to sign the petition and join the club. She wasn't holding out much hope though. Not the way things were going.
Just as Katie was about to turn off the light, she spotted Gwyneth's notebook on the table next to herbed. She had left off reading just as Gwyneth was describing her girls' club.
It was really hard to get girls besides Ginny Booth, Mildred Waxman, and Margaret Glavin to join GRIT, but we started getting a few others. I even talked to Mrs. Goddard about our club, and she said I had better not let our principal, Mr. Willard, hear about it. He might not like it. I don't think that's fair. Why would he care if we girls want to have a club?
Katie shook her head in amazement at the world Gwyneth lived in.
