Fabulous Five 028 - Breaking Up Read Free Page B

offered
Katie. When Beth gave her a puzzled look, she added, "You know. He could
have had a fight with his parents, or something."
    "I'm sure everything is going to be okay," Melanie
said sympathetically. "You know how boys are sometimes —weird! "
    Beth shrugged, and lapsed into silence again.
    When The Fabulous Five meeting broke up later in the
afternoon, Beth lingered, pretending to search her coat pockets as if she were
looking for something important. As soon as the others had gone, she dropped
her coat on Jana's bed and sank down beside it. "Jana, I have to talk to
you. It's an emergency."
    "Of course, Beth. You know you can always talk to me,"
Jana said gently. She could guess what was coming, and she took a deep breath
and sat down beside her friend. "It's about Keith, isn't it?"
    Beth nodded and looked as if she were struggling to hold
back tears. "It was just awful, Jana. He didn't say six words to me all
night. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me. He just kept
saying 'nothing.' But I knew that wasn't true."
    "Is there anything he could be mad about?" asked
Jana. "Have you done anything lately that he didn't like?" She was
thinking back to the times Keith had been jealous of all the time Beth spent
with the Drama Club. In fact, they had almost broken up once because he said
she cared more about acting than about him.
    Beth shook her head. "I can't think of anything ,
and, believe me, I've tried. Oh, Jana, I like him so much. I know we've had
problems sometimes because he's immature, but he's fun and almost as crazy as I
am. I'm really worried." She hesitated and then said just above a whisper,
"He didn't even kiss me good-night."
    Jana's hopes sank. It wasn't Beth's imagination, after all.
Something really was wrong, and she couldn't stand to think of her best friend's
getting hurt.
    "You've got to do me a favor," Beth said
earnestly. "Please, you're the only one I can ask."
    Jana knew she had no choice, even though red warning lights
were flashing in her brain. "What?"
    "Call Keith," Beth implored. "Call him and
ask him what's wrong. Just don't tell him I put you up to it."
    "Oh, Beth. I don't know," she replied slowly. "I
mean, what excuse could I use for calling? He knows we're best friends."
    "I don't know. You'll think of something."
    Jana bit her lower lip. Beth looked so miserable that she
couldn't possibly say no. Finally she took a deep breath and said, "Okay.
I'll try, but I can't promise that he'll tell me anything."
    Beth wrapped her arms around Jana and gave her a huge hug. "Oh,
thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! You don't know how much better I feel
already. And I'll call Shawnie about Craig's talking to Parker, too. I promise!"
Beth grabbed her coat and headed for the door. "And call me the instant
you talk to Keith, okay?"
    Jana agreed and closed the door behind Beth. Now what am I
going to do? she wondered.
    She went back into her bedroom and sat down at her desk. She
knew it was almost time to help her mother get supper ready, but first she had
to figure out a way to talk to Keith. She opened her notebook and began
scribbling down possible things to say.
    Hi, Keith. This is Jana. I was wondering if I could talk
to you about Beth. She paused and bit the end of her pencil. That wasn't
too bad. But what next?
    Are you mad at her about something? No, thought Jana,
scratching that out.
    Did Beth do something to make you mad? Not much
better, she thought, and drew a line through the words.
    Beth's a little worried that you might be mad about
something , and she asked me to talk to you. Hmmm, thought Jana. That
might work.
    Through her closed bedroom door, she could hear the phone
ringing. A moment later Mrs. Pinkerton knocked softly on the door. "It's
for you, honey. A boy."
    "Thanks, Mom," Jana said, and felt little tingles
race across her scalp. Who could that be? she wondered. Parker? Or Randy? Gosh,
I hope not. I'm not ready to talk to either of them.
    Nervously she rose from