Fabulous Five 032 - Class Trip Calamity Read online

  THE FABULOUS FIVE #32

  CLASS TRIP CALAMITY

  BETSY HAYNES

  A BANTAM SKYLARK BOOK®

  NEW YORK • TORONTO • LONDON • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND

  RL 5, 009-012

  CLASS TRIP CALAMITY

  A Bantam Skylark Book / June 1992

  Skylark Books is a registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Registered in U.S. Patent and trademark Office and elsewhere.

  The Fabulous Five is a registered trademark of Betsy Haynes and James Haynes.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 1992 by Betsy Haynes and James Haynes.

  Cover art copyright © 1992 by Andrew Bacha.

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  For information address: Bantam Books.

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  ISBN 0-553-15969-0

  Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

  Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books" and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103.

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  CWO 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  CHAPTER 1

  Bumpers was jammed with kids from Wakeman Junior High on Friday night after the movie when Jana Morgan and her best friends pushed their way through the fast-food restaurant. Booths and bumper cars were overflowing with boys and girls, and the line at the order counter reached almost to the front door.

  "Wow! Have you ever seen such a crowd in your life?" Beth Barry shouted over the noise.

  Katie Shannon pointed toward the far end of the counter. "Look. Mr. Matson's even brought in a television set so we can watch the news report."

  "Oh, my gosh!" said Melanie Edwards. "I'm so nervous. What if it doesn't pass?"

  "We've all got our fingers crossed," Jana assured her.

  Katie laughed. "Right. I'll bet there are more fingers crossed in this room than in anyplace else in America."

  "Or the world!" added Beth with a dramatic sweep of her hand.

  "Quick. There's an empty bumper car!" shouted Jana. She made a beeline toward a red bumper car that three eighth-grade boys were vacating. "Let's grab it!"

  The four girls had barely settled into the car when a cheer went up in the crowd. Glancing around, Jana saw that Mr. Matson had turned on the television set and was flipping through the channels with his remote control, finally stopping at channel 30, the local station.

  "Shhh! Everybody quiet!"

  "Yeah, pipe down, everybody! It's time."

  The crowed grew quiet as the channel 30 theme music came on and the camera zoomed in on Marge Whitworth at the news desk.

  "Good evening, everyone. This is Marge Whitworth with the ten-o'clock news. Our top story tonight concerns the school board's nearly unanimous vote just moments ago to change Wakeman Junior High into a middle school. The change will take place at the beginning of the next school year, in September, and will also include enlarging the high school to include ninth-graders. The change was brought about by overcrowding—"

  Pandemonium broke out as all the kids in the place scrambled to their feet, clapping and stamping and shouting at the top of their lungs. Dozens of drinking-straw wrappers streaked into the air like rockets.

  Jana hugged Beth, Katie, and Melanie. She couldn't remember when she had been so excited. Across the room she could see Randy Kirwan, her steady boyfriend, and she gave him a thumbs-up sign.

  Dekeisha Adams perched on the edge of the red bumper car as the noise began to subside. "Whew! I can't believe it," she said, shaking her head and grinning at the same time. "Do you realize that when they change Wakeman from a junior high with seventh, eighth, and ninth grades to a middle school with sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, we'll be the upperclassmen next year!"

  "Yeah," said Katie. "What a switch, huh? We'll go from being the youngest—'seventh-grade babies' they called us this year, in case you've forgotten—to the oldest and the biggest deals on campus, the eighth-graders."

  "And just think what a great homecoming it will be for Christie," said Jana. "She'll be getting back from London just before school starts." The fifth member of The Fabulous Five, Christie Winchell, had moved to London when her father got a big promotion midway through the school year. But now, much to everyone's relief, the family was moving back again.

  "I can't wait to tell her the good news," said Melanie. "I'm going to write her tomorrow."

  Beth jumped into the middle of the floor and motioned to Melanie and Dekeisha to join her. "Come on, guys. Let's make up a cheer!"

  Laughing, Melanie and Dekeisha raced to Beth. They whispered together for a couple of minutes and then all three stood with their feet wide apart and their hands in the air. Then Melanie and Dekeisha watched for Beth to lead them as they all three chanted:

  Hey! Hey! What can we say?

  We won't be the babies for one more day!

  Instead we'll be

  the biggest and the best!

  Yea! Yea! For Wakeman Middle School!

  We de-SERVE it!

  There was another round of wild applause as the rest of the cheerleading squad joined in, and for the next ten minutes Bumpers rocked with the new cheer. Finally, when everyone was near collapse from excitement and exhaustion, Jana and her friends sank back in their red bumper car and took deep swallows of their soft drinks.

  "I don't know what you girls are celebrating," said a deep voice from behind the bumper car.

  Melanie sat up abruptly, and when Tim Riggs appeared from behind them, she demanded, "What do you mean by that?"

  "We eighth-graders are the ones with something to celebrate," he said, his eyes gleaming. "I mean, the way things were before, we were going into the ninth grade next year, but we would still be in junior high. Now we're going into high school."

  Melanie grinned slyly. "Yeah, but you're going to be a freshman—one of the babies of the high school. We're going to be the most mature students in our school."

  Tim chuckled good-naturedly. "Good point."

  "It's too bad that Tim won't be back at Wakeman next year," she said, watching him move on to another group of kids. "I never really noticed how cute he is before."

  "Melanie," Katie replied indignantly. "You've got Shane Arrington. What more do you want?"

  Melanie frowned and opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say a word, Shawnie Pendergast raced up to the bumper car, leaning against it as she tried to catch her breath.

  "I just called my parents, and they said I could have a party tomorrow night to celebrate Wacko's becoming a middle school and school's being out in a week and a half!" she said, panting. "You guys can come, can't you?"

  "Gosh, I'd love to," answered Jana. "I'll have to check with my parents, but I'm sure they'll let me."

  "Me, too. Me, too," echoed the others.

  "Terrific. I'll talk to you later. I have to ask a bunch more kids." Shawnie whirled away to a nearby booth, where Dekeisha, Alexis Duvall, Lisa Snow, and Marcie Bee were sitting.

  Ja
na sat back, sipping on her soft drink. "You know," she mused, "not only is school almost out for the summer, but there are a lot of great things about to happen."

  "Right," said Beth. "Next weekend is the class trip to New York City to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island."

  "Shawnie's having a party tomorrow night," added Melanie.

  "And don't forget that Christie is coming home," said Katie.

  "And Wakeman Junior High is going to be Wakeman Middle School!" the four friends said in unison and clinked their glasses together in a toast to all the good things to come.

  CHAPTER 2

  Except for the tact that there were no bumper cars, Shawnie's basement playroom bore a remarkable resemblance to Bumpers the night before, Jana decided as she skipped down the stairs and entered the room. Mainly because kids were everywhere. At one end of the enormous room a sofa and two love seats formed a semicircle around a huge stone fireplace. The sofa and love seats were loaded with talking, laughing, seventh-grade girls. Laura McCall had the rest of The Fantastic Foursome—Tammy Lucero, Melissa McConnell, and Funny Hawthorne—gathered around her on the sofa, and Jana knew every single girl on the love seats, too.

  At the other end of the room the mirrored bar held trays of refreshments, and a group of boys, including

  Randy, Scott Daly, Keith Masterson, and Tony Sanchez, were standing around munching brownies. Almost every inch of floor space in between was taken up with couples dancing to rock music or clusters of kids simply standing around talking.

  "Now this is what I call a party!" exclaimed Beth, coming up beside Jana and snapping her fingers to the beat. Then she twirled around to show off the crocheted red tunic she was wearing over a bodysuit with a multicolored geometric design. "Like my outfit?" She ran a hand down the lacy tunic. "I crocheted this myself."

  Jana nodded happily. "It's wild. And speaking of wild, isn't this house incredible? I knew it was big, but I never dreamed that Shawnie's playroom was almost the size of a gymnasium."

  "Me, either," said Beth. "This must be how the other half lives."

  By this time Katie and Melanie had arrived and had stopped to talk to Kimm Taylor before moving on through the crowd toward Jana and Beth.

  "Kimm wanted to know what we're going to wear on the trip Saturday," Melanie told them. "I said probably shorts, since it's gotten so warm lately."

  "It's going to be a great trip," said Katie. "Mr. Naset has been telling our history class all about Ellis Island and how it was the place where all immigrants to the United States used to have to stop to get checked out before they entered the country."

  "Yeah," added Melanie, "and it's going to be a blast to ride school buses into New York City and then take the ferryboat across New York Harbor. I can't wait."

  Katie gave her a dirty look. "Can't you ever be serious? We're going to see an important piece of American history, and all you can think about is riding a bus and a boat."

  "I'm looking forward to going out to the Statue of Liberty again," said Jana. "I haven't been there since I was a little girl."

  Katie raised her chin and beamed at them. "And doesn't it make you feel proud to know that the Statue welcoming the tired, the poor, the huddled masses to this great country is a woman?"

  "Yes, Katie," they mumbled.

  Then Jana said, "I'll be right back. I want to talk to Randy for a minute."

  Jana was glad to escape another scene between Melanie and Katie, and she ducked through the groups of boys and girls to the refreshments, where Randy was standing with his back to her. She tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned around, she gave him a big smile and said, "So, what do you think of the big news that Wakeman is going to become a middle school?"

  Before Randy could answer, Clarence Marshall reached between them and grabbed a handful of chips, stuffing them in his mouth and speaking at the same time.

  "It's great! That's going to make our class BDOCs. Big deals on campus!" Laughing at his own joke, Clarence grabbed another handful of chips and turned to some boys standing nearby. "Did you hear that? We're going to be BDOCs next year!"

  Jana rolled her eyes. "Riiiight," she said, and Randy chuckled.

  Just then she heard a commotion on the stairs and looked up to see Shawnie leading her parents down the steps. Each of them carried four or five big pizza boxes, which they deposited on the bar near the brownies and chips.

  A big cheer went up, and Shawnie tossed her blond hair away from her face and held up her hand for quiet. "Okay, everybody. These are my parents."

  There was a small ripple of applause, and from somewhere in the back of the crowd came a soft boo.

  Shawnie laughed and held up her hand again. "The good news is: Now you see them, and now you don't. They've promised to stay upstairs—out of sight—for the rest of the evening!"

  This time the cheer was even bigger, and Mr. and Mrs. Pendergast waved to the crowd and made their way back up the stairs.

  The music blasted again, pizza boxes flew open, and the seventh-graders began partying in earnest. Jana was having a terrific time dancing with Randy, eating pizza and brownies, and drinking soda. Yet in spite of all the food and music, all anyone could seem to talk about was the change in Wakeman and the new status it would bring to their class.

  "Hey, everybody! We need a toast!" yelled Richie Corrierro. He was standing on a footstool, waving his soda can in the air.

  "Yeah!" shouted kids all around the room. "A toast! A toast!"

  "Curtis Trowbridge should make it," cried Jana. "He's the president of our class."

  "Oh, no," said Shawnie. "Curtis couldn't come tonight."

  "Hey, I'll make the toast," called Clarence, and before anyone could object he had climbed on the footstool Richie had been standing on and raised his soft-drink can into the air. "Here's to next year's eighth-graders at Wacko Middle School—the big deals on campus!"

  "Yea! Yea!" screamed Jana, jumping up and down and clunking her soda can against Randy's. "Wacko Middle School!"

  All around them kids were touching soda cans and cheering.

  "Hey, what we really need for our toast is champagne!" called out Joel Murphy.

  "Right on," yelled Tony Sanchez. "Hey, Shawnie, there's got to be some champagne in there." He was pointing toward the beautiful mirrored bar, which was littered with empty pizza boxes and brownie crumbs.

  "Champagne! Champagne!" A slow chant started at one end of the room and gradually grew. "Champagne! Champagne!"

  Shawnie tried desperately to shush the crowd. "My parents are upstairs!" she warned. "Don't let them hear you."

  As the crowd grew quieter, Tony Sanchez approached Shawnie. "Hey, we've got to have something for a real toast. They even do it on TV."

  "Right," said Bill Soliday. "Have you watched those locker room scenes after the World Series and the Super Bowl? Everybody's celebrating like crazy, drinking champagne and pouring it over each other's heads." Grabbing a can of root beer out of Tony's hand, he sloshed some over Tony's head.

  The crowd started to get wild again as Tony grabbed for Bill's soda to retaliate.

  Jana watched it all in astonishment. Tony and Bill actually sounded serious about toasting with champagne. She turned to say something to the rest of The Fabulous Five, but Katie was already talking.

  "Get serious, you guys," Katie yelled to Bill and Tony. "What's the matter with you, anyway? We don't need alcohol. We were already having a good time without it."

  "Besides, we don't want to get Shawnie in trouble," Jana chimed in.

  Shawnie threw them a look of gratitude. "I'd be grounded for life if I sneaked anything out of my parents' bar and they found out about it."

  Soft clucking sounds came from all sides of the room.

  "I am not a chicken!" Shawnie said defiantly, but Jana could hear uncertainty creeping into her voice. "I just don't want to get in trouble, that's all."

  "Come on, Shawnie," coaxed Joel. "They're not going to find out."

  "Yeah. H
ow are they going to know if none of us tells them?" asked Clarence.

  "I'd do it if we were at my house," announced Laura McCall. She was leaning against the bar, smiling confidently. "Of course, even if my dad found out, I could twist him around my little finger in a minute. He'd never punish me."

  Conversation began buzzing, and Jana pulled Beth closer and whispered, "There she goes again, bragging about how her dad gives her anything she wants to make up for her mother's leaving home when she was little. Half the girls in Wacko are dying to trade places with her."

  Beth shrugged. "More than half, if you ask me. But to tell you the truth, I get sick of all her bragging. If things are really that great, why does she have to talk about it all the time?"

  "She just likes to make other kids jealous, I guess," Jana replied.

  Jana watched as more kids stepped forward, putting pressure on Shawnie. What was most amazing to Jana was that some of the kids were girls whom she considered good friends.

  "Just one little toast," said Alexis. "What harm would that do?"

  "Right," agreed Sara Sawyer. "I mean, how often do we get to be the big deals on campus?"

  "Come on, Shawnie," urged kids from all around the room. "One toast won't hurt."

  "I think we should try to stop this," said Jana.

  "Don't be a party pooper, Jana," replied Beth, looking thoroughly disgusted. "They're right. One little toast won't hurt. Sometimes I think you're just too serious."

  "It would be fun," admitted Melanie. "I've never tasted champagne."

  "But, guys!" Jana insisted.

  Before Jana could come up with another argument, Shawnie had produced a tall, dark green bottle from under the bar. She held it up cautiously and put her finger to her lips. "I can only sneak one bottle of wine from the very back of the cabinet and be sure they won't miss is. And there's just enough for one little sip apiece," she cautioned.

  Beth gave Jana another wide-eyed look and said, "Come on, get into the spirit of things. It's just one teensy little toast."

  Jana looked around at the excited faces as kids scrambled for paper cups, and a small thrill raced up her back. Maybe she was being a party pooper, after all. Besides, it wasn't much fun being on the outside and watching everybody else have a good time. Beth was right, she decided. How could one teensy little sip hurt anything?