Just Kidding (11 page)

A bubbly Maeve told them all about her idea for the dance, using the Birdland theme. “We can all put together amazing outfits, like the one Sarah was wearing in Ms. Ciara's class. Maybe we can even find some authentic stuff at a thrift shop or something. And the music, it's the best! It'll be so old-fashioned and romantic…totally different from what we usually do. Oh, and I thought Riley and the other Mustard Monkeys could dress in zoot suits! My dad's putting together some film clips I can use to show the
dance committee what I want,” she explained. “It's going to be so totally great! And I need you all on the committee, so you can vote for me to be the head of it!”

After Maeve finished her exuberant explanation, no one said anything.

Maeve looked around the table. She had expected everyone to be excited and jumping up and down, but nobody was doing anything like that. Isabel was doodling in her art notebook, Avery was bouncing in her seat impatiently and yawning with her mouth wide open, and Katani was looking impatiently at the clock. “Well?” Maeve asked finally.

Katani stirred. “Uh—Maeve, I don't know if I'm going to join any committees for Spirit Week. I have something else I'm doing, and I won't have time to—”

“Yeah, I can't be on it either,” Avery abruptly broke in. “You can only pick one committee to be on, and I'm trying to be head of the sports committee, so I can't be on the dance committee too.”

Maeve stared at her friends in dismay. “But if you don't join the committee, I won't get the votes I need to win! Isabel? Are you ditching me too?”

“No,” Isabel said in a low voice. “I'll be glad to help out on the dance committee.”

“But I can't win with just your vote and mine.” Maeve pouted. “That's only two votes…and I'm sure a ton of people will vote for Betsy Fitzgerald!”

“Sorry I can't help, Maeve.” Katani slung her backpack over her shoulder. “It's a good idea, though.”

“Are you coming?” Isabel asked a minute later. Maeve
was still sitting in her chair, staring at her hot chocolate.

“No.” Maeve flashed her a distracted smile. “I'll finish up and be right behind you. Don't wait for me,” she added. There was a bright glint of an idea in her eye that no one noticed. They waved good-bye and reminded her they had only ten minutes left to get to class.

Maeve waited until all three BSG were out of sight before she picked up her hot chocolate and walked over to the table where Betsy Fitzgerald sat nibbling on her yummy-looking chocolate donut, her nose buried, as usual, in a thick textbook. “Hi, Betsy,” she said casually. “Okay if I sit down?”

Betsy looked up. “Oh, hi, Maeve. Sure, you can sit, but I'm going to be leaving for school in two minutes.”

“I know. Me too.” Maeve sat down. She decided she didn't have time to work up to it subtly, so she just jumped right in. “I hear that you're thinking of heading the dance committee. Is that true?”

Betsy looked surprised and put down the textbook. “Yes. I know I could do a fantastic job. Plus, leadership positions look very impressive on college applications.”

Maeve resisted the urge to roll her eyes and continued. “Well, I want to be the head of the dance committee too, and I have a great idea for a dance theme.” She paused. “So I was thinking—how about we team up? We could both be heads of the committee, and with my idea and your organizational skills, we could make it the best dance ever. What do you think?”

Betsy seemed kind of intrigued but her watch alarm went off and she was up in a flash. She grabbed her
backpack and slid in her textbook, double checking the contents of the bag and zipping it closed.

“I have to go, Maeve.” Betsy said. “Want to come find me later and we can talk some more?”

“Definitely! I'll see you at school.” Maeve waved good-bye to Betsy.

What is that old saying
?
Oh yeah, “If you can't beat 'em, join 'em
.” Maeve smiled as she rushed out of Montoya's at Betsy's heels, confident that she'd be able to convince Betsy that they would make the perfect team.
Charlotte was right
, Maeve thought.
I am brilliant!

C
harlotte started when Mrs. Fields called her name. She'd been deep in thought about Miss Pierce after asking Ms. Sahni if she could see the principal.

“I was going to call you to the office a little later.” Mrs. Fields beckoned Charlotte into her office. “Have you heard anything?”

Charlotte told her quickly about Officer Moody, the police search, and the call to the FBI. “The FBI's Missing Persons Unit is working on it right now,” she explained. Mrs. Fields sat back in her chair. She seemed stunned.

“So anyway, Mrs. Fields, I had an idea this morning. It might be stupid but…” Charlotte added quickly, “I mean, may I please use your computer for a minute?”

Mrs. Fields looked at her curiously. “If you think it will help….”

“Thank you!” Charlotte went to her favorite search engine and typed in “Sapphire Pierce.” She pressed Enter and held her breath.

There it was—pages of references to space shuttles, space debris, and other astronomical phenomena. Miss Pierce was quoted in all the articles and listed as a major authority. Her most recent article was just a month ago, and it was about an asteroid going off course.

Mrs. Fields stared at the screen in surprise. “Charlotte, you've hit the jackpot! I didn't realize Sapphire was still actively involved in the space program. I thought she just liked to monitor it from her computer in the comfort of her living room.”

“I have a feeling,” Charlotte said with a grin, “that we're soon going to find out Miss Pierce is involved with a lot of things none of us knows about.”

Mrs. Fields matched Charlotte's grin with one of her own. “I have a feeling you're absolutely right.”

 

Maeve caught up with Isabel on Harvard Street. Instead of walking at her usual energetic pace, Isabel had been lingering and peering into shop windows. Maeve had to urge her along.

When they finally got inside the school building, Maeve understood why Isabel had been so reluctant to hurry. A low but distinct buzz followed them all the way down the hall, along with many furtive pairs of eyes trying to watch them without seeming to. “I feel like I'm the star of a very bad after-school special,” Isabel murmured to Maeve, just as someone walked by and mouthed, “Gobble Gobble.”

“Naah, this is just what it feels like to be one of the most popular people in school,” Maeve replied, trying to seem relaxed for Isabel's sake. She too was a little unnerved
by all the stares and whispers. “It just means people know who you are.” Maeve stopped at her locker and started to work the combination open.

“They didn't seem to care about who I was last week!” Isabel whispered.

Maeve shrugged and tossed her gym clothes into her locker. “Well, last week they hadn't heard that one of the coolest guys on campus broke up with his girlfriend for you.”

“Maeve!” Isabel implored. “How can you say that? It's not true!” She walked partway down the hall to her own locker, which was by the eighth graders' lockers, and began to twirl the dial on the lock.

Maeve followed her friend. “Hey, Iz, I was just kidding. Anyway, maybe people are gossiping about you because someone like—oh, I don't know—let's say the Queens of Mean started a rotten rumor about you that everyone stupidly believes.”

Isabel shuddered. “They did…they definitely did! And it's
so
mean! Did you see Joline's away message last night?”

“No, but I have a pretty good guess what it might've said.” Maeve shook her head. “Don't worry, Izzy. By lunch-time something else will pop up, and everyone will forget all about you.”

“I hope so. But it would have to be a pretty major rumor to take the heat off me. Joline's calling me and Kevin ‘Kisabel.'”

“Maybe Anna McMasters will decide to elope with the Yurtmeister,” Maeve joked. But inside she was worried. It sounded like Anna and Joline were up to no good.

Isabel laughed at Maeve's attempt at humor. It was pretty funny. No one in the seventh grade could understand what Henry Yurt saw in stuck-up Anna to make him so devoted to her, but he continued to be, even though Anna treated him like an annoying puppy. The BSG treated Marty way better than that! But Maeve's silly idea made Isabel laugh enough so that for a minute, she forgot the staring eyes of the other kids and their obvious whispers. Maeve could make anyone feel better.

They were late to homeroom by about a minute, which from Maeve's point of view made them early. Isabel thought at first that no one was going to notice her entrance, and she started breathing easier. The boys were huddled around Kevin's desk in the back and the Queens of Mean were sitting together on the radiator.

But then she heard it…that unusual hushed quiet and then the buzz. Was that a gobble she heard?
Not again!
Isabel thought with a sinking heart.
When is this ever going to end?

“Everyone take your seats.” Ms. R called the class to order. As Isabel started toward her seat, she caught a glimpse of Kevin looking unhappy and confused. The minute her eyes met his, he deliberately looked away.

Isabel felt as though he had slapped her. It didn't help when Chase snickered loudly.

Isabel slid into her seat. Charlotte was already there, sitting in front of her. She leaned back and said quietly, “Iz, is it me or is something happening here? Everyone is acting so weird!”

“Oh, I'd definitely say something's happening,” Isabel
whispered back. She didn't want to go into detail because everyone was staring. But she wasn't going to pretend that something wasn't happening either.

“It's stupid gossip!” Isabel went on in a furious whisper. “It's so mean, and I am so sick—”

“Isabel, will you please pay attention!” Ms. R called. “I'm not going to ask you again.”

Her face flushing a deep scarlet, Isabel sat back in her seat and said nothing further. Ms. R never had to speak to her before about talking in class. This was turning into a disaster of a day.

Anna and Joline were elbowing each other and laughing behind their hands. Chase was gobbling loudly, but he kept covering it up with coughs so Ms. R wouldn't yell at him. Just hearing Chase was enough to make Isabel feel sick to her stomach. She began to think that she should ask to go to the nurse's office. It would be so nice to escape to the quiet office and lie down until she felt a little better.

Ms. R opened her attendance book. “All right, everyone, here's the schedule. When I finish taking attendance, you can all head to your committee meetings. Remember, those are sports, dance, and community service.” She began to read off the class list.

Avery and Maeve were clearly pumped. They were both smiling in their seats, eager to put their plans in action. Avery, as usual, was bouncing in her seat with nervous energy.

Katani, Charlotte, and Isabel felt a lot less enthusiastic. Spirit Week was not turning out to be the thrilling time they had anticipated after all.

After she had answered to her name, Isabel realized reluctantly that she couldn't go to the nurse's office and pretend to be sicker than she was. She had promised to help Maeve on the dance committee, and Maeve would need every vote to win the position she wanted so desperately.
I can't let her down
, Isabel told herself.
With everybody else in school against me, I need my real friends more than ever
.

She sighed. The very last thing she wanted to do today was face a room full of kids who were probably dying to gossip about her.

“Sports committee meets in this room!” Ms. R called out. “If you're joining that committee, stay here for your meeting. Dance committee meets in the art room.”

Avery could hardly wait for the sports committee to assemble, and when it did she wasn't too surprised about the members from her homeroom: Pete Wexler, Nick, Josh, and Billy Trentini, Danny Pellegrino—who once made Isabel's life miserable because he liked her and wouldn't leave her alone—Joey Peppertone, and Julie Faber.

There was one surprise, though: Chelsea Briggs.

“Hey, Chelsea, you're joining the sports committee?” Avery asked. Maybe Chelsea was just snapping pictures for the
Sentinel
. She wasn't on any sports teams at school.

But Chelsea nodded. “I'll be a big help in the tug of war!” she announced with a grin. Avery couldn't believe it. Ever since Chelsea went on the school trip to Lake Rescue, she'd been a completely different girl. Not that she had morphed into a super-skinny type, but she was more fit than ever, and she seemed to be involved in all kinds of activities instead of spending most of her time alone. She ran and
played pickup basketball with her brother and even started an after-school dance club with a bunch of other girls.

But Avery also didn't see one face she had expected to see. Where was Dillon? He'd been a huge jerk the day before, but he
had
apologized, and she thought he'd definitely want to be on the sports committee. Dillon was an awesome athlete, and Avery just assumed he'd help her out with her ideas.

He'll be here in a minute
, she told herself.
He must have gotten held up or something
. But Dillon never showed up, and finally everyone started to settle down and the meeting began.

Quickly Avery raised her hand to be recognized. “I want to be the head of the sports committee,” she announced. “I've got some great ideas about how to organize the games.”

“A girl?” Pete Wexler said with disdain. “A
girl
running the sports committee? Are you dreamin', Madden, or what? Sports committees are men's work.”

Avery jumped up. “Are you saying because I'm a girl I can't do a good job running games and sports for Spirit Week? I can't believe you, Wexler! Are you a caveman? That is so old school!”

“That's not the real problem,” said Billy Trentini. He was looking embarrassed, and so was Josh. They were both looking at the ground, avoiding Avery's eyes.

“So, what's the real problem?” Avery challenged them. She was getting furious that no one seemed to want to hear her ideas; they were just shooting her down because she was a girl!

Danny Pellegrino was the one who finally said it. He cleared his throat and said, “Uh, Avery, the truth is, there's just too much drama around you.”

“Drama?” Avery had no idea what he was talking about. She hoped it wasn't that silly incident with Dillon in the hall yesterday; if it was, she'd make sure everyone knew she and Dillon were over it and that it was no big deal.

Danny exchanged a look with Pete before he went on. “Look, you're friends with…uh…Isabel…and everyone at school is talking about what happened. We don't want to be caught up in all that. Spirit Week should just be about school spirit, and not about…uh, you know, gossip and rumors.”

Avery's mouth dropped open. “Since when have I been spreading rumors?”

“That's not the point.” Danny was looking more uncomfortable now, which was pretty funny, Avery thought, because when he was chasing Isabel through the museum a few months before, he was anything but shy and embarrassed! “Anyway, I nominate Pete and Nick as committee leaders.” Nick looked very uncomfortable.

“I nominate Avery for committee leader,” Chelsea said quickly.

“Okay, then,” Billy said, looking relieved. “Let's vote on it. That's the only fair way to decide things.”

Avery looked around the room. Julie and Chelsea were the only other girls. She was pretty sure how things were going to turn out, but what could she say? “No, let's not vote. I'll just be the dictator.” That would
definitely
not be fair.

“Fine. Let's vote,” Avery said, feeling defeated.

The vote went just the way Avery thought it would. Julie and Chelsea voted for Avery. The others voted for Pete and Nick. No surprise; the boys were elected.

Pete and Nick went to the front of the room to run the rest of the meeting. Avery said nothing; she just sat fuming in her seat.
Spirit Week is definitely not the highlight of the year
, she thought.
If this is spirit, it's for the birds!