Free Fabulous Five 006 - The Parent Game by Betsy Haynes

darn bear, my pink bunny, and Rex, too."
    The more Jana talked, the madder she got. By the time she
hung up the phone she was ready to kill Taffy Sinclair. She was stomping back
and forth in the living room, shouting at an imaginary Taffy. By the time the
doorbell rang a few minutes later, Jana was ready to blast her.
    "TAFFY SINCLAIR, I'M GOING TO . . ." Jana's voice
faltered as she saw Mr. Sinclair standing on the porch by himself.
    "Taffy's not with me," he-said in his soft voice. "She
called and asked me if I'd come by and pick up her bear. She said to tell you you're
a true friend."
    Jana looked at him in disbelief. Taffy had the nerve to
continue the farce. She expected Jana to go on believing her lies.
    Thinking quickly, she said, "It's not legal for
students' parents to sit with our make-believe babies, Mr. Sinclair. I wouldn't
want Taffy to get a bad grade if someone found out. Why don't I keep Monique? I'll
return it tomorrow if my mother's fiancé will give me a ride."
    "Oh, uh . . . I guess that's okay. I'll tell her. I'm
sure she'll be grateful."
    "Good-bye, Mr. Sinclair," Jana said with a smile.
When he had left, Jana picked up the phone and dialed Funny's number. She just
might be home by now.
    "Hello," Funny answered the phone.
    "Hi. It's Jana."
    "Oh, hi. I missed you at the game. It was great. We won
and Randy scored two touchdowns. Where were you, anyway?"
    "It's a long, terrible story, and I'll tell you about
it. But first I need to know something. Who told Laura that I asked Taffy to be
partners with Randy so Laura couldn't be?"
    "Taffy did. That's why Laura was so mad. Taffy said you
didn't want Laura even to think about being Randy's partner on the Family
Living project. You're not going to try and get back at Laura are you, Jana?
She just thought you were being mean."
    "No, I'm not. For once it's not Laura's fault. Taffy
told me that Laura was trying to get Randy to be her partner and that if I
wanted, she would ask him so that Laura couldn't. She did all kinds of things
to make me believe her."
    "Oh, that's terrible. I heard you and Taffy had clubs
against each other in Mark Twain Elementary, but you seemed to be getting along
okay now."
    "I might just start up my club again. Thanks for the
terrific idea, Funny. Oh, Funny . . . tell Laura that I did not ask Shane to be
partners. He did truly ask me. I'm not trying to steal Riverfield boys."
    "Thanks, Jana." There was a smile in Funny's voice
again. "I'm glad to hear that. I'll tell her."
    Jana hung up the phone and went to her room to make plans.
Boy, was she going to make Taffy pay for her nasty tricks.

CHAPTER 14
    The next morning Jana slept late. When she woke, she was
surrounded by the happy faces of all the animals stacked around her room. She
was getting used to the silly look on Rex's face, and even Monique seemed to be
smiling.
    Her mother had the papers spread out and was drinking coffee
in the living room. Jana dug out the funnies, sat on the opposite end of the
couch, and pulled her robe up around her. Sunday mornings were always the best.
Jana loved the quiet time when her mother sipped her coffee and seemed much
more relaxed than she was during the week, when she was working.
    Jana had worked her way to the middle of the cartoon section
and had started to read Peanuts when her mother broke the silence. "Jana,
you do like the lavender dress, don't you?"
    "Yes, Mom. I really do." She paused a moment
before continuing. "I'm sorry I was such a pain about the dress. I did
have things to do, but they weren't as important as the wedding."
    Her mother smiled and moved down the couch to put her arms
around Jana. "I know, honey. Sometimes it's tough when things are changing
so fast. But I want you to know that you'll always be my girl. Pink's and my
getting married isn't going to change any of that. You know, I should have been
listening to you a little better, too. I realized that you were maybe the more
mature of the two of us when you came out