Free Fabulous Five 007 - The Kissing Disaster by Betsy Haynes

"Are
you feeling well enough to talk? Everyone is saying that you have mono."
    For a second Melanie considered denying it, and saying
instead that she only had a cold. If only her mother hadn't told Alexis the
truth, she thought for the umpteenth time that day.
    "I do have mono," she finally answered, adding
quickly, "but the doctor said it's a very mild case. What's new at
school?"
    "That's partly why I called," Dekeisha said. "Laura
McCall and her friends were saying all kinds of things about you today. Laura
says that you've started an epidemic at school."
    "What!" shrieked Melanie.
    "Well," continued Dekeisha cautiously, "at
cheerleading practice Laura told everyone that you were bragging at Bumpers on
Saturday about kissing Scott and Shane. And Melissa McConnell said she saw you
get a ride home with Randy Kirwan from the refreshments committee meeting
Monday night. Chandra Sharp saw you flirting with Derek Travelstead at the
decorations committee meeting and told Tammy Lucero all about it in biology
class today. So The Fantastic Foursome says that there's no telling how many other
boys you've infected with the kissing disease."
    Melanie was speechless. Somehow she managed to thank
Dekeisha for calling and got back to her room. There she stood in the middle of
the floor, shaking with anger and humiliation. The nerve of Laura McCall,
accusing her of infecting boys with mono, of starting an epidemic!
    A new wave of tiredness swept over her, and she sank onto
her bed again. She had been so busy trying to figure out how she had caught the
kissing disease herself that she hadn't even thought about the possibility of
passing it on to someone else. What if she had given it to Scott? What
would he do?
    "He'll hate me the rest of his life, that's what!"
she muttered aloud.
    And what about Shane? She closed her eyes and imagined his
coming to her house to pick up his albums wearing a doctor's breathing mask and
rubber gloves. "I must disinfect these before I play them again," he
said as he carried them out in a cardboard box marked CONTAMINATED in big red
letters.
    Maybe they would have to disinfect the whole school. She
thought back to the time a few years ago when she had found an abandoned litter
of kittens, put them into a box next to the dryer, and one had died of
distemper. The vet had told them to make a mixture of bleach and water and
disinfect the laundry room. Would Mr. Bell, the principal, hand out buckets of
bleach water and sponges to every seventh-grader with instructions to disinfect
Wacko Junior High just as if she were a stray kitten with distemper?
    Tears rolled down her cheeks. She brushed them away, but
more followed. What if Laura was right and the boys she had kissed really did get sick? All the other boys would run when she got near them. Nobody would
want to sit beside her in class or stand near her in the cafeteria line. She'd
be so embarrassed that she'd die. How could she possibly go back to school?
    Melanie felt more alone and friendless than she ever had in
her life. Where were her best friends in The Fabulous Five now that she needed
them desperately? Busy! she thought angrily. Busy going their own separate
ways.

CHAPTER 15
    For the rest of the week Melanie stayed home from school
resting and taking her medication. And worrying. Especially after she finally
heard from the rest of The Fabulous Five. Jana was first. She called the day
after Beth had.
    "Hi, Mel. How are you feeling?" she began in a
nervous voice.
    "A lot better," Melanie assured her. She had made
up her mind that no matter what people thought, she was going to act as if
hardly anything were wrong.
    "Great. I was really sorry to hear that you're sick,"
said Jana. "Beth said . . ." Jana hesitated, sounding more nervous
than ever. "Beth said that you really do have mono."
    Melanie frowned. "I think Dr. Garroway made a mistake
on the test. I'm not nearly so tired, and my throat isn't quite as sore or
swollen as it was."
    "That's good. When do