| Excerpts for Books 1-8 |
| Seventh-Grade Rumors "Hey, guys, come here," Jana called at last. "I think I've found it." The others hurried over to where she was standing. "This spot is perfect. From here we can see everything that's going on at the front of Wakeman Junior High." To Jana's relief, the others looked around and agreed. "So now we've got our list of critical things to remember and our special spot," said Christie. "I think we should meet somewhere on the first day of school and walk together." "Do you mean somewhere away from school so we can get our act together before we face junior high?" Jana asked. Christie nodded. "I ws thinking about the corner by Nuget's grocery around eight-thirty." "Great," said Melanie. "We'll come straight to this spot and wait for the bell. It will be just the same as Mark Twain Elementary." The others nodded. "Well, Fabulous Five," Katie said. "I think we're ready." "As ready as we'll every be," said Jana. But later, whe nshe thought back on it, she realized that they hadn't been ready for junior high at all... |
| The Trouble With Flirting Tossing her friends a smile, Melanie hurried to get in the cafeteria line behind Scott and silently rehearsed the tips for flirting as she went. "Hi, Scott," she said sweetly. She opened her eyes wide and looked directly into his, wishing she were wearing mascara and eye shadow to make them more noticeable. He seemed a little surprised to see her as he shifted his attention away from Tony and Bill. "Oh, hi, Melanie. How's it going?" "Super." Frantically she tried to think of a compliment. "That's a really great looking shirt you're wearing . I just love solid colors." As soon as she said that , she felt foolish. No one just loved solid colors. It had sounded dumb, but Scott was smiling anyway, as if he thought she had wonderful taste. Flirting was working for a second time! And the idea made her totally ecstatic. |
| The Popularity Trap AQUARIUS (Jan. 20- Feb 18) Today your best qualities will push you into the limelight. Special meeting will bring either conflict or romance. You could find yourself under pressure. Beware! "Come on, guys. Out with it," said Christie. "I know you aren't telling me the whole story. Why do you need me to run for president?" "It's just that no one could beat you," said Jana. "Not with your connections with Mr. Bell and your mom being a principal and all. Just think, you could go to him with a class problem and he would listen to you." Little explosions went off in Christie's brain, and red fireworks rained down before her eyes. It was incredible, she thought. Why did everyone expect so much of her all the time? And now... her own best friends... "Well, ex-CUSE me," she cried, jumping to her feet. "But I just don't happen to feel like runing." For once in her life, Beth looked flustered. "It's too late," she said. "We got your nominating petitions signed when you weren't looking and turned them in this morning." Christie was stunned. She dropped back down onto the bench like a balloon with a slow leak. My horoscope was right, she thought. I'm definitely under pressure, but it's too late to beware. |
| Her Honor, Katie Shannon "Katie!" wailed Jana. "How could you punish Keith and Randy? They're your friends." "They admitted they did it," Katie answered, "and the court's punishment was fair." "Was it?" Jana snapped. "Or were you just trying too hard to be Her Honor, Katie Shannon?" Katie didn't know what to say. She had only wanted to be fair. She had to be, even if it was a friend who had been brought before Teen Court. "I've got to go now,' Jana said. "I've got some things to do." She hung up, leaving the dial tone buzzing loudly in Katie's ear. Katie sighed deeply and stood looking at the dead phone in her hand. So far, being a fair judge on the Teen Court was a lot harder than she'd thought it would be- because her friends weren't being fair to her. |
| The Bragging War "Well, if you ask me, your story about our slumber party backfired!" Jana slammed down the phone in Beth's ear, but now it was Beth's turn to be angry. How could Jana blame me? How could she possibly think it was my fault that Laura McCall was making fools out of us? she thought desperately. How could anybody think that? It wasn't fair. Beth stomped back to her room, grabbing the pillow off her bed and hurling it onto the floor. Her life had turned into a roller coaster ride- up one minute, and in the pits the next- and it was all because of Laura. Beth would get her for this if it was the last thing she ever did. "Watch out, Laura McCall," she muttered under breath. "From now on, it's all-out war!" |
| The Parent Game Taffy wants to help me? Jana thought in disbelief. It was impossible. They had always been enemies. "What kind of plan?" Jana asked. She braced herself for some obviously devious idea. "I want you to remember that I won't do this if you say not to." Taffy seemed to be considering how to tell her. "I think if I asked Randy to be my partner on the Family Living project, Laura couldn't ask him, and then she couldn't steal him away form you. I'd only do it because I want us to be friends..." |
| The Kissing Disaster Melanie was surrounded by girls. Katie, Beth, Christie. And Jana. And they were all frowning at her and shaking their heads. "We don't like you anymore," said Katie. "You never talk about anything we want to talk about." "We don't want to be friends anymore," said Beth. "We've all made new friends." "Better friends," said Christie. "The Fabulous Five is through!" said Jana. Melanie tried to talk to them, but no words would come out. She tried to shout, but she couldn't make a sound. Finally, she reached out toward them and POOF! All four of them vanished into thin air. Just then a high-pitched sound echoed in her mind. She opened her eyes and recognized the bell ringing to end the class. All around her, kids were scrambling for the door, but Melanie sat still for a while, unable to shake off the effects of the dream. "What is it wasn't just a dream?" she whispered, and then shuddered. "What if it was a premonition?" |
| The Runaway Crisis Katie slipped downstairs to check on Shawnie, who was hiding out in her basement. "Hi," Shawnie said brightly. "Did I miss anything at school today?" "No," Katie assured her. "Just the same old stuff." "I got lucky," Shawnie bragged. "I heard your mom make a phone call to set up an interview and then go out, so I got to go upstairs and watch soap operas for almost two hours." "That's good," Katie said half-heartedly. She knew that she should be glad that Shawnie hadn't stuck in the dark basement all day without even a bathroom, but she felt depressed instead. Shawnie seemed incredibly happy, living in a dark basement and laughing over each report of her paren'ts misery. Nothing was going right for Katie and as much as she hated to admit it even to herself, it was all because of Shawnie. No matter how hard she tried not to doubt Shawnie's word, things were beginning to stack up against her. Who was really telling the truth, anyway? Shawnie? Or Tony or Mandy and even Mr. and Mrs. Pendergast? |