Fabulous Five 009 - The Boyfriend Dilemma (6 page)

Christie tried not to watch Jon and Kimm, but they looked so
natural together as they talked and laughed while Jon pointed out things that
were happening on the football field. It reminded Christie of how she and Jon
had been when they first started dating. They had laughed a lot and played
tennis and gone to football games. Being best friends would probably mean they
wouldn't do all of those things together anymore. Especially if Jon was dating
Kimm. Christie sighed. She knew that being best friends meant not being jealous
or making unreasonable demands. Jon was living up to his part of the
friendship. Why couldn't she?

After the game, the crowd moved slowly out of the stadium
gates. Wacko had won and now had a perfect record of four and oh, and the kids
were shouting and holding one finger in the air to show they were number one in
the conference.

When Christie and the others reached the field, Beth and
Melanie came running up. They shook their pom-pons as they jumped up and down
with excitement.

"Wasn't that
fantastic
?
" cried Beth.
"Did you see Keith's touchdown?"

"It
was
great!" Christie agreed.

"We're NUMBER ONE!" shouted Melanie.

"Let's go to Bumpers and celebrate!" yelled Jana.

Bumpers was packed with Warrior fans who were busy
celebrating their team's victory. Clarence Marshall had a big Styrofoam hand
with one finger pointing up that he kept shaking in the air as he and Joel
Murphy yelled, "NUMBER ONE! NUMBER ONE!"

Christie saw Jon and Kimm come in together. They were
holding hands and laughing. Kimm's long black hair swung gracefully to her
waist, and her round face and almond eyes were turned up to Jon. She is pretty,
Christie thought. And she must be an awfully nice person for Jon to like her.

When Randy Kirwan, Shane Arrington, Keith Masterson, and the
other players came in, everyone started applauding and cheering all over again.
The players bowed dramatically to the crowd and then raised both fists as a
chant went up. "Wakeman! Wakeman! Wakeman!"

Christie chuckled as she noticed Mr. Matson, who owned
Bumpers, covering his ears with both hands. She was pointing him out to the
others when Dekeisha Adams and Mandy McDermott came bouncing over to their
table.

"What a game! What a game!" Dekeisha shouted. She
and Mandy did cheer kicks and nearly knocked Bill Soliday over.

Then Dekeisha's face grew serious. "Did you and Jon
break up?" she asked Christie. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I
looked up in the stands and saw him with Kimm Taylor."

"We decided that we would be best friends instead of
going steady," Christie answered. "He can date whomever he wants."
She tried to sound natural.

"Best friends?" Dekeisha looked disbelieving. "You've
got to be kidding."

"It's true."

Dekeisha shrugged. "If you say so." Christie could
see the doubt in her eyes.

The rest of the afternoon was the pits for Christie. It
seemed as if every girl she knew stopped to make some comment about Kimm and
Jon—even girls who were supposed to know that they had decided to be just
friends. It was as if it were just too much for anyone to believe and so they
had to keep checking with her to make sure it was true. She was glad when the afternoon
was finally over, and she and her friends were walking home.

"What a day!" Melanie said, laughing. "I
think junior high is definitely more fun than elementary school."

"No comparison," said Jana. "Do you remember
how the biggest thing that happened to us in the fall was the Halloween party?"

Everyone nodded.

"Remember how Miss Wiggins, our homeroom teacher, used
to act so tough?" asked Beth.

"Yes. And then I think she cried when we graduated,"
said Katie.

"I think she really liked all of us," said Christie.
Thinking about Miss Wiggins and Mark Twain Elementary brought back a flood of
memories to Christie. They were a lot like the video Jon had made of Wacko,
except the pictures didn't flip over. Jana, Katie, Melanie, and Beth were
suddenly silent, too. Christie wondered if they were thinking about their
elementary school days, too, and even Miss Wiggins.

Katie broke the silence. "What's everyone going to do
tonight?"

"Keith and I are going out," volunteered Beth.

"Randy and I are going bowling with Mom and Pink,"
said Jana.

"Tony's going to pick up a video, and he, Mom, and I
are going to watch it and make popcorn," added Katie.

"Your mom's going to watch with you?" asked Jana
incredulously.

"She goes to bed early," Katie assured them. The
others laughed.

"Well, I've got a date with Shane," said Melanie. "He
asked me at Bumpers."

"Is Igor going with you?" Beth asked, and giggled.

"I asked Shane about that. He said no. Igor peeks too
much." Melanie's remarks sent them all into fits of laughter again.

"What are you going to do, Christie?" asked Jana.

"Not much. I'll probably just stay home and watch TV."

"Jon hasn't asked you out?" Everyone waited to
hear Christie's answer to Melanie's question.

"I told you we're just friends now. No one seems to be
able to believe me."

"It doesn't bother you that he was with Kimm?"
asked Katie.

"He can be with whomever he wants," answered
Christie stubbornly.

That evening, Christie was glad to be home alone. Her mother
and father had gone out, and she popped a gigantic bowl of popcorn and turned
on a horror movie. Although the day had started out being fun, she was sick and
tired of all the questions about Jon and her. Especially since she had so many
questions of her own. Could she really keep from being jealous of Kimm and make
a go of this "best friends" business? As much as she wanted it that way,
it was certainly harder than she had expected. Still, she
did
need
space, and she truly wanted Jon as her friend.

She sank back against the pillows on the couch and stared at
the television set without really seeing the movie. She was exhausted and wasn't
looking forward to next week. There would probably be more questions about Jon
and her, and Melissa was going to talk to Mr. Neal about deciding earlier
whether Christie was going to be on the team.

Christie thought about looking up Mr. Neal's telephone
number and calling him to tell him she didn't want to be on the team, anyway.
She had totally run out of ideas about how she had gotten the folder, and she
wasn't likely to get any brainstorms between now and Wednesday. Or Monday, if
Melissa had her way. Calling and quitting might be less embarrassing than
having Mr. Neal suspend her for cheating. Besides, she was just plain tired of
all of it.

A tear rolled down Christie's cheek. It's not fair, she
thought. I didn't do anything wrong. I work so hard to get good grades and do
what everyone expects, and now I'm going to be kicked off the team.

Well, she thought, sitting up abruptly and gritting her
teeth. That's
exactly
what they're going to have to do if they want to
get rid of me. I can't give in and let them win when they're the ones who are
wrong. She set her jaw in stubborn determination and thought, they're going to
have to kick me off
because I'm not quitting!

Christie dreaded walking onto the school grounds on Monday
morning. She felt as if everyone were watching her as she marched to her
execution. This must be the way Joan of Arc felt on the way to be burned at the
stake, she thought.

Jana, Melanie, Beth, and Katie were waiting at The Fabulous
Five's favorite spot by the fence.

After they had all said hi to her, Katie nodded toward the
spot where The Fantastic Foursome usually met in the morning. "Do you see
anything different about them?"

"Melissa's not with them?" Christie asked.

"That's right," said Jana. "She went into the
building right after we got here."

"And she looked at us and smiled before she went in,"
added Beth.

Christie's flesh crawled. "She obviously went in to
talk to Mr. Neal."

"That's what we thought," agreed Katie. Gloom
settled over The Fabulous Five as they waited for the first bell to ring.

Suddenly the school doors popped open, and Melissa came
flying out of the building with a big smile on her face.

"I don't think there's much doubt about what happened,"
said Katie.

"I don't either," said Christie, trying to sound
cheerful. "Well, I didn't do anything wrong, and I'm not going to act as
if I did. If Mr. Neal is going to suspend me from the team, that's just the way
it's going to be."

"Thataway, Christie," said Katie. "I just
wish we could get whoever put that folder with your books in front of the Teen
Court. I'd vote for hanging them."

The rest of the morning was terrible for Christie. Even
though she had made up her mind that she had done nothing wrong and shouldn't
feel bad about whatever happened, it was like waiting for the other shoe to
drop. Only it's more like the next cannon to shoot, thought Christie, because I'm
going to be dead anyway.

In her last class before noon, Christie's teacher gave her
an envelope. Christie stayed after everyone else had left with the envelope
lying in the center of her desk. She wondered if prison wardens delivered the
death sentence to convicts on death row in an envelope like this one.

She chewed her lower lip as she tore it open.

Christie Winchell:
Please see me in my office after lunch.
Mr. Neal

I might have those words put on my tombstone when I die,
Christie thought.

"I'm sorry, Christie," Mr. Neal said, after he
told her of his decision. He did look sorry, she thought, but not nearly as
sorry as I am.

As Mr. Neal had explained it, Melissa had convinced him that
it wouldn't be fair for him to wait until Wednesday to decide who would be on
the Super Quiz team. Since there weren't any clues that would prove Christie
hadn't taken the folder she was off the team.

"If we had
anything
that would show you
accidentally got the questions, Christie, I could do something," Mr. Neal
repeated. "But the way it is now, I have no choice."

Christie's stomach turned over. She thought she was going to
be sick.

"Come to me if you find out something." Mr. Neal
continued. "I'm going to have the team together in the media center after
school for a practice. I'll haw to tell them about the change then."

Christie left the office and plodded down the hall like a
zombie. For a second she considered faking being sick so she could go home, but
then she decided not to. That would just make Melissa McConnell, Laura McCall,
and the others feel as if they had really beaten her. She couldn't give them
that satisfaction, no matter what.

Christie put her money in the vending machine and pulled the
lever. A bag of chips dropped into the trough. She couldn't face going into the
cafeteria at noon where she would be stared at, so she walked outside and found
a quiet place to sit.

She was off the Super Quiz team. She said it over and over
to herself, trying to get used to the idea now that it was definite. How was
she going to tell her parents? They were
so
proud of her. Her mother
even thought she was smarter than her brothers, one of whom was an attorney and
the other in medical school. How was she going to tell them? Christie gulped
hard and stuck her chin out. And Friday after school everyone would be at the
Super Quiz match between Wakeman and Trumbull. Tears built up behind her eyes,
but she refused to let them out.

"Hey, Christie!" Jon's voice broke through the
gloom that filled her mind. "I've been looking all over for you. Where
have you been? I thought for sure I'd see you in the cafeteria."

Christie smiled at him weakly and started to explain.

"Never mind," Jon interrupted. "You won't
believe what I've got! You just won't believe it."

Christie looked at his beaming face. He was smiling from ear
to ear and his brown eyes were gleaming as she had never seen them gleam
before.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked as he held up
a small black box.

"Of course I know what that is," Christie answered
Jon. "It's a videotape. So what?"

"It's not just any old videotape," Jon said
proudly.

"It's one I made last Thursday when The Dreadful
Alternatives were setting up on stage. Remember? Mr. Neal was doing the walk-through
with the Super Quiz team."

"Oh, yeah," Christie mumbled. She was glad that
Jon felt excited about the tape, but right now she just wanted to be alone.

"Come on," said Jon, grabbing her hand and pulling
her. "I've got to show you this." Christie went along reluctantly to
the media center.

Mrs. Karl said Jon could use a VCR, and he quickly started
setting up the tape as Christie slid into a chair.

"Okay, hold on to your seat," he said with a
smile. "You're about to see the greatest show on earth."

The video started with shots of the band from different
parts of the stage. "I was testing to see where I could get the best
pictures," said Jon. "I wanted to find the best places to shoot from.
You know, for lighting and stuff. Of course the spotlights will be on during a
regular performance, but this will give me an idea where to set up. As you can
see, I had to shoot through a lot of other people to get the band."

It was true. On the tape the kids from the Super Quiz team
were walking all over the stage, totally oblivious as they passed in front of
his camera. There were pictures of Mr. Neal at the podium with the band in the
background, and at one point the custodian pushing the broom walked directly at
the camera's lens.

Why is he showing me this? thought Christie. There's nothing
interesting about this video. It's just a bunch of people milling around. But
Jon was staring intently at the television.

"Now! Here it comes," he said, grabbing her hand.

Christie stared at the TV. Kimm was talking to one of the
guys with a guitar, and the drummer was working on setting up his drums. She
could see Tim Riggs and Brad Cochran watching Mr. Neal at the podium.

"There! Behind Mr. Neal. Watch the custodian!"
said Jon excitedly. The custodian was wiping off one of the long tables that
the Super Quiz team would use the next morning.

Christie leaned closer to watch as the custodian moved some
books around to clean. Then he picked up a blue folder and put it on top of
another stack of books.
That's Mr. Neal's blue folder and those are MY books
he put it on!
Christie's eyes opened wide in amazement. Next the custodian
moved part of Christie's books and then put the rest on top. Christie stared in
fascination as Mr. Neal's blue folder ended up in the middle of her books.

"Did you see it?" asked Jon. "Just like
shuffling cards." A grin spread from one of his ears to the other.

Christie bounced up and down in her seat and clapped her
hands. "Play it again! Play it again!" Jon ran the tape back slightly
and hit play.

There it was, right before her eyes. The custodian moving
the books around so that Mr. Neal's blue folder was in between two of her
books.

"I must have brought the folder home in my stack of
books on Thursday night and not noticed it until the tryouts Friday morning,
when I thought my mom had put it there," she said in amazement. She
grabbed Jon around the neck and hugged him hard.

"I love it! I love it!" she squealed, and kissed
him.

"HUMPH!" Mrs. Karl was looking at them from her
desk.

Christie's face turned hot and she knew she was as red as a
beet, but she didn't care. She had proof now that she
hadn't
taken Mr.
Neal's folder. Everyone would know that she hadn't cheated. She looked at Jon
appreciatively and then took his hand and squeezed it.

He smiled back, and his brown eyes sparkled. "What are
best friends for?" he asked softly.