Fabulous Five 032 - Class Trip Calamity Read Online Free PDF Page B

rage.
How dare Laura try to sink her claws into Randy and work on him to join her
party crowd? That was obviously what she was doing.
    Laura glanced up. Seeing Jana, she let a smile twitch around
her mouth for an instant, and then she looked at Randy and went on talking.
    Jana whirled around and stomped down the hall, aware that
she was going in the opposite direction of her locker, but not caring.
    Maybe I should rat on Laura and the others, after all, she
thought angrily as she turned down a hall that ran through the center of the
building and would take her to her locker without having to pass Laura and
Randy again. Maybe I should write a note and sneak it into Mr. Bell's mailbox
by the office door. Or maybe I could call the school and disguise my voice.
    Jana sighed. She couldn't do either of those things, and she
knew it. It was not just that she would never snitch, no matter what. There was
Randy. What if Laura really had persuaded him to go along with her crowd? Then
if Jana ratted, he would get in trouble, too. She could never be responsible
for a thing like that.
    When she reached her locker, she worked the combination
lock, remembering suddenly that she had forgotten all about telling her friends
the warning she had received from Funny. She would have to tell them at lunch,
because there was no way of knowing what Laura might be cooking up.
    As she swung open her locker door, she heard a crash,
followed by the sound of glass breaking near her feet. Before she could look
down, the strong smell of liquor rose toward her and made her cough.
    "Oh, my gosh!" Jana cried. "Where did that come from?"
    Scattered at her feet were fragments of a bottle, a few of
them lying in small, brownish puddles. Some of the liquid had splashed onto her
white tennis shoes and the legs of her jeans.
    "Pe-YEW!" said Mona Vaughn, who was standing at
her locker next to Jana's. Mona made a face and pretended to gag.
    "Yeah. Where did that come from?" asked
Heather Clark.
    Jana was too flustered to answer for a moment. "I don't
know . . . honest . . ." she faltered. "I don't have any idea!"
    By now a large crowd had gathered.
    "Hey, Jana's starting the party early," yelled
Tony Sanchez, and laughter rang in the hall.
    "Somebody get Mr. Bartosik," called out Joel Murphy.
    Jana panicked at the mention of the custodian's name. "No!
Don't call him. I can clean it up myself."
    "It's too late," said Mona. "Somebody already
went to get him."
    "Oh, no," Jana murmured.
    "What's going on?" asked Katie, elbowing her way
through the crowd.
    Jana almost collapsed with relief at the sight of her
friend. "Somebody planted a booze bottle in my locker, and it fell out and
broke when I opened the door. Thank goodness it was almost empty."
    Melanie and Beth walked up in time to hear Jana's explanation.
    "Who do you think did it?" asked Beth.
    "I know who did it," said Jana, and then
she told them what Funny had said on the way to school.
    Katie frowned. "How could Laura or anyone else get into
your locker? Didn't you lock it when you went home last night?"
    Jana was stunned. "Of course I locked it last night. I
just unlocked it right now. But you're right. Nobody knows the combination to
my lock. Not even the rest of The Fabulous Five."
    "Then you're going to have a hard time explaining this,"
Katie told her.
    "Explaining it!" Jana exploded. "Why should I
have to explain it? You know I didn't put that bottle in there myself!"
    "Calm down, Jana," said Katie. "I know you
didn't put it there, but Mr. Bartosik will have to report it to Mr. Bell, and
then you'll probably have to go before Teen Court. I just want you to be
prepared for the questions the judges will ask."
    Jana groaned. "Not Teen Court. What will I say?"
Just then Mr. Bartosik came through the crowd, pushing a cart that contained a
trash barrel, a broom, a mop, and a bucket of water.
    "Been an accident here, huh?" he said pleasantly,
but his expression changed as he sniffed the air. "Young lady, is that