Fabulous Five 017 - Celebrity Auction (5 page)

Beth rushed through her homework and even had time to shower
and wash her hair after dinner, since Keith usually came over around seven on
school nights. She was over her anger at him and hummed happily at the thought
of their evening together, dressing carefully so that she would look her best.
She chose one of her most conservative outfits, a pink-and-gray-striped tunic
over slate-gray stretch pants and matching pink push-down socks. She passed on
the pink hair bow she usually wore with this outfit and even picked
smaller-than-usual silver earrings to finish out the effect. A spray of her
favorite cologne, and she was ready.

The next challenge was what to do with Alicia. She was
sprawled in front of the television on her stomach, propped up on her elbows on
a shaggy pillow that, on closer inspection, turned out to be Agatha.

"Hi, Bethy!" she called out when Beth entered the
family room. "Look at Agafa. She loves being my pillow."

Agatha's tail thumped on the floor at the sound of her name,
but otherwise she remained flat out on her side. The perfect pillow, thought
Beth.

"Why don't you and your pillow go into the living room
with Mom and Dad," Beth suggested. "Keith's coming over pretty soon."

"No! No!" shouted Alicia. "I got here first.
You and Keith go in the living room. I want to watch television."

"But we're going to play the stereo, so the television
set will be turned off anyway," Beth argued.

"No! No! I got here first. And
Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles
will be on at seven."

Beth let out a big breath of air and looked around
desperately, as if she might find the solution to her problem written somewhere
on the walls. Alicia always watched the turtles. They were her favorites. Not
only that, so did Todd, and her guess was that he was in his room at this very
minute, frantically trying to get his homework done before the start of the
program at seven. Now what was she going to do?

There was one possible solution, but she was almost afraid
to think about it, much less approach her parents. Five minutes later she stood
in the middle of the living room chewing on her lower lip and waiting for them
to announce their verdict.

"I don't know," her mother said, shaking her head
and frowning. "You remember that a couple of years ago we let Brittany
entertain a boy in her bedroom with the explicit instructions that the door was
to
remain open
."

"And you know what happened that time," her father
added sternly. "We made the rule then that there were to be no boyfriends
or girlfriends in the bedrooms."

"But Mom! Dad
!"
Beth implored. "That
was Brittany! Not me! I don't think it's fair that because she disobeyed, I
have to be punished."

"You aren't being punished, dear," her mother said
softly. "It's just that we think the rule is a good one and that every one
of you children should abide by it."

"Yes, I am being punished," said Beth. She tried
to keep the anger out of her voice so that her parents would listen to what she
was saying. "I don't think it's fair. I think I should get a chance all on
my own. What you're saying is that you don't trust me to keep my door open just
because Brittany didn't. We're two different people. You can't just lump us
together." She wanted to add that it was the same old story—adults
thinking all teenagers were alike. But she didn't.

Mr. and Mrs. Barry exchanged helpless looks. "She does
have a point," her mother said. "Maybe she should have the privilege
of listening to Keith's tape in her room, especially since Todd and Alicia want
to watch television anyway."

"Okay," her father said, looking directly at her. "We'll
give it a try, but don't forget the rule."

Beth felt as if her whole body was going to collapse inward
from relief. "I won't forget. I promise. After all, if I mess up, I'm the
one who gets in trouble." She rushed forward and gave each of them a quick
hug. "Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad," she said. "I've got to hurry
upstairs and pick up my room. He'll be here any minute."

By four minutes after seven Beth had picked up all the
clutter and stuffed it into her closet. She leaned back against the closet door
and gave her room one last, quick survey in case she had forgotten to pick up
something vital, like a bra. She hoped Keith would like the way she had
decorated her room. She had used brightly colored adhesive tape to make horizontal
stripes on one white wall, vertical stripes on another, diagonal stripes on the
third wall, and on the fourth, the one facing the door, she had created
zigzags. It was a wild and crazy room, but she loved it.

Her thoughts flew back to Keith again. Her heart was
pounding so loudly that she wasn't sure if she would hear the doorbell, but she
knew that her parents were still downstairs and that they would let Keith in
when he arrived.

By five minutes after seven her heart rate was down to
normal, and she had checked her lipstick for the zillionth time. She had also
dusted her stereo and double-checked to make sure it was plugged in. Mom might
have accidentally knocked the plug out of the socket when she vacuumed, she
reasoned.

Next, she rearranged the throw pillows on her bed and ran
her fingers through her hair as she tried to decide where they would sit.
Not
on the bed!
she thought, knowing that her parents would have a fit if they
walked by her room and saw her and Keith on the bed, no matter how far apart
they were sitting. She pulled the chair from behind the desk and scooted it
next to the stereo. No, she thought. That's too close. She pulled it out a
little and looked around again. There was only one chair in the room. Keith
could have it. She would sit on the floor. Would her parents approve of that?
Well, anything was better than the bed.

She heard Todd thunder down the hall and on down the stairs.
She looked at her watch: 7:13. Todd had missed the beginning of
Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles.
So what? she thought. Where was Keith?

At 7:17 she opened her door and peeked into the hall.
Brittany was sitting cross-legged on the floor with the telephone receiver
balanced on her shoulder while she painstakingly applied polish to her
fingernails. Beth tiptoed to the top of the stairs and looked at the front
door, willing the doorbell to ring. Where
was
he? Maybe if she went
downstairs and looked out the front window she would see him coming up the
street.

No luck. She shuffled back up to her room after checking the
fridge to make sure there were still cold sodas. It was 7:34 and a prickly
feeling was starting to climb up her scalp. He was never this late.
Never.

Maybe he's trying to call. She raced back into the hall,
ready to go to war with Brittany if necessary to get her off the phone. How
could Keith call her to explain why he was late if the line was busy?

But Brittany was not in the hallway. And the telephone hung
silent on the wall. And it was 7:49. Beth went back into her room and sat
poker-stiff in the middle of her bed, staring at the zigzags.

By 8:03 she knew he wasn't coming.

"I forgot. Honest," said Keith when Beth caught up
with him on the school ground the next morning.

"You didn't forget. How could you forget a thing like
that?" she snapped. She cleared her throat as she struggled to keep her
voice from cracking. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry
no
matter what.

"Because I'm human, and human beings forget things
sometimes. I'm sorry. Okay?"

Beth still didn't believe him, but she didn't want to fight
either. "Okay," she mumbled. "You can bring your tape over
tonight if you want."

Keith didn't say anything for a minute. "Can't. Not
tonight."

"Why not?" asked Beth, letting exasperation creep
into her voice.

"I just can't. That's all."

"Can't? Or don't want to?" Beth spat out. Then she
whirled around before he could answer and left him standing alone.

What was happening anyway? Had he let Richie's and Derek's
teasing yesterday get to him? Or did he simply not like her anymore? Was he
trying to tell her that he wanted to break up without actually coming out and
saying it? These questions were swirling around in her mind when she reached
The Fabulous Five's special spot by the fence.

"Oh, look," said Melanie, pointing toward the street
where a police car had pulled up. A uniformed officer got out, and heads turned
all over the school ground to watch as he entered the building. "Do you
suppose they've come to arrest Steve and the other guys?"

"I doubt it," said Christie. "The police have
been here two or three times. He's probably just going to meet with Mr. Bell
again."

"Isn't there anything they can do about it?" said
Melanie. "Tucker Cobler and John Mauhl were actually laughing about all
the humiliation they've caused the rest of us. They think it's funny that all
the kids who study and work hard for their grades are getting so much flak over
the vandalism."

"It makes me furious," said Jana. "No, worse
than that," she added, shaking her head. "It makes me feel helpless.
They
are in control of
us.
Because of
them
, we look bad."

"It isn't fair," complained Melanie. "Surely
they left some kind of evidence behind that the police can find and tie them to
the crime. I mean, those guys are supposed to be dumb, right? That's why they're
flunking and taking ninth grade over until they turn sixteen and can legally
quit school. If they're so dumb, why haven't they been arrested?"

"Just because they're in trouble a lot doesn't mean
they're dumb," said Katie. "They just don't want to use their brains
the right way. I read somewhere that a lot of people in prison are highly
intelligent. In fact, some of them believe they're smarter than anybody else.
That's why they think they can get away with things."

"Well, I don't care if they're smart or not," Jana
chimed in. "I'm just sick and tired of the rest of us looking bad because
of what they do. Right, Beth? We know how you feel about it."

Beth nodded. She had been listening to their talk, but her
mind had been only half on what they were saying. The other half had been on
Keith.

"I still wish someone would tell on them," Jana
went on.

"Maybe
I
will," said Beth, feeling suddenly
brave.

"Whoa, Barry," spoke up Katie. "There you go again,
jumping off the deep end. What good would it do? You don't have proof. They
wouldn't be arrested."

"And even with proof, everybody else would turn against
you and call you a fink," said Melanie. "If you ask me, it's a lost
cause."

"Well, I'll tell you a cause that isn't lost,"
Christie said triumphantly. "The celebrity auction. Jon called last night
with the name of a book that has the addresses for all kinds of celebrities and
public figures."

"Terrific!" everyone shouted.

"Can we borrow it?" asked Beth.

"No," murmured Christie. "His parents said
that we'd have to get it from the library because their copy can't leave the
television station. But that's no big deal."

"Right," said Katie. "Let's all go to the
library together tonight after dinner. That way we can start copying down
addresses right away. Is that all right with everybody? Is anyone busy tonight?"

Beth's thoughts flashed to Keith, and she shook her head.

"Okay, then. It's settled," Katie said. "Now
all we have to do is spread the word."

"We need to talk to more than just seventh-graders,
too," said Beth. "We'll have to get the eighth- and ninth-graders
involved if this is going to be a real success."

"Why don't we split up and see how many kids each of us
can talk to before the bell rings?" suggested Christie.

"Good idea," said Jana. "We could even sit
with different kids at lunch and really talk up the auction."

"Anything to keep from having to make posters again,"
said Melanie. "After the school election last fall and then the Christmas
project to save the animals, I'm absolutely postered out!"

"Me, too," said Beth with a laugh. But deep down
she wasn't laughing. If The Fabulous Five stayed apart all day talking up the
auction, it would be ages before she would get to talk to her friends about her
troubles with Keith. Not that they could do anything, but she was about to
burst with anger and frustration. She really needed someone to talk to.

By the time The Fabulous Five met again in Bumpers after
school, they had each talked to dozens of students from all three grades.

"Just about everybody I spoke to likes the idea of the
auction," Melanie reported. "And some of them are dying to write to
their favorite stars, but most of them don't want to turn the money over to the
school."

"Right," said Jana. "It's the same old story.
They're asking why we should try to prove anything when nobody will listen
anyway. I keep trying to explain to them that people
will
listen, but
lots of them won't believe me. They say that the only way adults will be
convinced is if the police catch the ones who did it, but they won't. You know
that as well as I do."

"I think the best thing we can do is get the whole
thing started," said Beth. "Once they see how much fun we're having
and how the celebrities are responding, I'll bet that just about everybody will
want to be involved."

"I agree," said Katie. "We'll work on
convincing them that we have to turn the money over to the school later."

"Hey, guys. I just thought of something awful,"
said Melanie. "What if none of the celebrities answers our letters?"

Beth stared at her. She had never considered a possibility
like that.

"I asked my mom who some of the celebrities were that
kids in her generation liked," said Katie. "I thought that if we
could get donations from some of them, our parents might buy them."

"Good thinking," said Beth, and the others nodded
their agreement.

The Fabulous Five were sitting at a table in the reference
section of the public library. They had just taken a book off the shelf
entitled
New Address Book: How to Reach Anyone Who's Anyone,
and they
were trying to decide whom to look up first.

"So, who did your mother name?" asked Christie.

"Oooooh," groaned Katie. "She gave me a list
as long as my arm. Let's see, there's Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones,
Chicago, the Beach Boys, Joe Namath . . ."

"Who's Joe Namath?" asked Melanie, wrinkling her
nose.

"He was a professional football player and a swinging
bachelor," Katie told her.

"Well, I personally think you should write to all those
old
guys," said Melanie. "I'm going to write to Jason Rider.
He's the one I was telling you about. He plays Chad on
Interns and Lovers.
"

Beth chuckled to herself.
Interns and Lovers
was the
soap opera Taffy Sinclair had had a teensy part in last year in sixth grade.
The Fabulous Five had all watched it for a while, and she remembered Chad.
Melanie was right. He was a hunk!

"Let's not leave out people who are popular now,"
urged Christie. "Not only will Wacko kids buy their things, but think of
all the high school kids who might come."

By the time the library closed at nine and Beth's father had
picked them up in the Barrys' ancient van, Beth had totaled up seventy-nine
addresses copied between the five of them. They had addresses for River
Phoenix, Debbie Gibson, Tom Cruise, David Letterman, Bon Jovi, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
and tons more including all the old guys, as Melanie had called them, from
Katie's mom's list. They had also agreed to have a meeting of The Fabulous Five
at Jana's on Saturday morning to get the project organized and then another
meeting at Bumpers on Saturday afternoon and invite any Wacko kids who were
interested in helping with the celebrity auction.

"Remember, guys, we have to talk this up like crazy at
school tomorrow if we're going to make it work," said Christie when she
climbed out of the van in front of her house.

When the last of her friends had been dropped off, Beth
squeezed into the front passenger seat beside Agatha, who liked to ride with
her head out the window, and hugged the huge dog for the rest of the ride home.

When they turned onto the Barrys' street, Beth sat up
straight again and turned to her father. "Thanks, Dad. My friends and I
really appreciate the ride home from the library."

"Anytime," he said with a smile. "What was it
for? Some school project?"

Beth winced. She hadn't mentioned the celebrity auction at
home because she didn't want to bring up the vandalism at school and risk
hearing her father complain about today's kids again. But she was caught now.
She would have to tell him about it.

"We were getting the addresses of a lot of celebrities,"
she began, trying to choose her words carefully. "You see, a lot of us at
Wakeman feel pretty bad about the vandalism. We also don't like it that
everybody thinks all of us are alike. So I got the idea of holding a celebrity
auction to raise enough money to pay for the damage. Don't you think it's a
great idea?"

Her dad pulled the car into the garage and fingered the
steering wheel for a moment before shutting off the engine. Beth held her
breath, waiting to hear his reaction. Finally he shook his head and mumbled, "What
you kids won't come up with to get attention from rock stars."

Tears shot into Beth's eyes.
But you don't understand!
she wanted to shout, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. She could never
convince him or any other adult by just talking. The celebrity auction has to
work, she thought. It just
has to.

Saturday morning The Fabulous Five were all talking at once
as they crowded into Jana's bedroom for their meeting.

"Where are we going to get the stationery and the
stamps to write to all these celebrities?" Katie was asking.

"How many can we write to and how long will it take to
get answers?" asked Melanie.

"I think we ought to ask Curtis and Whitney to help us
out with their computers," suggested Christie.

"If we're going to have an auction, who will be the
auctioneer?" asked Katie.

"This meeting of The Fabulous Five will now come to
order!" Jana shouted.

Everyone quieted down. Beth thought about the questions her
friends had just asked. She had been wondering the same things herself. Beth
took a deep breath and opened her notebook, turning to the page where she had
been jotting down things relating to the auction as they occurred to her.

"Well, we do have some things to work out," she
conceded. "I'm not sure about the stamps, but I was thinking we might ask
Mr. Bell if we could use school stationery so that our requests would look more
official. If we use regular stationery, some of the celebrities might think
that we were just individual kids looking for freebies."

"Good point," said Christie. "If you'd like,
I'll call Mr. Bell right now at home and see what he has to say."

When Christie went into the living room to make the call,
Beth looked at her notebook page again.

"I also thought that maybe The Fabulous Five could
draft the letter and get copies run off," said Beth.

"Maybe Miss Simone would run them off on the school's
copier," suggested Jana. "Especially if we get to use school
stationery."

Melanie put her hands on her hips and made a pouty face. "But
I wanted to write my own letter to Jason Rider," she whined. "It won't
be any fun if all I get to do is send him a
form letter.
"

"You can address the envelope yourself," offered
Beth.

Melanie pretended that she was going to throw a stuffed bear
at Beth, but Beth knew she wouldn't really do it.

Just then Christie came back into the room. Her face was
glowing. "Guess what? After I explained to Mr. Bell about the auction, he
not only said we could use school stationery, he said the school would pay for
the postage since the money from the auction was going to repair the damages.
Isn't that super?"

"Wow!" the others cried.

Christie was too excited to stop talking. "He said that
he had heard a rumor that some of us were planning to have an auction, and he
asked me to tell him all about it. I told him that it was Beth's idea and that
we were going to get the whole school involved. That was when he said we could
use the stationery and postage. He said that the school would do anything it
could to help."

"Did you ask him if we could use the gym to hold the
auction in?" asked Katie.

Christie clamped a hand over her mouth. "Whoops!"
she cried. "I forgot. I'll call him back before we meet the other kids at
Bumpers."

"This is terrific," said Beth. "Let's get to
work on the letter so we can read it to the other kids at Bumpers."

Christie left the room to call Mr. Bell again. She came back
an instant later to report that they could use the school gym for the auction.
Then for the next hour and a half the five friends labored over the letter
until Beth made a final draft copy in her notebook, which she read to the
group.

Dear Celebrity
,

A few days ago a disaster occurred at Wakeman Junior
High. Vandals broke in and did major damage to the school and its contents.
Estimates of the cost to repair this damage are approximately five thousand
dollars.

Concerned students have joined together to raise the
money for the repairs by holding a celebrity auction. We are writing to you to
ask for a small donation to be auctioned off. We are not seeking money
,
but
rather autographs
,
pictures
,
or any other item that you would be
willing to send us. We would appreciate it if you could get your item to us
within one month of the date of this letter.

Thank you in advance for your help. We look forward to
hearing from you.

Gratefully
,

The students of Wakeman Junior High

"When I send one to Jason Rider, I'm going to add, 'P.S.
This letter was addressed by your number one fan in the whole world, Melanie
Edwards,'" Melanie said, looking triumphantly at Beth.

Beth frowned, and Melanie giggled and added, "And when
I seal the envelope I'm going to write 'S.W.A.K.' and add a big lipstick print."

"Melanie! If you do a thing like that . . ." Beth
warned.

"Okay, you two. Knock it off," said Katie. "It's
almost one o'clock, and that's what time we told everybody to be at Bumpers."

"Great," said Beth as The Fabulous Five gathered
up their things and piled out of Jana's apartment. "This is going to be
terrific. I can't wait to see how many kids show up for the meeting."