| Excerpts from books 9-16 |
| The Boyfriend Dilemma "Hi, Katie, Christie, and Beth." Kaci Davis was brushing her blond hair and had seen them in the mirror. "Got a big date with Jon tonight, Christie?" Kaci asked. "No, not really," Christie answered, trying to sound as casual as possible. "We're here together, but we're just friends." Kaci's hand stopped in midstroke, and she looked at Christie's reflection. "Right!" Kaci nudged Colby Graham, an eighth-grader standing next to her, and they both laughed. Christie could feel her face turning red. Not again, she thought. Today had been full of the same things happening over and over. First she had to explain about the mixup at the Super Quiz tryouts. Now she had to tell everyone that she and Jon were just friends. She held back an exasperated sign and gave Kaci a forced smile. When would everyone finally get it? |
| Playing the Part "Keith asked me to go to the movies with him," Christie said. "It's okay with you, isn't it, Beth? I only gave him a tentative yes. I won't do it if you don't want me to." Beth's face felt as if it had been starched stiff when she tried to smile. "Oh. Oh, no. That's okay. I said you could date him." "Good," responded Christie, looking genuinely relieved. "I really didn't THINK you'd mind. Especially after you said you were going to break up with Keith anyway. Actually, it might make it easier for you to break up with him if I do go out with him." "I hadn't thought of that," said Beth, putting on her best acting face. |
| Hit and Run This was it. The moment she had been dreading. She slowed down and then stopped as Randy caught up with her, but she didn't turn around or look at him. "I know you have something to tell me. Go ahead. Get it over with." "What are you talking about?" he asked. "I don't have anything to tell you and I don't understand why you're acting like this." Jana spun around. "Oh, no? Well, I know better. I know that you're just waiting for the chance to break up with me. So why don't you just leave me alone and go back to your new girlfriend, Laura McCall!" she cried. Before Randy could answer, she whirled away again. Running as fast as she could to get away form him, she headed across the street. Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of screeching tires. Or was it someone shouting her name? She felt a hard jolt and the paement rushed ot meet her. Then everything went black. |
| Katie's Dating Tips "Katie, you'd better come to the cafeteria right now," said Christie. Katie shook her head. "I don't understand. What's wrong?" "Do you know who has lunchroom duty today? Mr. Dracovitch!" Beth sputtered. "He's in there right now eating his lunch, and your mother is in there, eating with him!" "Yeah," insisted Christie. "And you should see how they're smiling at each other." Katie stared at her friends. Surely they were mistaken. Her mother wouldn't do a thing like this to her, would she? "Hurry," Beth called. "We don't want them to leave before we get there." They sped toward the cafeteria. There was a round window like a porthole in each of the doors leading to the lunchroom, and Katie zeroed in on one of them. She couldn't believe her eyes. There they were, nibbling on sandwiches and giggling together like lovestick teenagers. Katie threw her hand over her eyes and leaned against the wall. "What am I going to do?" she moaned. |
| The Christmas Countdown The Fabulous Five stared speechlessly at the man as if he had just pronounced their own doom. Finally, Melanie broke the silence. "No!" she cried, pushing out her chin. "No, what?" the man asked, looking at her with surprise. "No, we're not going to let anybody put these dogs and cats to sleep," she answered defiantly. "Do you have the money to adopt them, or homes for them?" he asked. Melanie's shoulders sagged, and she looked at the faces of her friends. They all looked horrified, and Mona's cheeks were wet from the tears that were running down them. "We'll find a way," Melanie said with conviction. "Come on, gang, let's go have a meeting at my house." She'd find a way to save the animals before Christmas Eve if it was the last thing she ever did. |
| Seventh Grade Menace Mr. Broderick called the class to attention and began the day's lesson. As the teacher was talking, a motion in the row next to Jana caught her eye. Geena McNatt was holding a ruler, and she was using it to slowly push the books on the corner of Mona Vaughn's desk off the edge. Jana watched, frozen in her seat for a second. Should she warn Mona? Before she could decide what to do, the books went crashing to the floor. Mona nearly jumped out of her seat, and Mr. Broderick stopped speaking as everyone turned to see what had happened. Mona's face turned bright red. "Sorry," she said in a tiny voice. Geena really is a menace, Jana thought angrily. First she took Whitney Larkin's homework, and now she's knocked Mona's books onto the floor. I don't mind her picking on me, but why does she have to pick on people like Mona and Whitney? Something had to be down about Geena McNatt. |
| Melanie's Identity Crisis Melanie looked at the pile of letters in her lap. She wanted to go on reading them. There was something almost magic in holding them in her hands and knowing that they had been sent to someone very much like herself so long ago. She could almost see Cordia's fliratious smile as she bestowed it on first one young man then another. "I know just how she felt," Melanie murmered. She retied the letters with the pink bow and then noticed another letter. Her own mother's return address was in the corner. What caught her eye was the postmark, which was only seven months before her own birth, and a notation on the envelope: "News That Kathy's Going to Have a Baby". Melanie stared at the letter for a moment. Kathy was her mother's name. It gave her a tingly feeling to see the letter lying there and know it was about her before she was even born. Should I read it, or shouldn't I? She wondered. "It's about me," Melanie said aloud. "So I'm going to read it..." |
| The Hotline Emergency "Katie's right about one thing," said Christie. "We need clues. Let's make a list of things about him that would be helpful to know, if I can get him to tell me." She dug a pencil out of her purse and opened her notebook to a blank page. "What classes does he have?" volunteered Katie. "Who does he hang out with?" said Jana. "What's the color his hair?" added Beth. "How tall is he?" "Does he play sports?" interjected Melanie. "Is he in the band or any other school activities?" asked Katie. Christie wrote down the suggestions as fast as she could, and with each one she felt better. At last she and her friends were doing something positive. She was beginning to think that if she was careful and asked the questions in just the right way, she could find out who the mystery caller was... |