Fabulous Five 025 - The Fabulous Five Minus One

THE
FABULOUS FIVE #25

THE FABULOUS FIVE
MINUS ONE

BETSY HAYNES

A BANTAM SKYLARK
BOOK®

NEW YORK • TORONTO •
LONDON • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND

RL 5, 009-012

THE FABULOUS FIVE
MINUS ONE

A Bantam Skylark
Book
/ June 1991

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registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell
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All rights
reserved.

Copyright
©
1991 by Betsy Haynes and James Haynes.

Cover art
copyright © 1991 by Andrew Bacha.

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CWO      0 9 8 7 6 5
4 3 2 1

To Ellen Compton
for her advice and assistance

Christie Winchell crossed her eyes as Mr. Snider explained
simultaneous equations for what had to be the zillionth time. She knew that
algebra wasn't an easy subject for lots of kids, but this was ridiculous. She
slowly drew scallops along the edge of her notebook and tuned out the teachers
voice.

It wasn't just algebra that was so boring. All of her
classes at Wakeman Junior High were dull, dull, dull. They were either too easy
or didn't have anything to do with the real world. Even history, which was an
honors class and supposed to be challenging, was a drag. Mrs. Jamal had them
reading about Europe in the 1800s, which was interesting enough. But couldn't
she tie it in somehow to all the changes that were taking place in Europe
today? There must be a conspiracy to make school as boring as possible.

Christie sighed. What was even more frustrating, her classes
had become so dull, she was starting to hate studying. Every evening after
supper she marched to her room, opened her books, and then sat and stared at
the pages. Before she knew it, the words would blur, and suddenly her mind was
somewhere else. On top of that, her parents expected her to make all A's. It
wasn't so much that they said she
had
to, but she knew her mother, who
was the principal of Mark Twain Elementary, would be very unhappy if she didn't.
Christie sighed again and started darkening in the scallops with her pencil.

Mr. Snider's voice cut into her thoughts. "How about
you, Christie? Would you like to try?"

Everyone turned to look at her, and a feeling of panic
rushed over her. What was he talking about?

"Would you like to try to solve the problem, Christie?"
he asked, gesturing to an algebra formula on the board.

Christie slid out of her seat and hurriedly evaluated the
problem as she approached the board. By the time she reached the front of the
room, she knew the answer. With a few clicks of the chalk she wrote it down.

"Very good," Mr. Snider said, beaming at her. "Now
class, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Not for Christie!" Richie Corrierro called out
loudly. "The rest of us aren't as smart as she is." Laughter rippled
through the room. Christie shot dagger looks at him.

Mr. Snider frowned. "It wouldn't be hard for some of
you other kids, either, if you studied more." Richie sank low into his
seat and put his hands on his head as if he were protecting himself from being
hit on the head.

Just then the bell rang, ending the period. As Christie
gathered her books to leave, Laura McCall, who sat two seats behind her,
brushed by Christie and hissed,
"Show-off!"
She flipped the
end of her long braid at Christie and went out the door.

Christie glared after her. It's not showing off to do what
the instructor asks, she thought angrily. Laura McCall was just plain mean. She
and her friends, who called themselves The Fantastic Foursome, had given The
Fabulous Five trouble since the very first day of school. Christie should have
expected Laura to make a remark like that.

She was still steaming when she carried her tray to The
Fabulous Five's table in the cafeteria.

"Boy, Christie, you look mad," said Katie Shannon
as Christie took a seat next to her.

"That darn Laura called me a
show-off.
"

"She should talk," said Beth Barry. "If
anyone's a show-off, it's Laura."

"Why'd she call you that?" asked Jana Morgan.

"Because Mr. Snider asked me to do an algebra problem
on the board that no one else could do. What's the big deal about knowing how
to do a math problem, anyway?"

"For you, not much," replied Melanie Edwards, brushing
back her reddish-brown hair and looking at Christie with her big blue eyes.

"You sound just like Richie Corrierro," said
Christie, frowning.

"You shouldn't feel bad because you're smart,"
Jana said. "I'd give anything to have your brains."

"Not if you got teased about it all the time."

"Laura and Richie are just jealous," said Katie. "Don't
pay attention to them. We're your friends, and
we
know you're not
perfect." She giggled. Christie laughed with the others.

"That reminds me, I heard they're going to be choosing
the students for PEAK pretty soon," said Jana. "I know you're a cinch
to be in it."

"I forget—what does PEAK stand for again?" asked
Melanie.

"Pupils Excelling in Ability and Knowledge,"
answered Katie. "Any kid who scores high enough on an IQ test or in at
least the ninety-fifth percentile on the standardized achievement test is
considered gifted and talented and can be in PEAK."

"If you're chosen in seventh grade, you're in it for the
rest of junior high, if you want to be," Jana added. "Our Christie's
a G and T and will be asked to join, for sure."

"Aren't you excited, Christie?" asked Beth.

"Maybe I won't make it. Even if you have high scores,
your homeroom teacher still has to recommend you."

Jana stopped just as she started to take a bite of her
sandwich. "You've got to be kidding. You think Mr. Neal wouldn't recommend
you for PEAK?"

Melanie stopped in the middle of a bite of her sandwich. "Who's
that?" she asked, pointing at a boy who had gotten up from a table and was
carrying his tray to the return.

He wasn't anyone Christie knew. He was medium height, with
dark, sparkling eyes, and his black hair was cut very short.

As he passed The Fabulous Five's table, he flashed a cocky
grin in Christie's direction. It startled her, and a little flutter of
excitement ran through her. Embarrassed, she quickly looked away. When Christie
looked back, he had passed.

"His name's Chase Collins," said Jana. "He
just moved here from San Diego, California, and he's in my history class. I
heard that he's a champion swimmer. He's a hunk, isn't he?"

Christie stared after Chase. He had broad shoulders and a
deep tan and definitely looked as if he could be a champion swimmer. The memory
of his smile sent little chills up and down her spine. She wondered if he would
be in any of her classes.

"How's everything, Christie?" asked her father
that evening at the dinner table. "Catch me up on things." He had
just returned from a trip to London, England, where his company had recently
purchased a smaller company. He had been going there every week for some time.

"Fine."

"Oh, I wanted to mention, I got the results of your IQ
test today, Christie," said her mother. "You scored one hundred
fifty-two on it."

"Wow!" Mr. Winchell said, raising his eyebrows. "I'm
impressed."

"Have they started making the selections for the PEAK
program yet?" her mother asked.

"I think so."

"Well, I'm sure they'll ask you to join," her
mother said confidently. "With your grades and standardized test score and
the results of that intelligence test, I can't imagine anyone who belongs in a
gifted and talented program more than you do."

Christie poked at her food. "Do I have to join PEAK,
Mom?"

Her mother looked at her in astonishment. "Of course
you should. Why wouldn't you want to? It's exactly what you need to prepare you
for college."

"I'll get teased."

"Don't worry about that, baby," said her father. "Anyone
who teases you is probably just jealous."

"That's right," agreed her mother, dismissing
Christie's concern. "You can't let an opportunity like this go by simply
because some people don't understand that you're different."

"But I don't like being different."

"We're all different in some ways, honey," responded
her mother. "You're different in a special way."

Before Christie could say anything more, Mrs. Winchell
changed the subject. "How are things in London, Vince?"

"Okay, but it's great to have home cooking again. The
British don't put enough spice in their food for me."

"Will you have to keep going there much longer?"
asked his wife.

"Probably. There's still an awful lot to do to get the
new office running correctly. What they need is someone who can take over and
spend the next few years making sure everything goes smoothly. That's my
recommendation, anyway."

Mrs. Winchell stopped her fork halfway to her mouth. "Who
would they get to do it? You keep telling me there's no one in London who knows
enough about the business."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to sound like
I'm bragging, but I'm the obvious one. However, that decision's up to someone
else."

Christie's mother straightened her back and looked at her
husband closely. "You mean there's a chance they might ask you to go to
London permanently?" she asked.

"It's a possibility, I guess. I was planning to talk to
you about it this evening. It's something we need to discuss, in case the
subject does come up at work."

"I
should say
we need to discuss it," said
Mrs. Winchell, putting her fork down and glancing at Christie. "What about
my job? What about Christie's schooling?"

"Hey, not to worry. If they do decide to fill the job,
it will be months before they make their choice. You know how that goes."

Christie saw the worried look on her mother's face, and
suddenly her food tasted awful. What would she and her mother do if her father
went to England? Would they go, too, or stay here? Christie couldn't imagine
leaving the home she had lived in all her life, but she couldn't imagine her
father's not living with them, either. And if they went, she would have to
leave her friends in The Fabulous Five.
Even a year would seem like forever.
Christie stared at the food on her plate. The idea was mind-boggling.

Later that evening, as Christie sat at her desk, struggling
to keep her mind on her homework, she could hear her parents talking in the living
room. Their voices sounded strained and unhappy. She got up and tiptoed down
the hall to the doorway leading into the living room.

"I was hoping to be promoted myself," her mother
was saying. "Mr. Bell may be retiring from Wakeman Junior High in a year
or two, and I think I have a good chance of replacing him as principal. I'm not
sure what taking a couple of years off to go to England would do to
my
career."

"Look, Val." Her father sounded frustrated. "We
don't even know if there's going to be a job offer. You're worrying about
things that might never happen."

"I've got to worry about them even if you don't want
to," her mother responded with an edge in her voice. "There's a lot
more to this whole thing than just your changing from one job to another, Vince.
What about Christie? She's doing beautifully in school. What are the schools
like where she'd have to go? Do they have classes for gifted children? How long
would it take for her to adapt? This decision could have an enormous impact on
her life."

Christie wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She hated
to hear her parents arguing. They hardly ever raised their voices at each
other. And she especially didn't like what they were arguing about.

Christie slipped back to her room, but it was useless for
her to try to study after that.

The next morning when she got to school, Christie saw
Melanie laughing and talking to Shane Arrington near the bike rack. They looked
like they were having a good time. Melanie had always been boy crazy, but she had
been a one-boy girl since she and Shane had started dating.

Jana, Katie, and Beth were standing at The Fabulous Five's
spot at the fence. Jana, who had dark brown shoulder-length hair, was the group's
unofficial leader. She always seemed to be able to hold things together when a
problem arose.

Beth was the actress of the group. She had spiked hair, wore
flamboyant clothes, and had starred in several shows at Wakeman Junior High.

Small, red-haired Katie wanted to be a lawyer or a judge
someday. She was already practicing as a member of Wakeman's Teen Court.

"Hi, Christie," called Jana when she saw her
coming. Beth and Katie smiled and waved.

"You look as if you didn't go to bed last night,"
said Katie.

"Thanks," said Christie. "I needed that."

"Oops! I'm sorry. I was just teasing."

"I know," Christie answered. "I just feel
like Theresa Trashcan. It's not your fault."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Beth.

"Yes," said Jana. "You know we will."

Christie smiled at her friends. She
did
know they
would help any way they could. That's what friends were for, especially
fabulous friends like the ones she had. Before she could say anything, Melanie
came running up.

"Hey, Christie, guess what! Shane told me that that new
guy, Chase Collins, is interested in you."

"Chase Collins! Wow!" gushed Beth.

"Shh!" hissed Christie, glancing around quickly to
see who might be listening. Laura McCall and her friends were talking several
feet away but apparently hadn't heard Melanie. Chase was near the school
entrance with Jana's boyfriend, Randy Kirwan, and Tony Calcaterra, who was
Katie's boyfriend. Chase was grinning and talking as if he and the other two
boys had been friends for ages. Could he
really
be interested in me?
Christie wondered. The idea made her feel tingly.

"How does Shane know?" she asked, trying not to
sound too interested.

"Shane and Chase were talking after swim practice
yesterday, and Chase asked Shane who you were."

"That doesn't mean he
likes
me, Melanie,"
said Christie. "He's new, and he hardly knows anyone. He probably asked
about a lot of people."

"Come on, Chris," said Beth. "Boys don't ask
who girls are unless they're interested in them. Maybe this is the beginning of
a big new romance."

Christie could feel the heat rising in her face, and she
knew she was turning red in spite of herself.

"Christie's blushing!"
said Melanie,
covering her mouth to hide a giggle.

"I am not!" Christie protested. The grins on her
friends' faces told her she wasn't fooling any of them. She was saved by the
bell's ringing for school to begin.

As she made her way to homeroom, Christie was glad that she
hadn't had time to tell her friends about the possibility of her family's
moving to England. The idea was tough to deal with, and she wasn't ready to
talk about it yet. And besides, that's all it was . . . a possibility.

After Mr. Neal had taken roll and made the usual morning
announcements, he called Christie, Curtis Trowbridge, and Whitney Larkin to his
desk.

"Mrs. Brenner would like to see each of you today,
during your study periods. She has already gotten you excused from study hall.
You're all candidates for the PEAK program."

Christie looked at Curtis and Whitney. Curtis had gone to
Mark Twain Elementary with Christie. He wore black horn-rimmed glasses and was
the nerd of the world, but he certainly was smart. When her Fabulous Five
friends had put Christie's name in for seventh-grade class president without
asking Christie first, she and Jon Smith had talked Curtis into running instead
as a mystery candidate. Then Christie had backed Curtis so he would win.

Whitney had skipped sixth grade at Copper Beach Elementary
and was a year younger than everyone else in the class. She was nice but very
shy, and she and Curtis were dating. Christie wondered who else were the
seventh-grade candidates for PEAK.

"Hi, Mrs. Brenner. You wanted to see me?" Christie
asked, sticking her head into the guidance counselor's office later that day.

"Hello, Christie. Yes, I did. Come in."

When Christie was seated, Mrs. Brenner pulled a chair up
next to her and opened a folder. "I want to go over the information in
your file with you before I give it to the PEAK selection committee. You need
to understand what it's all about. That way you can decide for yourself whether
or not you want to join PEAK, if you're selected. The choice is yours.

"This is your standardized achievement test," she
said, picking up the top paper. "You scored in the ninety-ninth percentile
on that. Very nice. Your intelligence test score was high, too, as I'm sure
your parents have told you."

Christie squirmed in her seat. It always bothered her to be
complimented on her grades.

"Let's see," continued Mrs. Brenner. "Here's
Mr. Neal's teacher's checklist. As you can see, he gave you a
four,
which is the highest score, on just about every item under the learning,
motivation, creativity, and leadership categories.

"And here's the report your parents filled out for us.
I'm not surprised to see that they had only good things to say about you. They
think pretty highly of their daughter, don't they?" she said, smiling.

Christie saw her mother's handwriting on the form. Every
space on the four pages had been written in, and there was even writing on the
backs of some pages. She definitely wanted Christie to be in the PEAK program
and, being a principal, knew all the right things to say.

"And here's your self-appraisal," said Mrs.
Brenner. "You were much harder on yourself than Mr. Neal or your parents
were."

Some of the questions on the form had been hard for Christie
to answer. Things like, do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly
disagree with the following:

1. I am popular with other students.
2. Other people recognize that I am an intelligent person.
3. My work is often very original.

How could you say you believed other kids thought you were
the greatest, or you thought you were super smart? It sounded stuck-up. It was
embarrassing to answer the questions.

Mrs. Brenner closed the file. "As you and I discussed
before, Christie, only a few of our top students will get into PEAK. They'll
attend a special class but will still have to keep up with their regular
classes. Now the final question: Are you interested in joining if the committee
selects you?"

Christie fidgeted in her chair. She knew it would be an
honor to be in PEAK, but did she really want to join? It wasn't the extra work.
She didn't care about that. In fact, it might be more interesting than her
other classes, which would be a relief. It was just that she always seemed to
be trying to live up to other people's expectations, especially her parents'.
But the more she thought about it, the more she realized there was no way she
could say no without upsetting her mother. Oh, well, she thought, as she
nodded. It's just one more class.

"Great. The committee meets later today. We'll let you
know what it decides." The counselor reached out and patted Christie on
the shoulder. "Don't look so worried. You're sure to be chosen."

"Wait up, Christie," called Melanie.

It was nearly noon, and Christie was on her way to the
cafeteria. She stopped to let her friend catch up with her.

"Christie, I couldn't
wait
to find you and tell
you!" Melanie said breathlessly. "I was just talking to Shane, and he
said that Chase Collins asked if you were going steady with anyone. Isn't that
super? It's
for sure
now that he likes you." Melanie was dancing
along beside Christie in her excitement.

"He did?" Christie realized her mouth was hanging
open, and shut it.

"Yes! If he asks you for a date, will you go?"

Christie rolled her eyes. "How do I know? He hasn't
asked me."

"But if he
does
ask you, will you go?"

"Melanie! I don't know," Christie said in
exasperation. "I don't know anything about him."

"He's gorgeous. Does anything else matter?"
replied Melanie with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Christie shook her head in amazement at her friend. They had
hardly taken their seats in the cafeteria with the rest of The Fabulous Five
before Melanie started telling the other girls what Shane had said.

"He wanted to know if Christie's going steady,"
said Melanie.

"Sounds serious to me," said Katie, poking a straw
into her milk carton.

"Me, too," agreed Jana. "You ought to find
out where his locker is and 'accidentally' run into him there."

"Or maybe you could drop a book on his foot," said
Beth, laughing. "That way he'll have to notice you."

"I couldn't peek around corners and sneak after him,"
said Christie. "What if he caught me? It would be humiliating. I'd die of
embarrassment."

"Maybe we could tell Randy and Tony to tell Chase you
like him," said Melanie. "They're on the swim team with him."

"That's it!" exclaimed Jana. "Katie and I'll
go watch Randy and Tony practice after school. Christie can come along to keep
us company."

"I don't know . . ." Christie hesitated.

"Come on, Chris," said Katie. "Sooner or
later you're going to have to talk to Chase. Why not sooner?"

"You're the perfect couple," Melanie cooed. "He's
handsome and athletic, and you're beautiful and smart. I can't stand to think
that you two might never date. It would be
tragic
.
"

"I don't even know if I like him," Christie
protested.

"Come on, Chris," said Beth. "How are you
going to know if you don't meet him? We'll all go to swim practice and give you
moral support."

Christie sneaked a look at the table where Chase was
sitting. He
was
good-looking, and she really did want to meet him. "Okay.
But only if you all go."

"All right!" cheered Melanie.

At that very moment the voice of Miss Simone, the office
secretary, came over the public address system.

"Attention, everyone. The final selection of
seventh-grade students for the Pupils Excelling in Ability and Knowledge
program has been completed. The new PEAK students are Dekeisha Adams, Whitney
Larkin, Melissa McConnell, Melinda Thaler, Curtis Trowbridge, and Christie
Winchell. Congratulations to those students."

"Hooray!" cheered Beth. "You made it,
Christie." The others bounced up and down and patted Christie on the back.

"Congratulations, Christie," Marcie Bee called
from the next table.

"Yeah, way to go, Christie," yelled Lisa Snow.

All the attention made Christie feel uncomfortable.

Kids were congratulating Curtis and Whitney, who were
sitting together nearby. At The Fantastic Foursome's table, Laura, Funny, and
Tammy were congratulating Melissa.

Just then Richie Corrierro, Clarence Marshall, and Joel Murphy
got up to take their trays to the return.

"I wish I were smart," Richie said loudly as they
reached The Fabulous Five.

"Not me," said Clarence, stopping at the end of
the table and giving Christie a smart-alecky grin. "All those brains are
so heavy, you can't hold your head up straight."

"Yeah," agreed Joel. "And all you get to eat
is alphabet soup, math burgers, and historical hot dogs."

"The historical hot dogs are the worst, man!"
Richie said, sticking his tongue out and making a face. "They're ancient
and rotten."

"Doesn't matter," said Clarence. "You still
have to eat 'em if you're a PEAK." Christie saw Matt Zeboski laughing at
their dumb jokes.

She shot an angry look at the three boys as they stuck their
fingers in their mouths and made retching noises. Then they turned and walked
out of the cafeteria, laughing and bumping each other.

"Don't pay any attention to them, Christie," said
Jana. "Just consider the source."

"Yeah," said Katie. "They just wish they
could make the kind of grades you do."

Christie gave a little smile of appreciation, but she knew
that when Richie, Clarence, and Joel got on someone's case, they wouldn't let
up. She sighed. It wasn't always easy to take teasing.