Fabulous Five 014 - The Seventh-Grade Menace Read Online Free PDF Page B

let Geena drag her
into a fight. That wasn't the way people solved problems. "Look," she
said. "It was just an accident. Let's forget it."
    "It's easy for you to forget, Miss Popularity, "
Geena shot back. "Just because you and your friends think you run the school
doesn't mean you can run over people in the hall."
    Jana stared at Geena in shocked disbelief. "What are
you talking about? I don't think that my friends and I run the school."
    "Yes you do!"
    Jana drew in a deep breath and looked at the angry girl
standing in front of her. She was taller than Jana by a couple of inches, and
she was dressed in the same oversized red sweats she always seemed to be
wearing. Jana wasn't afraid of her, but she couldn't understand her at all. It
was as if she were a volcano waiting to blow.
    Calmly, Jana began to pick up her books. Two other kids who
had stopped to watch the argument handed her a notebook and two social studies
books. One of them was Geena's, and Jana held it out to her. Geena snatched it
from her hand.
    Jana brushed off her skirt and turned to leave. As she
walked away, she could feel Geena's eyes burning into her back.

CHAPTER 7
    Melanie stood in the middle of the Edwardses' family room
and banged a pen against her soda glass. "Okay, everybody. It's time to
put the puppies back in their box so that we can start our meeting."
    Groans filled the air.
    "Oh, come on, Mel," said Jana. Melanie's family
had adopted a dog named Rainbow from the local animal shelter. A few days
later, Rainbow had had eight puppies. Now Jana was cuddling two tiny puppies
under her chin. "We can talk and hold puppies at the same time."
    "Oh, yeah? That's what you think. We wouldn't get a
thing done," she countered. "This is important. Put the puppies back."
    Reluctantly, Jana placed the puppies close to Rainbow, who
had been stretched out in the box quietly watching The Fabulous Five play with
her babies. In fact, Jana had been sure that she had been smiling. One by one
the others replaced the little dogs, who began climbing all over Rainbow. One fat
little puppy who was exactly the same mixture of colors as his mother began
tugging on one of her ears.
    Melanie looked down into the box and then back at her
friends. "Okay. Who's hiding one? There are only seven here."
    "Not me," said Jana. "You all saw me. I was
the first one to put mine back."
    "Me, neither," said Randy, holding his arms wide
in a gesture of surrender.
    Everyone else shrugged and glanced around, looking innocent,
until Christie put her hands on her hips and said, "Okay, Calcaterra. Why
is that lump in your shirt moving?"
    "Who? Me?" he said. Then he grinned sheepishly. "Oh,
yeah. It is moving, isn't it? Must have been something I ate."
    "Don't tell me that Mr. Macho is really just an old
softie," quipped Katie.
    Everyone laughed at that, and Tony unbuttoned his shirt and
drew out a brown bundle of fur, which he deposited in the box with the others.
    Melanie clanged her glass again. "Before the meeting
starts, we have something special to do," she said.
    Randy, Shane, Scott, Keith, Tony, and Jon looked at each
other questioningly as Jana and Christie dug behind one of the couches and
brought out the paper bags The Fabulous Five had hidden there earlier. Jana and
the other girls each reached in and pulled out small bows made from yellow
ribbon and gave one to each of the boys. Then Melanie passed around a small tin
box that contained safety pins to the girls.
    "These ribbons are to show our concern for Igor,"
said Jana as she pinned one on Randy's shirt and then her own. "And you're
supposed to wear them to school every day until he's well."
    "They're kind of like the ones the kids wore for Randy
when he was in the hospital," observed Jon.
    "There is a resemblance between Randy and Igor,"
kidded Keith. "In fact, they could be related."
    Randy threw a crushed potato-chip bag at him.
    "And that's not all," said Beth. "We also
have get-well cards for Igor." The girls pulled cards