Just Kidding (12 page)

M
aeve had no problem with any boys in the art room. That was because not one boy had elected to join the dance committee. The meeting consisted of about fifteen girls, including Maeve and Betsy. Unfortunately, Maeve's least favorite people of the moment, the Queens of Mean, showed up as well. Not a good sign, she sighed to herself.

Still, she finally had the audience she dreamed of to lay out her idea about a Birdland-themed dance. Maeve had walked to the meeting with Betsy and the two had made a pact to work together.

Maeve presented the idea to the girls in great detail: how they would transform the gym into a replica of the original Birdland (she showed them some photos she'd found on the Internet), and how the students could wear clothes resembling the old glamorous '40s costumes. “And we can do swing dancing, just like they used to,” Maeve enthused, “and have the band dress up in zoot suits.”

Maeve had really prepared for this presentation. She'd brought her father's movie posters, the CD he'd put together with old film clips, and even some hats and shoes she found in the Movie House costume bins. “Can you see how wonderful this is going to be?” she kept saying.

The room was silent when she finished her presentation. No one said anything for a whole minute, then Betsy jumped in. “Maeve and I thought we would team up to cochair this committee,” she said, “and I've already organized a chart of how we can divide the work, so no one person has to do too much.”

A few of the girls nodded at that, but the smiles and excitement Maeve had expected were nowhere to be seen. Did
anyone
like Birdland? She felt dejected. Suddenly, a tear began to well up in the corner of her eye. She quickly blinked it away.

“So, what do you think?” Maeve asked. Maybe everybody was just waiting to find the right words to express the fabulousness of the idea, she hoped.

Betsy didn't meet her eyes. “So, do you all agree that Maeve and I will cochair this committee?”

Joline snickered. “Well, nobody else seems to have any ideas, do they?”

Maeve looked around. It seemed like nobody did. She and Betsy would chair the committee, all right, but only because no one else cared enough, not because people loved her idea. She felt disappointed, but also a little relieved. Birdland was going to win out as the dance theme, if only because there was no competition!

Maeve tried to stir up some enthusiasm from the
rest of the group. “Who wants to get started working on the costumes?”

There was more silence. Betsy tried to help. “Well, how about decorations for the gym? Or getting the band? Who wants to work on what?”

The other girls looked at each other doubtfully. A few of them just shook their heads. The Queens of Mean just sat with fixed smiles, not looking at Maeve or Betsy or anyone else, and said nothing.

Maeve didn't understand what was going on. In her stomach she could feel a tinge of panic starting to spread. This wasn't supposed to happen! Everyone was supposed to love her idea, and Betsy was going to help her organize it so well that the dance would be the hit of Spirit Week—maybe even the hit of the year!
What's the deal? Why isn't anyone else excited about this, when it's obvious just how amazing it will be?

Before Maeve could open her mouth to ask a question, the door burst open.

“We're here! Let the meeting begin!” proclaimed Chase Finley, with one of his typical obnoxious entrances. Behind him were Kevin, Dillon, and several others—the guys Maeve thought of as Kevin's posse—because they always hung around him and followed his lead.

I am not going to let them take control
, Maeve determined silently. She said, in her best Ms. R tone, “We forgive you, don't we, girls, for your inexcusable tardiness, so if you will please just sit down we can finish up our plans for the dance.”

“Finish?” Chase whooped. “Before you get
our
ideas? No way!”

By now he had managed to annoy and offend not just Maeve but every other girl in the room.

I am not going to let him see I'm mad
, Maeve told herself.
Chase is just doing this to bug me
. She announced, “We've already decided on the dance theme. It's going to be Birdland, after that jazz music Ms. Ciara told us about. Everyone will wear forties and fifties clothes and do swing dancing, and the band will play old jazz music. It's going to be great.”

The boys glanced at each other, then at the other, silent girls. Even Isabel was looking down at her desk, doodling, not meeting Maeve's excited eyes. “Doesn't look to me like anybody else is too excited about Birdland,” Chase observed as he flapped his arms like a big bird. “That must be because you haven't heard our ideas yet. We saved the best for last!”

He slapped hands with a couple of the guys behind him. “And no offense, Maeve, but Birdland is lame! I mean, who else is even interested in birds? Have you noticed it's winter outside? No birds around at all—so why should we build our whole dance around them?”

The boys began to laugh, even Kevin, though he looked uncomfortable. Maeve felt suddenly completely deflated.
Is Chase right? Is my idea really lame?
She looked around the room. The boys were laughing at Chase's silly remarks, and the girls weren't making it any easier. They were studiously avoiding her. There didn't seem to be any enthusiasm at all for Birdland—even from the girls.

She decided to try one last time. “Birdland is a unique theme,” she explained, addressing her remarks to Chase
but hoping everyone else would listen. “It's glamorous and it's educational, too—we all get to learn a lot more about different kinds of music and dancing while we're having fun. And it's
different
. Nothing like Birdland has ever been done here before.”

“Yeah, I wonder why!” Chase snorted. “Don't you get it, Maeve? Look at all these excited faces! Nobody wants to do Birdland but you. I conclude, then, that Birdland is for the birds!” Chase laughed at his own joke. “So, chill out already.”

“Talk about lame, Chase,” Maeve retorted. “That joke isn't even funny!”

“Hey, I'm not the one with the bad idea,” Chase said, holding up his hands. “Now give us an idea we can get behind, and we'll be the best workers on this committee!”

“Yeah, I can really see that happening,” Maeve said, feeling crushed. Her beautiful theme, her great idea, and all her work were going up in flames around her. What were they going to do for a theme if Birdland was suddenly out?

Betsy had obviously been thinking about that possibility. “I think we need to remember,” she spoke up, “that this dance is honoring Spirit Week. So why not make our theme the Spirit of Abigail Adams?”

“That's not bad,” Kevin began, but he was drowned out by Chase, who started a freewheeling cheer around the room, yelling, “Spirit, spirit, give me spirit! Hey, I've got it! Forget Spirit of Abigail Adams. We should do ‘Under the Sea' as our theme!”

Chase looked so pleased with himself that Maeve
secretly wished he would fall flat on his face. But in a minute he was talking rapidly, all silliness abandoned, outlining how they could transform the gym into an ocean theme with painted murals and special lighting, and how the band could dress in shiny outfits that would resemble fish scales. Before Maeve or Betsy could say another word, the room was exploding with ideas and enthusiasm.

I might as well not even be here
, Maeve thought as the meeting went on.
I wanted to be head of the dance committee and I guess I still am, but even Betsy didn't really like my idea
.

To her surprise, Isabel, who had been looking uncomfortable while Maeve talked about Birdland, was now sitting up straight in her seat, her eyes snapping.
Whoa, Isabel is angr
y, Maeve thought.
It takes a lot to get Isabel mad, but boy, she's mad now!

Isabel raised her hand, and as soon as Betsy pointed to her, she swung around in her seat to face Chase. “Chase, you're being mean,” she began. “You get here late, after we discuss a very good idea for the dance, and without even listening to it, you decide you want to do something else! The least you can do is be quiet for a minute and let Maeve tell you about her idea.”

“Hey!” Chase exclaimed. “You should take your own advice! You've been gossiping all over school, and now you're telling
us
to be quiet?”

He gave Kevin a high five.

Isabel felt like she was going to explode. “Excuse me,” she said loudly, and the room went silent. She was the one that everyone was gossiping about, when she hadn't
done anything to deserve it, and now she was being blamed for it?

Maeve saw the look in her eyes and quickly came over to her, followed by a couple of the other girls. “Don't say anything more, Izzy,” she whispered under her breath.

“I am so…
fed up
with these guys!” Isabel answered. “None of this is my fault, and everyone's acting like it is!”

“I know,” Maeve said soothingly. “We all know that, Iz. Chase is just being his ridiculous self, as usual. He loves picking on you because he knows it makes you mad. Don't let him see it's getting to you. C'mon, let's get this stupid meeting over with.”

Isabel looked at her gratefully. “Thanks, Maeve. And—I'm sorry everyone's not more excited about Birdland.”

“Let's forget it,” Maeve said, feeling a giant lump in her throat. “The important thing is to agree on a theme we all can have fun with.”

“Hey, you girls feel like doing some work here?” inquired Chase. “Because we have things to do, people to see…so let's get it over with and vote on the theme.”

Betsy was able to restore order and organize a vote. But when the results were tallied, the boys' “Under the Sea” theme won by two votes. There were equal numbers of boys and girls in the room, so clearly some of the girls had voted for “Under the Sea.” The vote was done anonymously, but Isabel and Maeve didn't have to look too far to figure out who had voted with the boys. Anna and Joline looked unusually pleased when the results were announced.

“I might have known they'd side with the guys,” Isabel
muttered as she and Maeve packed up their stuff. “They spread gossip as much as Chase does.”

“Lucky it's not some kind of germ that attacks every person who hears the gossip,” Maeve commented. “Otherwise, the whole school would be infected with it by now! Abigail Adams could be wiped out with gossipitis!”

Isabel couldn't help laughing at that. Maeve always had a way of taking a rotten situation and making it funny, even when she herself was disappointed. Maeve really wanted to make the dance special, and she'd been more excited about it than anybody.
Why do things sometimes work out so wrong?

But Maeve didn't want to think about Birdland anymore. She decided she would think about it later…with her dad. He was good at helping people when they were down in the dumps. Right now Maeve was wondering what the other BSG were up to. Katani had said she planned to do a community service project, and Avery was all about the sports committee. But where was Charlotte? She thought Charlotte would have joined the dance committee to support her. She hadn't heard that Charlotte was involved with any of the other groups. Where was that girl?

Spreading the News

Charlotte was sitting in the
Sentinel
office. She hadn't expected to be; she'd planned to join the dance committee and vote for Maeve. But just before she started for the art room, she was told to report to the newspaper office right away; Jennifer wanted to see her on an “urgent matter.”

Now Jennifer was facing Charlotte, saying, “I've done
a lot of thinking about your proposal for a Spirit Week article, and it's just not going to work, Charlotte. Besides, we've got breaking news in school that I want you to cover. This Kevanda vs. Kisabel thing is a great story.”

Charlotte winced.
Please, no. Not a story like that
. Jennifer obviously didn't recognize her discomfort because she kept going. “The gossip has spread around school, and it's all anyone's talking about. It would be a mistake to miss the opportunity. Let's call it ‘Spirit Week…NOT!' See if you can get some interviews with all the people involved. And how about getting it in by, say, Friday?”

Charlotte was stunned. As
if
she'd write a gossip article about her own good friend for the whole school to see! What kind of person would do something like that?
Does Jennifer think I'm crazy?

“Jennifer,” she began, trying to keep her tone even, “I would never write an article like that for the
Sentinel
. The school paper is about news, not gossip. There are no facts to back up these rumors. Plus, you're asking me to write something that would really hurt Isabel Martinez, who happens to be a very good friend of mine. That's just plain wrong. I can't believe you would ask me to do something like that.”

“I'm
asking
you,” Jennifer shot back, “to act like a real reporter and keep your feelings out of this. That's what being a professional journalist is all about. Maybe in a few years you'll get the hang of it.” Charlotte felt a flash of anger. Where did Jennifer get off talking to her like that? It's not like Jennifer was some award-winning reporter or anything, Charlotte thought angrily.

“Being a professional journalist means covering real news,” Charlotte finally spoke up, “and not depending on stories about rumors and gossip, all of which are untrue. When you have a
real
news story for me, I'll be glad to cover it. You know that I'm a hard worker and will do as much as I can to make the
Sentinel
a great school paper. But it'd be easier for me to do my job if you would help me and give me good tips instead of ordering me around like I'm in third grade. In the meantime, you can forget about my covering this kind of junk.”