Fabulous Five 028 - Breaking Up Read Online Free PDF Page B

Bumpers for a little while.
Lots of kids go during the week."
    Jana could hear her pulse pounding in her ears. Here it was.
The moment she had been both looking forward to and dreading. The moment
another boy asked her out. She swallowed again. Her ears were ringing now. She
couldn't possibly go out with Parker. How would she act? What would she say?
But if she didn't, she reminded herself, hers and Randy's experiment would
never have a chance to work. Besides, fewer kids went out on school nights than
on weekends, which meant fewer would see her out with someone besides Randy. Randy. His name echoed in her mind, and she knew it was really Randy she was worried
about. She didn't want him to see her with another boy.
    "I guess that would be okay." The words sounded
thin as she pushed them out of her mouth. She looked up at Parker, who suddenly
seemed taller than ever. He was grinning his mischievous grin. "Come over
about six-thirty," she added.
    "Great. I'll be there." Parker ducked away toward
his own locker, leaving her standing in the middle of the hall with weak knees.
    She had done it! She had accepted a date with another boy! For
tonight! "Oh, my gosh," she murmured as she hurried to her
locker. Her hands were trembling so much that it took three tries to work the
combination.
     
    Jana had just come into her apartment and was still in a
daze from accepting a date with Parker Donovan when the phone rang.
    "Have you talked to him?" Beth demanded the
instant she said hello.
    "Who, Parker?" Jana asked, then realizing that
wasn't who Beth meant at all, she said quickly, "I meant Keith. No, I
haven't had a chance yet."
    Beth's voice fell. "Oh," she said. "Well,
when are you planning to talk to him? Oh, Jana, things were going so much
better between us until just lately. I've got to find out what's wrong so that
I can patch it up."
    Jana looked up at the ceiling helplessly. What was she going
to say? So much had happened today that she hadn't had time to plan when she
would talk to Keith.
    "How about tonight?" Beth continued. "You
could call him after supper."
    "Can't," Jana told her. "Parker Donovan is
coming over to study history. Then we're going to Bumpers."
    "Great," said Beth without much enthusiasm. "I
guess Shawnie must have talked to Craig about Parker. I hope you guys have fun."
    Jana felt a rush of guilt. Beth had called Shawnie, and now
Jana had a date while her best friend was wallowing in misery. Even if she
confessed to Beth how nervous she was about going out with Parker, it wouldn't
help.
    "I'll call Keith right now," she promised. "And
if he isn't home, I'll keep calling until Parker gets here. Okay?"
    "Thanks, Jana," said Beth gratefully. "You're
the best friend anyone could ever have."
    After she hung up the phone, Jana gazed around the empty
apartment. It would be another hour before her mom and Pink got home from work.
It would be best to call Keith now, the way she had promised, while there was
no one around to hear her conversation. But what am I going to say? she asked
herself as she punched in his number. It was too late now to make plans. She
would just have to play it by ear. Who knows, she thought hopefully, maybe he
won't even be home.
    Naturally Keith answered the phone.
    "Hi, Keith," said Jana.
    "Hey! Jana!" he cried, and she couldn't help
thinking that he seemed surprisingly glad to hear her voice.
    "Listen, Keith. There's something I need to talk to you
about," she said. "It's about Beth," she added softly.
    "Oh, yeah. I saw you talking to her at noon. She looked
pretty torn up."
    Jana was irritated that he sounded so unconcerned, but she
didn't say so. Instead, she went on, "I was wondering about why you broke
up with her. I know you said that you just got tired of going with her . . ."
Jana hesitated, gathering courage, and then plunged on. "But I was wondering
if there was another reason. You know, maybe something she did that you didn't
like. Or something she said."
    There was a pause on