Free Fabulous Five 019 - The Boys-Only Club by Betsy Haynes Page B

of The Fantastic
Foursome, and a sprinkling of girls who had gone to Riverfield Elementary were
sitting in booths and at tables with boys from Wakeman.
    As they stood frozen in the doorway, the kids inside began
noticing them, and looks of surprise spread over the boys' faces. Richie
Corrierro moved quickly away from Elizabeth Harvey, and Bill Soliday almost
dropped Tammy Lucero on the floor. Randy Kirwan looked at Jana and then,
frowning, back at Laura, who was sitting across the table from him. Laura
smiled an icky-sweet smile and put one hand on Randy's in the center of the
table. The other twitched the end of her long braid.
    Katie could almost see the steam rising from under Jana's
collar. Jana whipped around and stormed out through the crowd. The last thing
she did was give Katie an angry look. Katie stood openmouthed as the other
girls followed her.
    Standing alone in the doorway, Katie looked at Laura, whose
smile broadened. The others watched, not saying anything. Tony, whom she hadn't
noticed before, looked up from the table where he was sitting with Matt Zeboski
and Melinda Thaler. As he looked back at her, his eyebrows creased together in
a frown.
    Katie stared back at him for a moment before turning and
slowly walking out of the pizzeria.
     
    Katie stayed in bed until ten o'clock Sunday morning. She
couldn't get up and face the world. She resented the bright spring sunshine and
the sounds of birds chirping that came through her window.
    There was scratching at her door, and then it popped open
just wide enough for Libber to slide through. The yellow cat jumped up on the
bed and walked up Katie's legs to say good morning.
    "Oh, Libber." Katie rubbed her hand down the cat's
back. "What am I going to do? I've ruined everything. I let Laura McCall
trick me into getting all the girls to join the girls' club so she and her
friends could be with the boys, and now everyone is mad at me, including Jana and
Beth. Maybe even Christie and Melanie, for all I know. No one will go to the
girls' club again. Mr. Bell won't let us have a women's history class. And Tony's
through with me. That's it. There's not one more thing that can go
wrong."
    There was a knock at her door. "Katie. Can I come in?"
her mother asked.
    "I guess so," said Katie dejectedly.
    "You look sad. Maybe I can cheer you up," said
Willie brightly. "While you were sleeping, Gwyneth Plum called. Gwyneth
Plum Rawls, I should say. She came home early and called her son, and he told
her about you. She wants to meet you."
    Katie's spirits soared and then they sank again. She had
been hoping that Gwyneth could tell her about how she handled her problems, and
Katie would know what to do about her own, but it was too late. The only way
she could solve her problems was to stay in bed the rest of her life.
    "I thought for sure you'd be excited," said
Willie. "Mark's coming over in a little while. Why don't you take a shower
and have some breakfast, and we'll take you over to see her. I'm dying to meet
her myself, even if you're not. I still want to do that story about her."
    Katie was surprised when Mr. Dracovitch pulled up in a
gleaming, remodeled 1957 Thunderbird convertible. "It's one of my
passions," he explained as they climbed in. "I love old cars."
    Katie looked at him questioningly. He drove a big, black four-door
sedan to school every day. It looked like something a funeral home director
would drive. Was that also part of his act to make kids think maybe he was a
vampire?
    They pulled up in front of a large brick house with a huge
yard with lots of trees and big bushes that were starting to show little red,
pink, and white blossoms. Katie followed her mother and Mr. Dracovitch up the
walk, carrying the time capsule under her arm.
    A tall, elegant-looking older woman opened the door. Katie
immediately recognized her. She was finally face-to-face with Gwyneth Plum.
     
    Katie and Gwyneth sat alone in a glassed-in sun porch at the
rear of the house. She could see