Free Fabulous Five 001 - Seventh-Grade Rumors by Betsy Haynes

Fabulous
FIVE," she whispered. "Where's Beth?"
    "Who knows?" muttered Katie. "She hasn't
spoken to any of us for a couple of days."
    "She acts as if she's far off somewhere," said
Christie.
    " So far off that she even has her own zip code,"
Melanie said wryly.
    Frowning, Jana said, "I thought it was just me she was
mad at. I mean, really mad, and I don't know what I've done." She
explained to them about the scene at the fence and Beth's angry insistence that
she be left alone. "I've never seen her like that," said Jana. "It
was unreal."
    "One thing's certain," said Christie. "It isn't
just you she's mad at. And have you been noticing that bracelet she carries all
the time?"
    "It looks like a child's bracelet," added Melanie.
    "Yes," said Jana. "She had it on the school
steps and again at the fence. I'd never seen it before that. Have you?"
    No one had.
    "I'm really worried," said Jana. "Maybe she
isn't mad. Maybe she's in some sort of trouble."
    "And needs us," whispered Melanie, her eyes
growing wide.
    Jana raced to the phone and punched in Beth's number. "She
always goes straight home after school unless she's coming over here," she
reasoned.
    She held the receiver away from her ear so that all four of
them could count the rings. Finally, after fifteen, she hung up the phone.
Before everyone left, they tried again—this time they let it ring twenty
times—and Jana tried twice before she went to bed, but still, there was no
answer.

CHAPTER 13
    Beth was not at school the next day. Jana met Christie, Melanie,
and Katie at their spot by the fence before classes, and although they waited
until the very last minute to go into the building, she didn't show up.
    "I tried to call her again before I went to bed last
night," said Jana as they turned into the corridor where the
seventh-graders had their lockers.
    "So did I," said Christie. "Nobody answered. What's
going on, anyway?"
    "At first I thought she might have a cold or the flu or
something like that," said Katie. "But then she would be at home to
answer the phone."
    "Or at least one of her parents would answer,"
added Melanie. "Did anyone call her this morning?"
    No one had, and Jana was sorry that she hadn't thought of it
herself. "Let's meet at noon and call her from the phone in the office,"
she suggested. "There's probably some simple explanation, and we'll all
feel a lot better when we find out what it is."
    Everyone agreed and went off to their homerooms. Jana
scarcely heard what was going on in hers. All she could think about was Beth
and the strange way she had been acting ever since the first day of school.
Even her looks were different. Instead of the bright, kooky outfits she usually
wore, she had dressed in dark colors and wore no jewelry for almost the whole
week. No chunky necklaces. No long dangling earrings. No jewelry at all except
for the bead bracelet she carried in her hand and played with all the time. Did
it have something to do with her problem? A child's bead bracelet? But what? It
didn't make any sense.
    When she got to English class, Funny was her usual bubbly
self. "Can you believe it? It's Friday. TGIF. Isn't that great?"
    Jana nodded. She couldn't help smiling at Funny, and Funny
went right on talking before Jana could get a word in edgewise.
    "Tonight's movie night, too. Isn't it exciting? We'll
really feel like we're in junior high instead of grade school after the movie
and Bumpers. Are you going with Randy?"
    "No. I'll see him there, though. He called me the night
before last and said he'll be there with Scott and Mark and some of the other
guys."
    "How about Keith?" asked Funny. "Do you think
he's going?"
    "He wouldn't miss it." Then Jana laughed and
added, "Hey, why all the questions about those guys? I thought you weren't
going to get interested in Keith OR Scott OR Randy? Remember? You promised
since they're taken."
    "I know they're taken," said Funny, sounding a
little miffed by Jana's insinuation. "But they're still cute, and