by Betsy Haynes
The girls spread their legs as far apart as possible, and Miss Wolfe led them in the exercise, counting out loud to ten as they touched chins to right knees and held the count. Next they touched chins to left knees for a ten count and then reached forward to rest their chins on the mat between their legs, and again, Miss Wolfe counted to ten. Beth hated this exercise. It was supposed to strengthen the muscles of the inner leg, and it hurt like crazy. But today she hardly felt a thing as she thought about how she was putting something big over on Laura McCall.
The girls remained on the floor for the leg squeeze and then, at Miss Wolfe's instruction, did five slow laps of the gym while Miss Wolfe hauled the floor mats to one side of the room. Beth watched out of the corner of her eye as Tammy and Laura lagged behind the others during laps. They're probably hoping that they can hang back and gossip while they're running without Miss Wolfe's seeing them, Beth mused. She stifled a laugh as the gym teacher called out to them to catch up with the others.
After the warm-ups the squad practiced cheers for the rest of the session, and there was still no talking allowed. Beth kept an eye on Tammy and Laura, and Melanie nudged her a couple of times between cheers when it looked as if Tammy might get her chance to tell Laura about the party, but each time Miss Wolfe interrupted with new instructions.
"For our final cheer today," Miss Wolfe said at last in her thick German accent, "ve vill do 'Electrify.'"
It was a favorite with most of the squad—short, snappy, and ending in a jump—and the girls began to applaud. Miss Wolfe held up her hand to signify that she had not finished talking, but out of the corner of her eye Beth could see that Tammy and Laura were having a conversation of their own and were not listening to Miss Wolfe.
"Ve vill make one change from the vay ve usually do this cheer. Instead of finishing vith a spread eagle, I vant you to end the cheer vith a herkie. Now line up, please."
"Wow," Beth muttered under her breath. The spread eagle was the easiest cheerleading jump, but the herkie was definitely the most difficult. While the left leg and arm are out to the side in half of an airborne split, the right leg is bent at the knee and the right arm is straight up in the air. Beth had only done the herkie correctly two or three times in cheerleading practice, while Laura McCall was practically an expert.
Beth glanced quickly at Tammy and Laura while the squad was lining up. They were at the far end of the line from Miss Wolfe, and Tammy was keeping one eye on the teacher while she talked rapidly into Laura's ear. At first Beth was disappointed that Laura's expression was blank, but then she began to notice a change, the eyes enlarging and the chest swelling as if something was boiling up inside the tall, blond girl and was about to erupt. Beth didn't have time to react because head cheerleader Dekeisha Adams was starting the cheer.
Gonna raise our spirits
Up up high
Gonna raise our spirits
ELECTRIFY!
On the last word of the cheer the squad vaulted into the air, all, that is, except for Laura McCall. "What!" she shrieked, turning an angry, red face toward Beth.
Beth knew that Miss Wolfe didn't notice how poorly she executed her herkie or that Taffy Sinclair and Dekeisha almost bumped into each other in midair or even that Tammy had done the spread eagle instead of the herkie. She couldn't have. She was glaring straight at Laura.
"Laura McCall, for that outburst and for failing even to attempt the jump, you vill stay late and do ten perfect herkies," she commanded. "The rest of the squad is dismissed."
Beth grabbed Melanie's arm and rocketed out of the gym. She didn't even bother to look back at Laura, who stood alone in the center of the gym floor. Who needs to? Beth reasoned. My plan is working. Laura's the one who looks foolish now, and I'm the one who's winning!
CHAPTER 6
Friday evening was always a bigger zoo than usual at the Barry house, and this Friday evening was no exception. Beth marched into the family room after supper in the middle of an argument between Brian and Brittany, who were each trying to persuade their father that it was their turn to take the van. "You had it last night," argued Brian.
Brittany raised her eyebrows. "So I had to go to the library. That doesn't count."
"It does so," insisted Brian. "Dad, she can't have it two nights in a row. It's not fair."
"Oh, NO?" Brittany protested. "Who had it both Friday and Saturday nights last weekend? Huh? Tell me that!"
"Not me!" Beth interjected brightly. "I never have it. Which means that I ought to at least get to have a friend over tonight."
Brittany threw her a drop-dead look. "I thought you were grounded."
"So-o-o-o? My friends aren't."
"Bug off, Beth," Brian demanded. "This is important."
"Oh, yeah?" Beth pushed her face up close to Brian's. "Since when did you get to be such a big deal?" Then turning to her father, she said, "So can I have a friend over? Please."
Before he could answer, Mrs. Barry came into the room. Alicia and Todd hurried after her, each waving a VCR tape. Agatha bounded after all of them, jumping for the waving tapes as if they were treats.
"I've got to watch Conan The Destroyer first!" shouted Todd, pushing Agatha aside.
"Lady and the Tramp! Lady and the Tramp!" chanted Alicia. "I HATE Conan The Destroyer. And Agafa, you get down!"
I might as well forget about getting a chance to ask anything, Beth thought, sighing with resignation and burrowing her face into Agatha's furry black-and-white head. It was always the same. Everyone got attention but her. Besides, she reasoned, I'm grounded and they wouldn't let me have one of my friends over anyway. It's useless to ask.
Dragging Agatha with her, she drifted upstairs and into her room feeling like the loneliest person on earth. The kitchen clock had said a quarter of seven a few minutes ago when she left that room to look for her father in the family room. That meant girls were beginning to arrive at Laura's apartment now for the big slumber party. She didn't even have to close her eyes to picture the scene. She could see it all.
Laura would be standing at the door looking cool and in control, as usual. Girls would be pouring in, tossing their sleeping bags wherever they could find floor space and giggling in anticipation of a terrific time with no parents around to keep an eye on them. The other members of The Fantastic Foursome—Laura's slaves, thought Beth—would probably be serving refreshments while Laura flicked her long blond braid and sent Mrs. Skinner to her room.
"Close the door and don't come out until morning," Beth could almost hear Laura call after her.
"Poor Mrs. Skinner," Beth said aloud to Agatha. "I know just how she feels."
By eight-thirty the Barry house had quieted down. The front door had slammed twice. Just after it slammed the first time a car started up in the driveway. The second time it slammed, a boy's voice called out, "Come on, Brian, jump in." All of this told Beth that Brittany had won out in the battle over the van, and Brian had been left to call a friend for a ride.
Beth's thoughts went back to Laura's party for the millionth time. "What do you suppose they're doing now, Agatha?"
The dog twisted her head from side to side as if she were trying to understand.
"Probably having a super time. Gorging themselves with food. And smoking. Girls always smoke at slumber parties," she assured Agatha, who lowered herself onto the floor with a bored sigh.
Beth sighed, too. It wouldn't be long until nine o'clock. Had everybody sneaked out of Laura's apartment by now to do whatever big deal thing it was that she had planned?
"It's probably nothing," Beth scoffed. "Laura just likes to brag and make people think that she has it made."
Feeling restless, she opened her closet door. A full-length mirror hung on the inside. I could practice cheers, she thought. Miss Wolfe had told them that ninety percent of their practice time away from the gym should be spent in front of a mirror. She claimed it helped to get good definition of movement, which meant that your arms and legs were straight and moving in perf
ect time with the beat. Beth sighed. She was restless, it was true, but she didn't really feel like working on good definition of movement, no matter how important it was. Not tonight. Not with everyone but her and her friends at Laura McCall's party.
Just then the doorbell rang. Beth jumped in surprise, and Agatha ran to the window, put her front paws on the sill, and barked like crazy at whoever was below at the door.
"Beth! You have company," her father shouted from below.
My friends! she thought. I knew they wouldn't desert me.
She raced down the stairs with Agatha right behind her, feeling glad that she hadn't pressed her father to let someone come over. He would probably have said no anyway, she reasoned. But now, with her friends here on their own, surely he wouldn't make them leave.
Mr. Barry was in the foyer frowning as she approached, and he reached out and grabbed Agatha by the collar. Beth wondered for a split second why he did that. The big sheepdog loved all of The Fabulous Five. She only growled at strangers. Then Beth threw the door open wide and froze to the spot.
The front lawn was covered with seventh-grade girls, and on the doorstep stood Laura McCall.
CHAPTER 7
Beth could just barely hear Agatha growling over the pounding of her heart. She prayed she would faint, or die, or anything that would keep her from having to stand there in front of Laura McCall one second longer.
Laura stood with her hands behind her back and smiled slyly. "So, where's the big party you're supposed to be having tonight?" she asked loudly so everyone could hear.
Beth cringed. In the darkness beyond the glow of the porch light she could make out lots of familiar faces waiting for her answer. Dekeisha Adams and Mandy McDermott were on the sidewalk leading up to the front door. Alexis Duvall and Kim Baxter stood beside the oak tree with some girls from Copper Beach. Even Whitney Larkin was peering at her from the shadows.
Giggles rippled through the crowd on the lawn.
Beth reached behind and closed the front door so that her father wouldn't be able to hear. Her mind was racing. She couldn't let Laura McCall make an idiot of her in front of all these girls.
"Everybody's downstairs . . . in the basement playroom," she stammered. "I'd invite you in, but it's already too crowded."
"The boys are there, too?" Laura asked innocently.
"Sure," answered Beth. She was feeling more confident by the moment. Laura wasn't going to make a fool out of her. Everybody believed that she had invited boys to her party, and she was going to make sure they kept right on believing it. "They're having a blast. Too bad you couldn't think up something as great as inviting boys to your party. Then you wouldn't have to go out looking for a good time."
Laura chuckled. "Oh, we've already had a good time. But tell me more about the boys. What are they doing right now?"
Red warning lights flashed in Beth's mind. Laura was up to something. But what? The crowd of girls was slowly drawing in closer, and the rest of The Fantastic Foursome had gathered around Laura. Now she could see Gloria Drexler and Marcie Bee moving forward too.
"Since I can't see them right now, I couldn't tell you exactly what they are doing, could I?" she answered nervously.
"So, what do you think they're doing?" prodded Laura.
"Eating, maybe," offered Beth. "Or dancing. That's what they're probably doing right now. Dancing with the girls."
"Or maybe they're at home," challenged Laura. "At home watching television like Keith Masterson is doing at this very moment."
Beth gasped, feeling as if she were part of an old vaudeville act and had just gotten a pie in the face.
Laura's eyes were gleaming as she went on. "We just came from Keith's house, and he acted as if he had been home all evening."
"So did Randy Kirwan," added Melissa McConnell.
"And Tony Calcaterra and all of the other guys," said Tammy Lucero.
"You haven't been to Keith's house," Beth shouted angrily. "Or any of the others' houses, for that matter."
"Oh, yes, we have," shouted Funny Hawthorne. "We've been out TPing cute guys' houses ever since it got dark. Wheee!" she squealed, and pulled a roll of toilet paper from behind her back and tossed it toward the tree that grew by Beth's front door. "And we've saved our leftover toilet paper for your house!"
As if on cue, toilet paper streamers filled the sky, falling over bushes and trees, and almost empty rolls landed with a thunk! on a dozen spots on the roof. Beth ducked as one of the rolls slid down the peak and bounced off her head.
Girls were running back and forth across the lawn, laughing wildly and spreading toilet paper over everything until the Barry front yard looked as if it had been hit by a pastel blizzard. Only Laura didn't join in. She stood to one side of the front steps, arms folded over her chest, and watched, wearing a satisfied expression.
So that was what Laura had dreamed up for her party that had everyone so excited, Beth mused. TPing cute boys' houses! And that was also how she had been able to find out that Beth hadn't invited Keith and the others to a big party. Still, she reasoned, she had never said which boys were invited. For all Laura knew, she might have invited eighth-graders or boys from another school. And if Laura really had mentioned her party to Keith, well . . . She had until the football game tomorrow to figure out what to tell Keith.
Inside her own house Beth could hear Agatha going crazy, barking and throwing herself against the front door. That made her remember her parents. What were they doing? Even worse, what were they thinking?
She didn't have to wonder long, because suddenly the door opened and her father stepped out. "Hey! What's going on out here?"
"Oh . . . well, just . . . a few of my friends . . ." Beth sputtered, ". . . having some fun."
Crinkles appeared around Mr. Barry's eyes, and his face lit up. "TPing, eh? We used to do that when I was a kid. Looks like you'll have the job of cleaning it up, though," he added with a laugh. "They're your friends."
Just then another roll slid off the roof and bounced on his head. He looked startled for an instant, then said as he backed through the door, "Yup. We used to do a lot of TPing when I was a kid."
When he had gone inside, Beth nearly collapsed from relief. Not only had her father not been angry, but most of the girls had disappeared as soon as he came out of the house. The rest were scurrying away now. Even Laura was gone. Thank goodness, Beth thought. If she had said one more thing about the boys, I would have absolutely died.
Agatha greeted her excitedly when she went back into the house, jumping up and licking her face as if she had been gone for ages. She was still wrestling with Agatha when Alicia tugged at her shirt.
"There you are, Beth Barry!" Alicia scolded, as if she had been searching all over for her sister. "The phone's for you. You'd better hurry. It's Keith, and he sure sounds mad."
CHAPTER 8
"I thought you were grounded," Keith grumbled as soon as Beth picked up the phone and said hello.
"I am grounded," she insisted. "For the whole weekend."
"Oh, yeah? Then what about the slumber party Laura McCall says you're having? The one with boys?"
Beth fought down a wave of panic. She had hoped Keith wouldn't hear about that. But she hadn't counted on Laura McCall's TPing his house, either. Laura had said they saw Keith and the other boys, but she didn't say anything about talking to them or mentioning Beth's party. She would have to think fast, but as she struggled to answer him, her lips felt stiff, and the words came out slowly.
"Laura was just making that up." Do I sound convincing? Beth thought wildly. Or can he tell I'm the one making things up? "You know how she feels about The Fabulous Five," she went on urgently. "She'd say anything to make us look bad."
"I don't know," Keith mumbled. "She wasn't the only one talking about your party. Some of the other girls were, too. Whitney Larkin even said that you told her that if she came to your party, she could invite Curtis."
"If you don't believe me, call my friends," Beth ch
allenged. "Call Jana or Christie or Katie or Melanie. They're probably at home, and they'll tell you that I'm not having a slumber party, much less inviting boys to it. How could I, when I'm grounded? Besides!" she went on breathlessly. "If you really liked me, you'd trust me!"
"Okay. Okay," said Keith. He still sounded a little miffed, but Beth breathed a small sigh of relief as he said, "I just wondered why I wasn't invited if it was true."
"Of course I'd invite you," Beth assured him. "I wish I could have a party and invite boys, but I doubt if my parents would let me. Whenever I mention it, my dad always says that things are crazy enough around here without any more kids."
Keith laughed at that, and they talked for a little while longer. After they hung up, Beth sprawled across her bed. She could hear Agatha whimpering outside her door, but she had too much on her mind to get up and let her in.
Life had been so simple back at Mark Twain Elementary when she and her friends had only Taffy Sinclair to deal with instead of Laura McCall and the rest of The Fantastic Foursome.
What was she going to do now that Laura had called her bluff on the fake slumber party? Laura had not only had a real slumber party with everyone getting to TP cute boys' houses, but she had caught Beth in a lie.
And what was worse, Keith had been really mad when he thought she was having a party and hadn't invited him. She had liked Keith for ages, and he had been her boyfriend ever since they went to a movie together with a big gang of sixth-graders last year. Since then they had gone out several times and always met at Bumpers after football games.
There was no doubt about it, Laura was out to get her and her friends, and so far Laura was ahead. In fact, it was Laura McCall: 2, Beth Barry: 0.
