Fabulous Five 019 - The Boys-Only Club Read Online Free PDF Page B

"Why don't
the girls care?"
    "As I said," Beth injected, "they don't feel
discriminated against at Wacko. Hey, Katie, I just remembered. Can we see the
time capsule?"
    "It's in my closet," said Katie, getting up to get
it. "Jana's got Gwyneth's notebook."
    She put the metal box on the floor and the others gathered
in a circle around it.
    "I always thought time capsules were shiny,
bullet-shaped things," said Melanie.
    "They can be any shape," said Christie. "All
they are is something that will protect what you put in it for a long time."
    "Hey, look at this picture of a boy with a monkey,"
cried Melanie. "That's cute."
    "That's Tommy and Cho Cho," said Katie.
    She went through the different items in the box and explained
what she had read about them to the others, including the pictures of Gwyneth
and her family.
    "She's cute," said Jana. "Do you ever wonder
where she is now?"
    "Probably dead," said Beth.
    "She'd be, let's see . . . in her eighties now,"
said Christie. "My grandmother is seventy-nine. Gwyneth could still be
alive."
    "I guess that's true," admitted Beth. "My
grandma Barry is around seventy-seven, and she takes all those tours to other
countries."
    "Until I started reading Gwyneth's book, I never
thought much about older people being young," said Katie. "But
reading Gwyneth's notebook and seeing her picture is sort of like meeting her
when she was our age."
    "It makes me wonder what she looks like now, if she's
still alive," said Christie.
    "It makes me wonder what I'm going to look like
seventy years from now," said Jana.
    "Hanging on to Randy Kirwan for support," said
Melanie. She put her arm over Beth's shoulders and hung on to her as if she
couldn't hold herself up.
    "Hey," said Jana, pushing her playfully. "I
was being serious."
    "Me, too," said Beth.
    Katie held up the picture of the Plum family so she could
see it better. "That's her," she said, pointing to Gwyneth, standing by
her father. "I think my room was Gwyneth's when she made the time capsule.
She might have sat where we're sitting and played with her cat or something."
They all looked at Libber, who was sleeping peacefully in Katie's lap.
    "Okay, back to business," Jana ordered. "What
are we going to do in the girls' club? We can't just sit around and talk."
    "Well, it's got to be fun," said Melanie, "or
else no one will come."
    "Did Laura have any suggestions?" asked Christie.
    "We didn't discuss it, but when I talk to her again, I'll
ask her if she and the others have any ideas," said Katie.
    "I've got an idea," said Beth. "Why don't we
ask everyone to bring extra clothes, and we'll all try on different things. We
ought to come up with some super new outfits."
    "And pizza!" said Melanie. "Tell everyone to
bring money for pizza."
    Katie waved her hand. "I've got an aerobics tape we can
use. Remember, this should be a self-improvement club."
    "That's great!" said Jana. "We can tell the
girls how beautiful they'll get to be if they belong to the club."
    "That's a superficial reason," said Katie. "I'd
rather have lessons in self-defense."
    "We've got to get them interested first,"
responded Jana. "Then you can bring in a karate expert."
    "Maybe we can get Brian Olsen to teach us when we get
to that," said Melanie. "But where are we going to meet?"
    "My house," volunteered Christie. "My mom
will go for anything that has to do with self-improvement."
    Everyone cheered, "ALL RIGHT!"
     
    Katie pushed back the covers and crawled into bed. Libber's
purr sounded like a miniature outboard motor as the cat jumped up onto the end
of the bed and marched directly to Katie. Katie reached out and stroked the
yellow cat, and Libber moved closer, rubbing her face against Katie's. "Oh,
Libber, I'm tired. Sometimes I wish I could lie around the house and sleep like
you do." She scratched the cat behind the ears, and it scrunched its face
in pleasure.
    Katie took a deep breath. She was tired. From all the
excitement and trying to get the Wakeman girls to recognize