Fabulous Five 028 - Breaking Up (3 page)

"Keith, I can't tell Beth a thing like that!" Jana
cried. "Besides, I can't believe you really mean it."

There was a loud sigh on the other end of the line, and then
Keith said, "Well, I do. I can't help it. I just don't want to go out with
her anymore."

Jana's mind was reeling. Poor Beth! She was going to be
totally crushed!

"Well . . . well . . . why do you want me to tell her?"
she asked, feeling just as confused as ever. "I'd think you'd want to tell
her yourself."

"I tried to. Last night. I mean, she even asked me if
something was wrong, and I chickened out."

"Well, just because you're chicken, what makes you
think I should do it?" Jana demanded. She was getting angrier by the
minute.

"You're her best friend. You can say it better than I
can," he offered.

"Humpf," snorted Jana.

"I mean it," insisted Keith. "Beth is a nice
kid, and I know she really likes me, and—"

"Of all the egotistical things to say, Keith Masterson!"
Jana shouted. "I never knew you were so conceited!"

"Come on, Jana. Let me finish."

Jana let out an angry breath, but she didn't say anything.

"I know if I try to tell her, I'll just goof it up and
say it all wrong. But maybe she'll take it better if she hears it from you. Do
you see what I mean?"

As badly as she hated to admit it even to herself, Jana
could see his point. Keith wasn't known for being tactful. And he had been a
jerk more than once since he had been dating Beth. There was no telling what he
might say to her. She could be hurt twice if she heard it from him. Once by
breaking up, and then by the way he said it. That would be awful, realized
Jana. Maybe she should be the one to break the news to Beth, after all.

"Okay," she said slowly. "I guess maybe I
could talk to her. But it's only for her sake," Jana warned. "I'm not
trying to do you any favors."

"Okay, I get it," said Keith, and she could hear
relief in his voice. "Thanks a lot. And, Jana . . ." he added, "the
sooner, the better, okay?"

"Keith Masterson, you
—"
But he had
already hung up.

Jana put the receiver down and stomped back to her room,
slamming the door behind herself. "
Now
what have I gotten myself
into?" she moaned. "Poor Beth! How can I possibly tell her that Keith
wants to break up with her? She'll absolutely
die!
"

A moment later her mother was outside the door. "Is
everything okay, honey?" she called.

Jana sighed deeply and opened the door, motioning for her mother
to come in. "First Beth wanted me to call Keith and ask him what's wrong,
but before I could do that, Keith called and asked me to tell her they're
breaking up."

"Wow," said Mrs. Pinkerton, shaking her head
sympathetically. "How did you get in the middle of all that?"

Jana explained the whole story to her mother. "What am
I going to do?"

"Well, if you want my advice, Keith really should do
his own dirty work."

"But what about Beth?" Jana insisted.

Her mother thought for a moment. "I can see your point
about not wanting Beth to be hurt any more than necessary, but there's no
guarantee that your telling her will help much. She's still going to be hurt,
and she may get mad at you for breaking the news. I'd stay out of it if I
could, sweetheart. Your friendship with Beth is too precious."

After Mrs. Pinkerton left her room, Jana thought about what
her mother had said. In some ways, she knew, it was good advice. Maybe it
wouldn't help Beth for her to get involved. And maybe Beth would get mad at
her. But at the same time, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing! Beth was
her very best friend in the world.

She considered calling Melanie and Katie and asking them
what they thought she should do. After all, The Fabulous Five always stuck
together. But the more she thought about it, the more she knew that wouldn't
work.

"Melanie would start lining up dates for Beth, and
Katie would want Keith shot at sunrise," she muttered. She would just have
to figure it out for herself.

Mercifully her mother didn't mention Beth while they got
supper on the table or during dinner, and Pink was busy talking about the
bowling tournament he was taking part in on Saturday and didn't seem to notice
her quiet mood. Even while they did the dishes, her mother kept the
conversation on other topics. She knows I have to make my own decision, Jana
realized gratefully.

Finally, shortly after the kitchen light was turned out and
her mother and Pink had settled in front of the television for the evening,
Jana knew she couldn't wait any longer. She had to call Beth.

She punched in the number and listened to the ring. One.
Two. Three. Four. Five.

That's funny, Jana thought as the phone continued to ring,
with seven people in the family, there's almost always someone home at the
Barrys'.

Jana frowned as she replaced the receiver. That meant she
would have to talk to Beth at school tomorrow. They wouldn't have much privacy
there. What if Beth started crying? She might have to go to class with a red
nose and puffy eyes. That would be awful. Kids would ask questions, and they
might guess what had happened. Even worse, Keith might see her. It would
probably make his ego even bigger to see a girl cry over him.

Jana tried Beth's number three more times before she went to
bed, but no one answered. There were a million places Beth and her family could
have gone, of course, but knowing that didn't help. If anything, it made Jana
worry about tomorrow, and she had a hard time falling asleep.

The next morning the first person she saw as she hurried to
The Fabulous Five's meeting place at school was Beth. She was leaning against
the chain-link fence with a mournful look on her face.

Jana's heart leapt into her throat, and she stopped in the
shadows of a copper beech tree and thought the situation over. This might be a
good time to break the news, since Beth was alone. But Melanie and Katie would
be along any minute. Besides them, some mornings Alexis Duvall and Dekeisha
Adams stood with them before school. It was just too public to tell her now.

Jana took a deep breath and stepped onto the sidewalk again.

"Hey, Jana. Come here."

She whirled around to see who had called her, knowing deep
down who it had been. Keith stood a few yards away, and he was looking straight
at her.

"What do you want?" she challenged.

"Come here, would you?" he insisted.

Jana sighed loudly to show her disgust and scuffed toward
him. "If you want to know if I've talked to Beth yet, the answer is no. I
tried to call her last night, but nobody was home."

Keith nodded that he understood and shifted from one foot to
the other. "Okay," he said nervously. "But would you do it as
soon as you can? I really want to get this over with."

"Oh, sure," Jana replied sarcastically. "I do
this sort of thing every day. I'll just run right up to her in front of everybody
and tell her you want to break up. Is that what you want me to do?"

"No, but . . . well . . ." he fumbled. "Just
let me know when you've talked to her. Okay?"

Jana nodded curtly, narrowing her eyes as he walked away. "That
creep!" she mumbled under her breath.

Beth's expression changed to a smile as Jana walked toward
her. Katie and Dekeisha were there now, too.

"Hi, Jana," Beth said excitedly. "I saw you
talking to Keith just now. Did you ask him?" She got a mysterious look on
her face, as if she didn't want Katie and Dekeisha to know what she meant, and
added, "You know. The stuff we were talking about."

"Oh, that?" answered Jana. She knew immediately
that her words had come out sounding fake. "Umm, well, not exactly."

Beth's face fell. "What do you mean, not exactly?"

"I can't tell you right now," Jana said quickly. "It
would . . . umm . . . take too long, and the bell's going to ring."

Beth looked confused. "Well, can't you tell me what it
was about?"

"I've got to hurry," called Jana, running backward
toward the school. "Have to see Miss Dickinson before the bell. I'll meet you
in the cafeteria at noon. Okay?"

Beth nodded as she watched Jana leave, and from the look on
her face Jana knew she was already feeling hurt.

"She knows I'm hiding something," Jana whispered
to herself as she hurried into the building. "And she knows I don't have
to see Miss Dickinson about anything, either. Darn that Keith Masterson,
anyway!"

Jana was deep in thought as she headed for her homeroom, and
she had almost reached room 107 when she saw Randy standing beside the door
watching her approach. She caught her breath as their eyes met. She knew
instantly that he was waiting for her.

She walked slowly toward him as her heart thudded in her
chest. What did he want? Was he going to tell her that he liked Sara Sawyer now
and was glad they had broken up?

Neither one of them said anything for a moment. Then Randy
pulled a piece of paper out of his notebook and handed it to her.

"I found this and thought you might need it," he
said.

Jana glanced down at the paper. It was her math homework
from a couple of weeks ago. She could barely remember why she had given it to
him. To check a couple of problems he had gotten wrong, if she remembered
correctly.

"Umm, in case you need to study for a test or
something," he added.

Jana smiled in spite of herself There was no test scheduled
in math, and even if there were, she probably wouldn't need this old homework
to study for it. "Thanks," she said. "I've been looking all over
for it. I'm glad you found it."

Randy glanced around uneasily, as if he were trying to think
of something else to say, now that he had come up with an excuse to talk to
her. Jana didn't want the conversation to end, either, and she racked her brain
for something to talk about.

"I saw you at the library on Saturday afternoon."
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and instantly she
realized what she'd done. The last thing in the world she wanted to bring up
was his being with Sara Sawyer.

Randy's face colored slightly. "Yeah, we had to . . .
umm . . . to work on our reports for Family Living."

Jana could feel tears gathering in a big lump in her throat
and knew she wouldn't be able to force words around it, even if she tried to
speak. What was she going to do now? Why had she mentioned seeing him at the
library in the first place?
It was dumb!
she shouted to herself.

"Hey, would you guys move? You're blocking the door."

Jana bolted to attention. Joel Murphy was giving them a
dirty look as he tried to get around them and into the classroom.

"Sorry, Joel," Randy mumbled, and stepped back out
of the way.

"I guess I'd better go in, too. See you later,"
Jana said hurriedly, escaping into the room and to her seat before Randy could
say anything else. She had to get away from him, or else she'd give away how
miserable she was without him. She kept her eyes down when he came in and took
his seat on the other side of the room just as the bell was ringing.

The morning dragged on, and Jana barely heard anything in
any of her classes. She couldn't forget the look on Randy's face as he waited
for her by the homeroom door. How can I stand to see him every day at school
for a whole month until our experiment is over? she wondered.

She also couldn't help thinking about lunchtime, when she
would have to talk to Beth and tell her that Keith wanted to break up. But how
was she going to do that? What could she possibly say?

If only there were someone I could talk to about it, she
thought. But there wasn't. She was on her own.

Everyone was already in the cafeteria when Jana got there.
They were sitting at The Fabulous Five's favorite table. Beth munched on an
apple while Katie pulled small plastic containers out of her lunch bag as if
she were getting ready for a banquet. Beside her, Melanie unloaded a hot-lunch
plate from her tray.

"So
now
will you tell me what you and Keith were
talking about this morning?" Beth asked as soon as Jana reached the table.
It was obvious from the tone of Beth's voice that she was more than a little
miffed at Jana.

"Sure. As soon as we're finished eating." When
Beth frowned, she added, "We'll go outside where we can have some privacy."

Beth seemed satisfied, for the moment, anyway, and Jana
nibbled her cream cheese and jelly sandwich and listened to Katie explain her
latest gourmet dish to Melanie.

"It's from India," Katie explained, "and the
ingredients have to be mixed together at the table." She took hot rice out
of a thermos and began mixing strange-looking things with it.

Jana rolled her eyes in disgust and tuned Katie out while
she tried for the millionth time to plan what she would say to Beth. Her mind
was blank. There just was no easy way to tell someone that her boyfriend wanted
to break up with her.

Finally she couldn't put it off any longer. Lunch period was
half over, and soon there might not be much privacy outside, either.

"Hey, guys," she said, turning to Katie and
Melanie. "Beth and I need to talk about something. Would you mind if we
went out without you?"

"'Course not," replied Melanie, and Katie agreed.

Beth looked as if she wanted to say, "It's about time,"
but to Jana's relief, she didn't.

They left the building, and Jana led the way across the
school ground to an isolated bench. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to
face Beth.

"About this morning," Jana began. "I was
stalling."

When Beth's eyes got wide, Jana grabbed her friend's hand
and said softly, "I just didn't want you to know, that's all."

"Know what?" Beth asked slowly, as if she were
already beginning to understand.

Jana took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "I hate
to tell you this, but Keith wanted me to talk to you for him and tell you that
. . . that he wants to break up."

"What!" shrieked Beth. "Break up?" She
looked at Jana with pleading eyes. "He didn't
really
say that, did
he?"

Jana felt as if her heart would break, and all she could do
was nod.

"What did he say?" asked Beth. Her voice was
shaky, and tears brimmed in her eyes. "Tell me exactly what he said. Every
single word."

"Well . . ." Jana began. "When he called—"

"You mean, he called
you?
" Beth
interrupted.

"Right," said Jana. "He said he wanted me to
tell you that he wanted to break up. And when I asked him why he didn't tell
you himself, he said that if he tried to tell you, he would probably goof it up
and say it all wrong. He . . ." Jana paused and looked into Beth's
tear-streaked face. "He said it might be better if you heard it from me.
Oh, Beth. I'm so sorry!"

Beth was crying hard now, long sobs shaking her body. Jana
put an arm around her shoulder, even though she knew it wouldn't be much
comfort at a moment like this.

Beth pulled a tissue out of her jacket pocket and blew her
nose, which by now was turning red. "But
why
?
What did I do?
Did he say why he wanted to break up?"

Jana hesitated, remembering Keith's words.
I just don't
want to go out with her anymore.
There was no way she could tell Beth a
thing like that. Besides, that was one thing Keith should tell her himself!

"No," Jana said, assuring herself that this little
lie was for Beth's own good.

"Well, didn't you ask?" Beth demanded.

Jana looked down at the ground, avoiding Beth's eyes. "It
was none of my business."

"But I asked you to talk to him and find out what was
wrong," she insisted, hiccuping back a sob.

Beth looked so miserable that Jana wanted to cry, too. "Well
. . ." Jana offered helplessly, but she didn't know what else to say.

"Please go back and ask him," Beth pleaded. "Oh,
Jana, you've got to find out what's wrong for me! Maybe it's some little thing
I did that I didn't mean to do. Or maybe it's a silly misunderstanding.
Something I can fix. Don't you see? I have to know!"

Jana's mind was reeling. She knew she was getting in deeper
by the minute, but there was no way she could turn Beth down. If she agreed to
talk to Keith again, it would buy her a little time to figure out what to say.
And maybe Beth was right about its being a silly misunderstanding or something
she could fix. In fact, maybe she could talk Keith out of breaking up with
Beth! There was no guarantee, but it was certainly worth a try.

"Okay," she assured her. "I'll do it."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" shouted
Beth, jumping up and down and hugging Jana at the same time. "I knew you
wouldn't let me down!"

Jana tried to return Beth's smile, but deep down she had a
sinking feeling that things were going to get a lot worse before they got
better.