Fabulous Five 021 - Jana to the Rescue (4 page)

"Could we talk to you a minute, Mrs. Brenner?"
Jana asked.

Jana had tried all weekend to keep Liz out of her mind. She
had worked on homework, gone out to dinner with her mother and Pink, and talked
on the phone with both Randy and Beth. But Liz was never far from her thoughts.
As soon as her homework was done or she had put down the receiver, her mind was
flooded again with images of Liz and her mother trying to get by without a
home. But now the weekend was over, and she and Whitney stood in the counselor's
office.

"Of course, girls," Mrs. Brenner said. "Have
a seat."

There were two molded plastic chairs opposite Mrs. Brenner's
desk, and the girls sat down in them.

"What can I do for you?" Mrs. Brenner asked
pleasantly.

Jana and Whitney exchanged glances before Jana spoke. "We're
having trouble with the girls we're paired with."

"What kind of trouble?" asked Mrs. Brenner.

"Liz seems so angry all the time," answered Jana. "She
acts as if she doesn't want any friends. And she's mean."

Whitney spoke up. "So is Leslie. I mean, she doesn't
even talk to me, and she couldn't care less about anything going on at school."

Mrs. Brenner listened and nodded while the girls talked. "This
kind of behavior is to be expected."

"Really?" asked Jana. "Why?"

"Well, I'm sure it's important for both of you to feel
that
you
fit in," said Mrs. Brenner. "Right?"

Jana thought about how much she counted on the rest of The
Fabulous Five to give her support and make her feel secure. "Sure,"
she said.

"Right," Whitney admitted. "I had a hard time
earlier in the year because I skipped a grade."

"Well, the same is true for the homeless kids,"
Mrs. Brenner said. "They're having a hard time fitting in."

"We know that," Jana insisted. "That's why we
wanted to help them out in the first place."

"And they don't try to be friends with anybody,"
said Whitney. "They act as if they don't
want
friends."

"Oh, I assure you they do," Mrs. Brenner said. "But
they look at you two girls—and all the other kids—who
do
have homes, and
they feel ashamed about living in a shelter."

"I haven't even brought up the subject of living in a
shelter," said Jana.

"But Liz knows you are aware that she lives in Phoenix
House," Mrs. Brenner explained. "That's enough."

"So what can we do?" asked Whitney. "Just
being nice doesn't seem to help."

"How would you feel about talking with the girls about
their situations?"

"Nervous," admitted Whitney.

"Wouldn't that be prying?" asked Jana. "Especially
if they're ashamed about living in the shelter."

Mrs. Brenner sighed. "Perhaps not, particularly if you
understand the types of problems these kids have been facing. You see, most of
them haven't been to school for a long time because their parents are afraid
their children will be taken away from them."

"By whom?" asked Jana.

"The police, social workers, hospital personnel,"
Mrs. Brenner said. "Parents
know
they aren't providing adequately
for their kids if the family is living in an abandoned house or in a car. And
they know that welfare workers can take their children away and place them in
foster homes. So many parents don't
try
to get their children into
schools. They're afraid, and they want to keep the family together. Many times,
their children are all they have."

Jana stared at the floor. "That's so sad."

"Yes, it is," said Mrs. Brenner. "And without
an education, these kids won't be any better off when they grow up. We're
hoping that this program works so that other homeless parents will know that
they can send their children to school without being afraid of losing them. In
school, the kids not only get a good education, but they also get a hot lunch
every day and breakfast, too, if they want it."

"Mrs. Brenner," said Jana, "I met Liz's
mother that first day. What about her father?"

"She never knew her father," Mrs. Brenner said
softly. "He left shortly after Liz was born. Mrs. Flagg and Liz lived in a
trailer in another city for the past several years. Then Mrs. Flagg lost her
job when there were cutbacks at the factory where she worked, and a week later,
their trailer was destroyed by fire."

"Wow," whispered Jana. "I had no idea Liz had
been through so much."

Mrs. Brenner turned to Whitney. "Leslie's mother lived
with her two girls in a car for a month before she got help at Phoenix House.
She's looking for another job now. The adults at Phoenix House have to be
actively looking for work in order to stay there. So you see what an important
job you girls are doing."

Jana nodded. She really did understand. And she wanted to do
a
good
job. She just wished she could like Liz and that Liz would try
harder to be liked.

"We must be careful not to judge other people,"
said Mrs. Brenner, as if she had read Jana's mind. "Most of
us
haven't had to deal with the problems these homeless people have faced."

"So you think we should talk to them about Phoenix
House?" Jana asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go charging into your first period
class and bombard them with questions about the shelter," Mrs. Brenner
replied with a little smile. "But don't avoid the issue, either. For
instance, Jana, if Liz has trouble with a particular homework assignment, you
might ask her how she gets her studying done at the shelter. Then offer to help
or have her over to your house to study. You might even offer to go with her to
the library."

"That's a good idea," said Jana.

"I'm glad we talked to Mrs. Brenner," Whitney said
as they walked out into the hall after the meeting. "I think maybe I
understand just a little better."

"Me, too," Jana said.

Just then, a commotion at the end of the hall drew their
attention.

"What's going on down there?" Jana asked,
frowning.

Whitney gasped., "It's a fight!"

"Who's fighting?" asked Jana as they moved closer.
She peered into the crowd that was gathering, hoping that it was no one she
knew.

"I don't know," Whitney said. "Two guys."

The crowd of students surrounding the boys blocked their
view. Everyone looked upset at what was going on.

"Oh, grow up, you guys!" somebody yelled.

"Come on, stop it!" someone else called out.

Just then, Mr. Bell and Mr. Dracovitch came running down the
hall, and after a brief struggle with the boys, they managed to separate them.

Jana and Whitney stood on their toes, trying to see who had
been fighting.

"Can you see?" Whitney asked Jana. "I still
don't know who it is."

Before Jana could reply, the boy standing in front of
Whitney turned around and sneered. "Who do you
think?
One of the
guys from Phoenix House is picking on one of our guys. I just knew there'd be
trouble if we let those kids come into our school!"

Jana felt sick. All morning she heard kids talking about the
fight between the boy from Phoenix House and an eighth-grader she didn't know.
And most of the talk was that the kids from Phoenix House were nothing but
trouble.

It wasn't fair, she thought. Just because a boy from the
homeless shelter was involved in a fight, why did everyone lump all the
homeless kids together as troublemakers?

Liz was back, but she avoided Jana before the morning bell
and during first-period history. Just before class ended Mr. Naset announced
that a test on the British colonists in America would be given on Wednesday.
Jana decided to try to talk to Liz about the test.

She caught up with Liz at lunchtime just inside the
cafeteria. Liz's hair hung in stringy clumps, as usual, and she wore her ratty-looking
red down jacket. Jana tried her best to ignore Liz's appearance and concentrate
on what she wanted to say.

"Mr. Naset's tests are usually pretty hard. Would you
like to study together? I can give you some tips about the kind of questions he
asks."

"No," Liz said, not even breaking her stride.

Jana took a deep breath and tried to fight down her rising
frustration. She was determined to make this work.

Jana and her friends went through the lunch line with Liz in
front of them and picked up their food. Liz walked to a table across the
cafeteria from The Fabulous Five's table and sat down. Jana followed and sat down
with her.

"The test will be on some of the stuff we covered
before you came to Wakeman," Jana said. "Would you like to borrow my
notes?"

Liz shook her head and then gazed into space over Jana's
left shoulder.

Jana didn't know whether this was the right time to talk
about the shelter, but she decided she sure couldn't lose anything. Liz was
just as withdrawn and unfriendly as she had been on the first day.

"Is it hard to study at Phoenix House?" Jana
asked.

Liz looked at her sharply and, at first, didn't say
anything. Finally, she nodded slightly. "Yeah," she said softly. "The
place is pretty crazy."

"Crazy, how?" Jana asked, encouraged.

Liz shrugged. "Babies crying, little kids running
around, everybody's talking. It's not very quiet, that's all."

"Would you like to come over and study with me for the
test? My mom and step-dad are always quiet when I need to study."

Liz gazed at Jana for a moment, but Jana could not read her
expression.

"Well, maybe," she said slowly.

Jana couldn't believe what she had just heard, but she was
careful not to let her excitement show. "Great. How about tomorrow night
after supper?" She decided not to push it by asking Liz to eat over.

Liz shrugged. "Okay," she said without enthusiasm.

"How about seven o'clock?" Jana asked. "We
could pick you up—"

"No," said Liz. "Where do you live?"

Jana gave Liz the address.

"I'll walk," Liz said.

"Well, okay," Jana said. "But you probably
shouldn't walk back after we're finished. It'll be dark. Mom or Pink could drop
you off."

Liz thought that over for a moment. "Okay," she
said slowly, sounding almost pleased. "I guess that would be okay."

Jana handed Liz her notebook. "Go ahead and copy the
stuff we covered before you came. Then tomorrow night we'll study all of the
material."

To Jana's relief, Liz took the notebook. Maybe, just maybe,
this was going to work.

Jana smiled. "Great. We'll make popcorn. It'll be fun."

Liz shrugged, and Jana saw that the wall surrounding Liz
that had briefly been opened in one little spot now stood as high and strong as
ever.

"Oh, no! Don't look now," said Melanie, wrinkling
her nose and ducking her head. "Here comes Richie Corrierro.
Beth
,
I said, DON'T LOOK!
"

Jana, Melanie, and Beth stood in front of Jana's locker
after school.

"Quick, open your locker, Jana!" Melanie
whispered.

Jana spun her combination lock around several times and
flung open the door. Melanie whipped out her brush and pretended to fix her
hair while she looked in the mirror hanging on the inside of the door.

"Talk. Act natural. We're having a conversation,"
Melanie whispered. "I don't want Richie to stop here and ask me out!"

"So—" Beth said. "Uh, Jana, how is the
project for homeless kids going?"

"Uh, uh, pretty well," Jana said. "In fact,
Liz and I are studying together tomorrow night."

"That's nice," Melanie said in a loud voice as
Richie walked nearer. "Don't you think that's nice, Beth?"

"Uh, sure, Mel," Beth said.

"Well, I've just been so ve-ry busy," Melanie said
in an even louder voice. "I haven't had time for going out or anything
fun! You see, my aunt is here from out of town—"

Beth looked at Jana and rolled her eyes.

"—and we've spent day and night showing her around. Oh,
and then there's my homework—"

Beth tapped Melanie on the shoulder.

"—there's that history test coming up this week and my
parents have really been cracking down on me to study—"

"Mel," Beth said.

"—and I have my chores at home to do—"

"Mel, he's gone," Beth said.

"—emptying the wastebaskets and taking out the garbage—"

"Mel," Beth insisted. "Richie walked right by
you and didn't say a word. You can stop now."

"—and I always have to wash the dish—" She
stopped. "He's gone?"

"Yeah," said Beth. "He walked right by."

"He may have walked by," Melanie said, "but I
saw the look on his face when he was coming down the hall. He looked at me, and
it's obvious."

"What's obvious?" asked Jana.

"He wants me! Couldn't you tell? He wants us to go out!"
Melanie wailed. "That love test has ruined my life!"

"But, Melanie," Jana said gently, "I was
watching Richie, and he didn't even look over here when he went by."

"That's because I was talking about how
busy
I
was!" Melanie huffed. "He knew I'd turn him down and he didn't want
to be humiliated, so he kept on walking!"

"Oh, brother," Beth muttered.

"What am I going to do?" asked Melanie. "I
can't always pretend to be very, very busy, or the word will get out that I'm
too busy to date. Then even if some guy was brave enough and willing to fight
fate to ask me out, he wouldn't because he'd think I wouldn't be available
anyway!"

"Did you get all that?" Beth asked Jana.

"I think so," said Jana, trying not to smile. "Look,
Melanie, you trust me, don't you?"

"Well, sure, Jana," Melanie said. "You're one
of my best friends."

"Well then, hear me out," Jana said. "I know
you think the love test is doing all these things to you, making Richie love
you and turning all other boys against you, but it doesn't make sense. Love
doesn't work that way."

"Jana," Melanie said very patiently, "I know
that you know a lot about boys, but let me say as kindly as I can that—as smart
and knowledgeable and perceptive as you are about boys—you don't know
diddly
about fate."

"What?"

"It's fate, plain and simple," Melanie said sadly.
"My life is over where boys are concerned, for at least four years. But I'll
just have to get through it the best I can. I'll just have to concentrate on
how wonderful my life will be when I'm a junior in high school and this curse
has passed."

"That's crazy, Melanie!" Beth exploded. "That's
idiotic! There's no power in that dumb test, except for the power that you give
it!"

"Power," Melanie murmured, staring into space. "Beth,
that's it!"

Beth frowned and shook her head. "What's it?"

"If the test has power over my love life, maybe I can
find an
antidote
to it!" Melanie exclaimed happily.

"What?" whispered Beth, frowning and shaking her
head even harder.

"An antidote!" Melanie repeated. "Maybe I can
break the spell somehow! I'm going to the library on my way home. Maybe I can
find something that will stop the spell from working."

Jana sighed as she exchanged glances with Beth. "Okay,
Mel," Jana said. "Suit yourself. But I think you're wasting your
time."

"You don't think I'll find a spell-breaker?"
Melanie asked anxiously.

"I don't think there's a spell to break," Jana said.
"But I think you have your mind already made up."

"Right!" Melanie said enthusiastically. "Either
of you want to come with me?"

"No, thanks," said Jana.

"No, Mel," Beth said. "I have a lot of
homework."

"Okay, I'll see you guys later," Melanie said. "I
just know I'll find something to break this spell." She turned and walked
several steps toward the front door, then stopped and whirled around with a big
grin on her face. "When you see me again, I'll be a
free woman
!
"