by Betsy Haynes
THE FABULOUS FIVE #23
MALL MANIA
BETSY HAYNES
A BANTAM SKYLARK BOOK®
NEW YORK • TORONTO • LONDON • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND
RL 5, 009-012
MALL MANIA
A Bantam Skylark Book / March 1991
Skylark Books is a registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1991 by Betsy Haynes and James Haynes.
Cover art copyright © 1991 by Andrew Bacha.
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ISBN 0-553-15852-X
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CWO 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CHAPTER 1
"Wow, Beth!" cried Melanie. "We always knew you'd be a TV star. We just didn't know how soon!"
Beth Barry grinned at her four best friends, Melanie Edwards, Jana Morgan, Christie Winchell, and Katie Shannon. "When I signed up for Media Club, I thought we were just going to learn about television production," she said, her cheeks flushed with excitement. "But now there's a rumor that we might actually get to do something on cable."
Melanie gasped. "That's so exciting. Millions of people will be watching you."
Beth laughed and plucked nervously at a strand of her short, spiky, brown hair. "It won't exactly be millions of people watching. We might get to do something on our local cable station."
Christie's eyes got big. "You'd really get to be on TV?"
Beth nodded. "Wouldn't that be terrific?"
"Awesome," Melanie whispered.
Beth glanced up at the clock in the hall. "It's almost time for the meeting. I'd better go."
"Good luck!" Katie said.
"We'll be thinking about you," chimed in Christie.
"Should I get your autograph now or later?" Jana asked. "I want to be sure to get the first one."
"How about later?" Beth said, grinning. "See you guys tomorrow."
Melanie gave her a thumbs-up sign for luck. Beth waved good-bye and then pushed open the door to the media center.
Mrs. Karl, the media specialist, was standing at the tall desk just inside the door, checking books out to a line of students.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Karl," Beth said. "Could you tell me where the Media Club is meeting?"
Mrs. Karl smiled and pointed to a sign on the front of the desk. The large letters had been printed in purple ink.
LIGHTS! CAMERAS! ACTION!
Want to be a TV star? Want to learn what goes on behind the scenes in a TV studio?
Join the Media Club!
First meeting: Monday, after school.
Production room of media center.
Beth thanked Mrs. Karl, then headed toward the production room in the back. She opened the door and walked in.
The production room was usually used for things such as recording educational TV programs, laminating posters, and storing film projectors and video cameras used in the classrooms. But for the purpose of the new Media Club, all the equipment had been moved to the side. A circle of chairs had been set up in the middle of the room, and most of them already were occupied by students.
Mr. Levine looked up from one of the chairs and smiled.
"Come on in, Beth," he said. "We're about to begin."
Beth slid into a seat next to Shawnie Pendergast and smiled hello. As Shawnie smiled back, Beth couldn't help thinking with a tinge of envy that Shawnie looked as gorgeous as always. She was wearing a yellow-and-white minidress, and her long, blond hair was tied back in a yellow ribbon. Beth had always admired her clothes. Shawnie never seemed to wear anything twice.
"This is going to be great!" Shawnie whispered.
"I know," Beth said. "I can't wait to hear about everything we're going to do!"
Paul Smoke, a ninth-grader, whom she'd gotten to know during rehearsals for Wakeman Junior High's Halloween play, was sitting next to Shawnie, and next to him was Shane Arrington. Melanie might be tempted to sign up for the Media Club when she finds out Shane's a member, mused Beth. Melanie had just started to date Shane, and she was totally crazy about him. The other people present were Funny Hawthorne, a good friend of Jana's; Jon Smith, who was in a few of her classes; and Tim Riggs, an eighth-grader.
"Just to make sure you're in the right place," began Mr. Levine, "this is Wakeman's new Media Club. We're going to learn a lot about putting together videotapes for TV."
"Are the rumors true?" Funny asked. "Will we get to be on TV?"
Mr. Levine smiled. "Good news travels fast. I just got the go-ahead for the show yesterday."
"A show?" said Shawnie, her eyes wide. "A real TV show?"
"That's right," Mr. Levine replied. "We're going to produce a regular fifteen-minute spot on Spectrum, our local cable company."
"Wow!" Paul said. There were murmurs of excitement from everyone.
"It'll air every Saturday morning at ten o'clock," continued Mr. Levine.
"You mean, I'll have to get up early to see it?" Funny said, grinning.
"Ten o'clock is early?" asked Mr. Levine.
"Not for me!" cried Shawnie. "Ten is when I hit the mall!"
Beth smiled at Shawnie's outburst. Beth loved to shop, too, and even had a sign on the bulletin board in her room that said, WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GO SHOPPING. But she would definitely stay home from the mall to see a show the club had produced!
"This should be a fun project," said Mr. Levine. "We'll be reporting on school news, sports scores, upcoming events, school menus—"
"So everyone will know when to bring lunch from home!" Funny interrupted. Her infectious giggle made everybody laugh along with her. She made a face. "Have you ever had the school's goulash? Gross."
"We're also going to have a special ecology segment," Mr. Levine went on. "We'll give viewers suggestions about what they can do to recycle and help save our environment."
"Great idea," Beth said. "We're really going to be giving out some helpful information." She paused for a second. "What will the name of the show be?"
Mr. Levine looked around the circle. "What do you think of The Wakeman Bulletin Board?"
"That's great!" Funny said. "That's exactly what we'll be doing: posting information!"
"I like that name, too," Beth said. The other kids nodded.
"Where do we start?" asked Shane.
"I'm going to assign your jobs next." Mr. Levine glanced down at a clipboard in his lap. "We'll rotate on-camera and off-camera jobs every month so everyone will learn as much as possible. Beth and Shawnie, why don't you take the co-anchor jobs first?"
Beth's stomach did a flip-flop. It would be like co-anchoring the news! She thought, Wait till I tell the rest of The Fabulous Five that I'm going to have a chance to be on camera!
"There is one other on-camera job," said Mr. Levine. "That will be the ecology reporter." He looked around the circle and stopped at Paul Smoke. "Paul, why don't you take that assignment first?"
&nbs
p; "Great," Paul said. "I've got some ideas already."
Beth smiled. Paul had done a terrific act with his pet bats for the Halloween show, and she'd bet that he did have good ideas for the TV show, too.
"Terrific," said Mr. Levine. "Who would like to be the cameraperson for this first month?"
"I would," Jon volunteered.
"Good," Mr. Levine said, and made a note on his paper. "Now we'll need a director. That will be a very important job. The director will organize the whole show, decide what will go first and second, and so on. The director will oversee the program from start to finish."
"I'll do that," Funny said.
"Fine," said Mr. Levine. "Shane and Tim, we won't have a show if there's nothing to report. So I'd like you two to collect information. Menus, sports scores, upcoming dances, that sort of thing."
The boys nodded.
"Sure," replied Tim.
"Our first show will air this week, so we have some very busy days ahead of us," said Mr. Levine. "We'll shoot the spot on Friday after school. Are there any problems with your schedules?"
All the club members shook their heads, and Mr. Levine nodded. "Good."
"Where will we shoot the show?" Jon asked.
"That's a good question." Mr. Levine thought for a moment. "Since we don't have a set ready, and since this room really isn't very appropriate—" He looked around the room. "In fact, this would be a terrible place. It's quiet, but pretty ugly. Do you have any suggestions?"
"How about the main media center?" asked Jon. "It's carpeted, and there are nice-looking, comfortable chairs in the magazine area. We could make it look like those morning news sets where they have coffee cups sitting on little tables in front of the anchors."
Mr. Levine beamed. "Great idea, Jon."
"And I know some of the lighting guys down at the TV station," Jon offered. "I'll bet they'd come here on our first shoot day and advise us about setting up our lights."
"Wow, that's great!" said Paul.
Beth nodded her approval. Jon would be a big help to the club. His parents were Chip Smith, a sports director for the local TV station, and Marge Whitworth, the news anchorperson. He knew all kinds of things about TV production.
A tingle ran up Beth's spine as she glanced around tin room again. Actually, everyone at the meeting had lots to contribute to the project. She had a feeling that The Wakeman Bulletin Board was going to be a big hit!
CHAPTER 2
"What are you going to wear on the show?" Shawnie asked Beth. "We should coordinate our outfits."
The two girls were walking down the hall after the meeting.
The question stopped Beth cold. She had been so carried away with the idea of the club's putting on a real TV show and her own assignment as co-anchor that the idea of what she would wear on-camera hadn't even occurred to her. She shivered as she thought about it now. She loved her own kooky wardrobe, of course, but the wild prints and neon colors would never do if she was to look sophisticated and professional. To make matters worse, Shawnie had one of the most fabulous wardrobes in school. Next to Shawnie's, Beth's own clothes would look positively awful.
"I don't know," Beth murmured. "I guess I need something new."
"Great!" said Shawnie. "Let's go shopping together!"
Beth brightened. "That's a good idea." She winced as she realized that her allowance was gone and that she had spent her emergency savings on two tapes the week before. Oh, well, she thought. I'll talk to Mom. Maybe she'll help me out.
"Terrific!" said Shawnie. "I'll get my mom to pick you up after supper, about seven. We'll go to the mall. Mom'll probably hang around," she added, rolling her eyes, "but we'll just park her somewhere with a soda and head off to shop our brains out! We'll look through every single store and then pick our favorite outfits. We'll be dynamite."
"Yeah," Beth said uncertainly.
"See you at seven," Shawnie called as she dashed off to her locker.
Beth nodded and headed for home.
"She can't have a new outfit!" Brittany wailed. "I have to pay for all of my clothes that aren't absolutely essential! And I started earning my clothes money when I was her age!"
Brittany, Beth's sixteen-year-old sister, had walked into the kitchen during Beth's plea to her mother. Now she was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes blazing.
Beth whirled around and faced Brittany angrily. "Mind your own business!" she snapped. "This has nothing to do with you!"
Mrs. Barry stopped slicing the apple she was going to add to the dinner's fruit salad. "Girls, stop arguing!" she said.
"Sorry, Mom." Beth lowered her voice. "But I was wondering if I could get a little advance on my allowance—"
"Absolutely not!" Brittany cried. "I never got an advance on my allow—"
"Brittany," Mrs. Barry interrupted. "Please remove yourself from this kitchen right now."
Brittany let out an exasperated breath and stomped out of the room.
"Mom—" Beth began.
"Honey," her mother said, "the reason we give you an allowance is so you will learn how to budget for yourself."
"But I've learned how to do that," Beth insisted. "And this is very important. I'm going to be on cable!"
"And that's very exciting," her mother said gently. "But I'm not going to give you an advance on your allowance, honey. Between paying off Todd's braces and having the house painted last month, we just don't have any extra to spend right now."
Beth felt her face fall practically to the floor.
"What about your blue dress? It looks wonderful on you," her mother suggested.
"I can't wear that!" Beth wailed. "I need something that's—well, cool! You know, Mom! I need something really professional and wonderful!"
"What about doing some baby-sitting?" asked Mrs. Barry. "You could earn some money to buy a new outfit that way."
"But we're shooting the first spot on Friday!" Beth moaned. "There isn't time to get a baby-sitting job and buy the perfect outfit by then! I need to start shopping tonight!"
"I'm sorry," Mrs. Barry said, "but the answer is no." She turned back to her fruit salad.
Beth knew that it was pointless to argue any further. When her mother said, "The answer is no," that meant the discussion was over.
Beth hung her head and left the kitchen with a heavy heart.
"I knew she wouldn't let you get a new outfit," Brittany called triumphantly from the dining room.
"You were eavesdropping!" Beth said.
"Yup."
Beth stormed upstairs and threw herself across her bed. Why did her younger brother have to have braces, anyway? she thought. And even though there had been little curlicues of paint flaking off the house, it hadn't needed painting that badly! Getting a new outfit was far more important than those dumb things!
Suddenly she sat upright. What was she going to tell Shawnie? She and her mother would be coming by at seven o'clock to pick Beth up for shopping. Beth had to call her and tell her she couldn't go.
Beth got up and walked to her parents' bedroom, then sat on the bed, staring at the phone. What should she say? That she didn't have the money and that her parents couldn't afford new clothes because of braces and house paint? It would be embarrassing to admit that to someone like Shawnie, whose parents had lots of money, even though it was the truth.
Beth sighed deeply. She really didn't have the money, and her parents wouldn't lend it to her. There didn't seem to be any alternative. She would have to tell Shawnie the truth.
Beth looked up Shawnie's number in the phone book. Shawnie had her own line, of course. Shawnie had everything!
She dialed the number and listened to the ring. Maybe, Beth thought hopefully, Shawnie wouldn't answer and Beth could just leave the message that she couldn't go shopping tonight.
Don't be there, don't be there, Beth repeated to herself.
Click.
"Hello?"
"Shawnie?" said Beth, her heart sinking. "Hi. This is Beth." She took a d
eep breath, then told Shawnie she couldn't go shopping and explained why.
"Oh, that's too bad," Shawnie said, sounding disappointed. "We really need to be coordinated."
"I know," said Beth.
"So, what are you going to wear?" Shawnie asked. "I'll work around you."
"I don't know," Beth said. "I have no idea."
"Well," Shawnie said, "maybe we could go through your closet and find something that isn't—well, isn't too wild."
Beth flinched. Shawnie obviously didn't think much of Beth's wardrobe. Actually, Beth's clothes were pretty funky, just not right for TV. And not expensive, like Shawnie's.
"I don't know," Beth said.
"Well, you have to wear something!" Shawnie insisted.
"I know," said Beth. She felt miserable and just wanted to end the conversation. "Uh, Shawnie, I have to go now and help Mom with supper."
"Oh," said Shawnie. "Okay."
Beth said good-bye and hung up, blinking back tears. She stretched out on her parents' bed and buried her face in her arms.
This show was the biggest thing that had ever happened to her. It was her big chance to get experience in front of a television camera and show the world that she had talent. But instead of being ecstatic, she felt awful. Deborah Norville didn't wear stirrup pants and hand-painted sweatshirts on Today. Neither did Joan Lunden on Good Morning America. What was she going to do?
There just had to be a way she could get some new clothes!
CHAPTER 3
Beth carried her cereal bowl into the family room the next morning and flipped on the TV, tuning in Good Morning America. She sat down on the ottoman directly across from the set and waited impatiently while co-anchor Charles Gibson interviewed the author of a best-selling spy novel.
It might have been better for me to have a boy for my co-anchor, she thought miserably. At least with Shane or Tim I wouldn't have to worry about coordinating my wardrobe.
Just then the camera shifted to Joan Lunden, and Beth stopped her spoon in midair, letting her breath out slowly as she stared at the screen. "Wow," she whispered softly, "is she ever classy."
For the next few minutes Beth sat transfixed, watching Ms. Lunden's every move as she talked to her cohost and interviewed guests on the program. Beth raked her fingers through her own short, spiky hair and looked longingly at Joan's long, silky blond hair. Next Beth's attention shifted to the softly tailored turquoise jacket and paisley blouse the co-anchor wore, and to her delicately manicured fingernails.
