by Betsy Haynes
Melanie looked at Shawnie, hesitated a moment, and then said softly, "Thanks for helping, and I really am sorry . . ."
Shawnie held up her hand for silence. "Forget it. And I'm sorry, too. It was just one of those kooky things that got out of hand."
You can say that again, Melanie thought, but she didn't say it.
"I called Cory," reported Kimm, "and The Dreadful Alternatives are definitely going to be here tonight. In fact, I think I see Parker and Chris coming up the street now."
Melanie glanced out the front window; Parker and Chris were only half a block away. She narrowed her eyes as she watched them laughing and sauntering along as if they were the coolest pair of guys in the world.
"Are you nervous?" asked Jana, putting a sympathetic hand on Melanie's arm.
"Nervous?" replied Melanie. "I passed nervous an hour ago. I'm all the way up to panic."
"Don't forget what I told you," said Katie. "Everything's going to work out fine."
"Well, guys, I think I'll duck into the rest room for a while," said Melanie. "I want to stay out of sight until the place gets crowded."
"Good idea," said Beth. "But don't wait too long to come out. You don't want to miss all the fun."
Melanie slipped into the deserted ladies' rest room and cracked the door open so she could peek out and watch the goings-on.
By seven-thirty, kids were streaming into Bumpers. Most of the boys immediately lined up at the order counter for food, while the girls clustered in booths and the bumper cars that were scattered around the floor to talk. Melanie watched as Shawnie, Kimm, and The Fabulous Five moved quickly among the groups of girls, talking to each group while they watched over their shoulders to make sure no boys were listening. Melanie watched gleefully as Kimm grabbed Lindsay Colquit, who had just come into Bumpers, and was heading in Parker's direction. It was obvious that Lindsay was annoyed when Kimm stopped her. Melanie heard Lindsay demand, "What do you want?"
A moment later, after Kimm had talked to her, Lindsay shrugged, glanced longingly at Parker, and said to Kimm, "Well, okay, but just this once."
Melanie collapsed against the door in relief. It was going to work after all. If Lindsay was going to cooperate, surely the other girls would, too.
Melanie watched for another minute or two, until she knew the time had come to put the final piece of her plan into action. Tingles raced up and down her spine as she opened the door and walked out.
"Hi, Dekeisha! Hi, Lisa! Hi, guys!" she called out as she passed table after table of kids she knew on her way to join the rest of The Fabulous Five, Shawnie, and Kimm. Her pulse was racing as she noticed Shane, sitting with Keith Masterson in a yellow bumper car. At least he wasn't with Marcie Bee again, she thought. But her spirits plummeted when she saw him glance at her and then look quickly away.
Oh, please, let this work, she prayed silently. And please, let Shane like me again.
"Hey, Melanie! Sit with us!" shouted Beth in a voice so loud that it got the attention of most of the kids in the place.
Melanie giggled nervously when she reached the table.
"So far, so good," said Katie. "Everybody knows you're here."
"Right," said Melanie. She took a deep breath. "Well, this is it—show time. Wish me luck, because here goes." Stepping forward, she looked around the crowd and shouted, "Hey, we need some music! Does anybody have any change for the jukebox?"
"You can't play music!" shouted Clarence Marshall. "This jukebox's broken!"
All eyes turned to the out of order sign taped to the front of the old Wurlitzer jukebox in the center of the room.
Thank you, Mr. Matson! Melanie said silently. You're a jewel! No one will ever know that I made that sign myself and that nothing is wrong with the jukebox.
"Now what are we going to do?" piped up Shawnie right on cue. "I wanted to hear some music!"
"Me, too! Me, too!" echoed the voices across the room.
"Yeah, I wanted to hear 'Super Kisser,'" shouted Beth. Then she began to sing. "She's a SUPER KISSER! / A SUPER SUPER KISSER!"
A whoop went up from the crowd, and everyone joined in, singing and clapping hands.
Suddenly Cory Dillon jumped up onto one end of the counter and raised his hands for quiet.
"Hey, everybody! Listen up!" he shouted, and gradually the singing died down. "If you want music, you've got music! The Dreadful Alternatives are at your service!" He made a low, theatrical bow as Parker, Chris, and Craig scrambled to join him on top of the counter.
Melanie noticed with relief that Mr. Matson was viewing the four boys standing on his counter with amusement. He's being a wonderful sport about all this, she thought gratefully.
A cheer went up as Katie and Kimm called out the names of songs they wanted to hear. On the other side of the room Joel Murphy called out another song.
When the boys started singing, Melanie swayed to the rhythm and darted quick glances around the crowd. Everything was going according to plan. Everyone was singing along and clapping. But best of all, looking down from their makeshift stage, The Dreadful Alternatives were belting out the music with everything they had. Their faces were glowing from the admiration of the crowd, and it was plain to see that they were in heaven.
As they ended a song, Melanie looked at her friends and gave them the signal they had been waiting for. An instant later Katie, Beth, Jana, Shawnie, and Kimm all began to chant, "We want 'Super Kisser'! We want 'Super Kisser'! We want 'Super Kisser'!"
Another cheer went up from the crowd.
"Yeah, 'Super Kisser!'"
"We want 'Super Kisser!'"
Melanie could feel the blood in her veins turning to ice water. What if everyone forgot what Shawnie and Kimm and The Fabulous Five had told them? What if no one cooperated? What would she do then?
On the counter The Dreadful Alternatives were really revved up as they began the first few bars of the song, and the crowd began screaming wildly.
"She's a radical departure
From the girls I've known before.
With her happy face and spirit,
A wild thing on the dance floor.
Even though she loves to party,
I know she loves me more.
And I'm standing tall,
'Cause that's not all.
"She's a SUPER KISSER!
A SUPER SUPER KISSER!
She's a SUPER KISSER!
A SUPER SUPER KISSER!"
"More! More!" shouted Melanie.
All around her, others shouted, "More! More!"
The Dreadful Alternatives responded with big grins and another verse.
"She's a SUPER KISSER!
A SUPER SUPER KISSER!
She's a SUPER KISSER!
A SUPER SUPER KISSER!"
Then, just as Melanie had known they would, Cory, Parker, Chris, and Craig jumped down from the counter and rushed toward the tables. They held their arms open wide, obviously expecting girls to race up to them and kiss them as if they were The New Generation.
Not one girl moved. Melanie held her breath. It was too good to be true. Her plan was working.
"Hey, what's the matter?" shouted Cory. "This is 'Super Kisser'! What's everybody waiting for?"
"Yeah!" yelled Parker. "Here we are!"
Melanie could feel someone looking at her. Glancing around, she met Shane's solemn eyes. Her heart almost stopped. He's waiting to see if I'll kiss them! she thought.
"What's the matter with everybody?" called Cory, slapping his thighs in disgust. "We just sang 'Super Kisser'! You girls know what happens next."
A few girls looked questionably at Melanie, but no one made a move.
"Awwww, girls," said Cory. "You're making us feel bad."
"Right," added Parker, making a sad face. "My feelings are definitely hurt."
"Maybe we should sing it again and give them another chance," suggested Chris.
"Good idea," said Parker.
"Yeah," agreed Cory. "How about you, Craig? Like the idea of
singing it again?"
Melanie noticed for the first time that Craig was standing a little behind the others and that he had not said a word while they tried to tease the girls into kissing them. That's the way it was the night of the concert, she thought. Craig isn't like the rest of the guys.
Craig seemed reluctant to join the others, but he did, and they started singing another chorus of "Super Kisser."
"She's a SUPER KISSER!
A SUPER SUPER KISSER!"
This time no one—not any girls and not any boys—joined in the singing. They sat in stony silence watching The Dreadful Alternatives.
"She's a SUPER KISSER!
A . . . SUPER . . . SUPER . . ."
Their voices trailed off.
Cory looked at the others and then turned to the crowd. Shrugging, he said, "What's the matter with everybody, anyway?"
"Is that the way you got Melanie to kiss Craig the night of the concert?"
Melanie's heart stopped. The voice had come from the other side of the room, but she didn't have to look up to know who was speaking. It was Shane.
"She said she didn't want to," he continued, "but you teased her and teased her until she went ahead and kissed Craig to shut the rest of you up. It's true, isn't it?"
"Hey." Cory wrinkled his nose and fidgeted uncomfortably. "You know how it is. We were just . . . you know . . . kidding around."
"You got it all wrong, Shane," said Parker. "We didn't mean anything by it. I mean, she had just kissed Cory and Chris and me, hadn't she?"
Shane stepped forward, leaving the crowd to stop directly in front of Cory. "That was different," he said in a low voice. "You were singing The New Generation's song, and everybody knows it's part of their show to kiss girls in the audience. She didn't mean anything by it. She was just having a good time."
Melanie's knees began to shake. Shane did understand after all. At least he understood about her kissing Cory, Parker, and Chris. He must have understood that all along. And now he understood about the rest of it, too.
The crowd was silent as they waited for Cory to respond to Shane. Melanie held her breath, praying that Cory didn't come up with some lie that would change Shane's mind again. But to her amazement it was Craig who spoke up.
"You're right, Shane," he said quietly. "She didn't want to kiss me any more than I wanted to kiss her. Don't get me wrong," he added quickly, "I like Melanie. But Shawnie's my girlfriend, and I don't go around kissing other girls. And Melanie doesn't usually go around kissing other boys, either. Anyway, the other guys were determined that we would kiss, and they teased the living daylights out of her until she didn't know what else to do. It wasn't her fault, believe me."
"Well, uh, let's sing another song, okay?" offered Cory, motioning to the other members of his group. "Come on, Kimm. Sing with us."
Kimm stood slowly. Her eyes were blazing, and her straight black hair fell around her shoulders. "You can get yourself another singer, Cory Dillon, and you can get yourself another girlfriend, too! I don't want to go with a boy who would do what you did to Melanie."
Cory's mouth dropped open in astonishment, and then a slow blush crept across his face.
A few kids yelled, "Right on," and "Okay, Kimm!" Melanie could only look at her with gratitude filling her heart.
Just then Mr. Matson headed for the jukebox and removed the out of order sign. He gave Melanie a big wink, and then announced to the room, "I think this is working now."
Melanie winked back. "Let's hear some music!" she shouted.
"All right!" kids yelled from all around the room.
She raced over to the jukebox and dropped some change into the slot. She ran a finger down the list of selections.
"Need help picking out a song?" asked Shane. He was standing just behind her, looking over her shoulder, and he was smiling at her as if nothing had ever been wrong between them.
Melanie's heart did a triple beat. "Sure," she said.
"And, Mel," he said, "I just want to tell you that I'm sorry that I let all the guys' ribbing get to me, and that I didn't trust you enough to know you wouldn't kiss Craig if you weren't pushed into it."
"It's okay. I understand," she said softly. She wanted to say more, but she didn't trust her voice right now. There would be time for that later. There would also be time to talk everything out and make sure there were no more misunderstandings. And especially to assure Shane that she would never again do anything as impulsive as what she did after The New Generation's concert.
But right now the crowd was waiting for them to pick out some music. She ran her finger down the list of songs, not even hesitating when she passed "Super Kisser."
"How about this one?" she asked, stopping on a slow, dreamy song by one of her favorite groups.
Shane nodded. "Great," he said, and watched as she punched the number. Then he took her hand and led her to the yellow bumper car where he had been sitting with Keith Masterson.
Keith hopped up the instant they arrived. "Guess I'd better leave you two lovebirds alone," he said with a big grin.
"Yeah," replied Shane, putting an arm around Melanie's shoulder. "I guess you'd better."
Melanie snuggled closer, feeling happier than she had in a long, long time.
After Shane walked her home and kissed her goodnight, Melanie drifted upstairs to her room. She got ready for bed, but she was too excited and happy to even think of going to sleep. It was too late to call any of her friends, although they had all been in Bumpers and had seen the happy ending to her big mistake. Just about everything had finally worked out okay. Even Garrett had come up to the bumper car while Shane was at the order counter getting drinks, and he had apologized for being so obnoxious on their date. Melanie smiled when she remembered that. Deep down she had always known that Garrett was a nice guy.
"But I've got to talk to somebody about everything that's happened, or I'll burst," she murmured.
Rushing to her desk, she dug out notepaper and started a letter to Christie.
Dear Christie:
I hope you like the T-shirt Beth and I bought for you at The New Generation concert. (That is, if I remember to wrap it up and put it in with the letter in the morning. I'm writing this very late at night.)
Anyway, that was a great picture of Rigel and Connie you sent to Jana. I can see why you like both of them. I think you should know that Chase is still hanging around Tammy. I saw them at Cinema Six and Bumpers together. It's probably a good thing that you're dating Connie.
Now let me tell you what happened to me!
As Melanie continued her letter to Christie about the disaster that had started at The New Generation concert, she began humming softly. Now and then she sang the words to the song out loud.
"She's a radical departure
From the girls I've known before.
With her happy face and spirit . . ."
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
