Free Fabulous Five 003 - The Popularity Trap by Betsy Haynes

then rush to a spot by the stadium
wall, pulling Whitney along with him.
    When Christie and Jon reached him, he put his hand over his
mouth and whispered, "Okay. Now what's this all about?"
    "Well, you see, Curtis, we know who the mystery
candidate is," Christie said.
    Curtis and Whitney looked at each other. "Who!?" croaked Curtis.
    "You," said Jon.
    Curtis stared blankly at him.
    "What do you mean precisely by 'you'?" questioned
Whitney. "You can't really mean Curtis."
    "Yes, we do. The mystery candidate is someone who knows
kids from Copper Beach, Mark Twain, and Riverfield elementary schools, knows
about everything that's going on, is someone everyone trusts, and is a hard
worker," said Christie. "Who else could it be but you, Curtis?"
    "Now wait a minute," said Curtis, raising his
hands in protest. "I didn't put up all those posters or make that tape we
heard in Bumpers."
    "We know that," said Jon reassuringly. "But
no one else does."
    "Do you mean that you two did that?" Whitney's
mouth dropped open, and she and Curtis looked like a pair of matched bookends
in their surprise.
    "Sure. We did it for you, Curtis. I'm not the right
person for seventh-grade class president. And neither is Melissa,"
Christie added quickly. "Think about it," she continued. "You
really do have friends from all the elementary schools."
    "You're from Mark Twain, and Whitney's from Copper
Beach," added Jon.
    "No one knows more about what's going on around Wakeman
than you do," said Christie.
    "Everybody trusts you and you're a hard worker,"
Jon said, punctuating his words with a raised fist.
    Christie took her cue and came in for the kill. "You
know, Curtis, I've been noticing you at school lately. From your actions and
the way you handle things, I'd have to say that I believe you could become a
senator someday or maybe even president."
    Curtis had been moving his head back and forth from Christie
to Jon as they talked. Now he pulled himself up to his full height and looked
at Whitney to see if she was listening. "Well . . ." he said, "if
you really think . . ." He seemed to be hesitating, but his eyes were
glistening.
    Christie knew they had their mystery candidate.
    "OKAY!" Curtis's voice sounded like the crack of a
whip. "How do you think we should proceed?"
    "Did you two really put up all those posters and make
that tape just for Curtis?" asked Whitney.
    Christie and Jon smiled at each other.

CHAPTER 15
    Christie saw Jana and Katie sitting in the cheering section
at the same instant they saw her. She waved to her friends and took Jon's hand,
heading up the stadium steps to join them.
    "Hi," she said as they squeezed into the aisle.
Jon hadn't gone home early enough the night before for her to be able to call
her friends and tell them that she would be going to the ball game with him,
and both Katie and Jana wore looks of total astonishment as Christie and Jon
sat down. They gave her a thumbs-up victory sign as soon as Jon looked in
another direction.
    "Look," said Jana, pointing to Beth and Melanie
standing on the sidelines with the other cheerleaders. They were wearing their
gold and cardinal-red uniforms. "Don't they look terrific?"
    Melanie was talking to Darcy Holyfield, and Beth was
shielding her eyes from the sun and looking up into the stands. When she saw
them, she jumped up and down and waved her pom-poms at them. Laura McCall and
Tammy Lucero were standing to one side, and Tammy had her hands cupped around
Laura's ear, whispering. That gossip! thought Christie.
    "Where's Randy?" she asked, looking toward the end
zone where the Wakeman players were lined up in rows doing calisthenics.
    "He's in front with Shane leading the exercises,"
said Jana.
    Christie searched the crowd until she saw Curtis. He was
coming up the stairs with Whitney and was stopping to talk to someone in nearly
every aisle. She nudged Jon and nodded in Curtis's direction. Jon saw him and
winked at her.
    "Boy, don't you know what a mess you made?" came
an angry