Fabulous Five 031 - The Fabulous Five Together Again (2 page)

"Wow! Cool!" exclaimed Katie, taking in the
interior of Montague's.

Ping-Pong tables with several couples playing matches were
on the right. A row of video machines lined the wall behind them. In the center
of the room was a jukebox and dance floor. Snack machines stood side by side
along the wall to the left.

"Over here!" called Phoebe. She was seated with
Nicki and Eleanore at several tables that had been pulled together. There were
three boys with them.

"We've had a devil of a time saving chairs for you,"
Eleanore told them. "We could have rented them a half dozen times over."

"Thanks," said Christie. "Guys, this is Jana
Morgan, Katie Shannon, Beth Barry, and Melanie Edwards. And this is Connie
Farrell, Charlie Fenwick, and Davey Hopper," she said to The Fab Five.

"Welcome to London," Connie greeted them.

"The more birds, the merrier," added Charlie,
lifting his soda in a salute.

"Birds?" asked Katie.

"He means girls," explained Christie.

"That's a terrible term for girls," said Katie. "It
sounds so sexist. Why don't you call girls
girls
?
"

"Come on, Katie," said Jana. "It doesn't make
any difference."

"In the interest of good relations with our former
colonies, I'll call Katie a girl, if that's what she wants to be called,"
Charlie said, chuckling. "But I want you to know, all the rest of you are
still birds."

"We heard you personally know Trevor Morgan," said
Davey. "Maybe you could five us an intro." He pulled out a seat for
Melanie, and she sat down.

"If you guys get tickets to the concert and go with us,
we can try," she said.

"That's an all-right idea," Davey replied. "What's
your favorite Brain Damage song, Melanie?" The two of them began talking
about Brain Damage music.

"What do you do for fun in the States?" Charlie
asked Beth.

"Everything," she responded. "I just learned
to ski this year, and Mel and I are cheerleaders. Most of all, though, I like
acting,
daahling
." She struck a dramatic pose.

"You're an actress?" asked Charlie, looking
interested.

"Is she ever," replied Jana. "Beth's had the
lead part in several plays at school; she's been on cable television; and a big
casting director from New York said she was great."

"Well, not really
great,
" said Beth
modestly. "He did say I was good, though."

"I've never known a famous actress before. Would you
autograph my napkin?" teased Charlie. He pushed it toward her.

"Well, I don't usually do autographs when I'm
socializing," Beth joked. She patted Charlie's cheek playfully and added, "but
. . . since it's
you.
" She dug a ballpoint pen from her purse and
signed the napkin with a flourish and gave it back to him.

"I'll keep this next to my heart forever," he told
her, sticking it inside his shirt.

"Yeah, right where he can sweat on it," said
Nicki.

Everyone laughed except for Eleanore, Christie quickly
noticed. She had been dating Charlie recently.

"You're planning to ride at my family's country place,
aren't you?" asked Connie.

"We wouldn't miss it," said Katie. "Christie
has told us about Rigel, the Arabian horse you let her ride."

"He's eager to meet more Americans," Connie
replied with a grin. "When can you come?"

"How about Friday?" Christie suggested. "I'm
sure The Fab Five will be shopped out by then."

Beth laughed. "I won't be! But I probably will be
broke." She turned to Nicki. "Speaking of shopping, where'd you get
the sweater you have on? I've never seen anything like it."

Nicki's oversized sweater was bright green and had dozens of
small objects attached to it. "Are those earrings?"

Nicki nodded. "I collected them for a long time and then
finally had enough to fasten to the sweater."

"Beth makes great earrings out of fishing line,"
Christie jumped in. "She's creative like you, Nicki." She was hoping
that the two girls' interest in wild clothes would make them like each other.

"Christie told us that you're the son of a baron,"
Katie said to Connie. "What's it like to be royalty?"

He smiled. "It's really no big deal. England is filled
with people descended from royalty."

"He's just being modest," commented Phoebe. "His
family is very posh."

Connie shrugged, then changed the subject. "Friday's
fine for riding." He turned to Nicki, Phoebe, and Eleanore. "Can you
come, too?"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Nicki. The three
girls promised to be there. As everyone began chattering away about how much
fun riding would be, Christie watched Jana. Her friend seemed so quiet. Is
something wrong, Christie wondered, or is it my imagination?

"Do you want to pick out a Brain Damage song on the
jukebox?" Davey asked Melanie.

"Sure." Melanie hopped up from her chair.

Nicki, who was going out with Davey, kept an eye on the two
of them as they walked across the dance floor together, talking and laughing.

"So?" Connie said, looking at Jana and Katie. "What
great talents do you two have?"

The girls looked at each other.

"I don't know if we have any special talents,"
replied Katie. "I'm a judge on the Teen Court at Wakeman."

"And I'm on the yearbook staff," offered Jana.

"See, you do have talents," said Connie. "I
guess that's why you're called The
Fabulous
Five."

A Brain Damage song started playing, and Melanie and Davey
began to dance. Christie noticed Nicki watching them like a hawk.

"Would you dance with me?" Charlie asked Beth.

"Sure."

Nicki and Eleanore exchanged glances as Beth and Charlie
made their way to the dance floor.

Just then two boys Christie had seen around the club came
over to their table and asked Jana and Katie if they'd like to dance. They accepted.

"Excuse me," said Connie. "I need to say
something to Dick Lasley."

When he had gone, Christie saw that Nicki and Eleanore were
still watching the couples on the dance floor. "Don't worry about Melanie
and Beth," she told them. "They're just having fun."

"With our coves," pointed out Nicki.

"Melanie's got a boyfriend named Shane Arrington whom
she really likes," replied Christie, "and Beth wouldn't steal anyone's
boyfriend. They're only being friendly. You'll see."

Nicki looked skeptical, but Eleanore smiled. "We'll
see," she said.

Just then Connie came back. "How about a dance?"
he asked Christie.

"Love to." She gave Nicki and Eleanore another
smile of reassurance before she followed Connie.

"This is great," cried Melanie, bouncing up and
down on Christie's bed later that evening. The five friends had drawn straws to
see who would sleep in it first. Katie and Melanie had won.

Christie and Jana had unrolled their sleeping bags on the
floor in front of the bed and were writing on postcards they had bought at a
shop after leaving the youth club. Beth had placed her sleeping bag near the
door. "So I won't step on anyone when I try to find my way to the bathroom
in the middle of the night," she had explained.

"I'm glad I'm not afraid of heights," Katie said,
peeking over the edge of the bed. "This is one high bed."

"If you want to trade places with me, I'll make the
sacrifice for you," volunteered Jana.

"No way," Katie responded. "I'm going to
pretend I'm the Queen of England sleeping in the imperial suite."

"With all your handmaidens sleeping around you?"
joked Beth.

"Whatever," said Katie, plumping up her pillow and
flopping back with a smile of contentment. "What are those ribbons for,
Christie?" she asked, pointing to two blue ribbons pinned to the wall.

"Those are the ribbons I won at the science fairs,"
answered Christie. "One is from St. Meg's, the other is from the
Bloomsbury District competition." Changing the subject, she added, "I'll
be so jealous if Wakeman becomes a middle school. In the private schools here
you stay in the same school until you're eighteen. It will take me forever to
be part of the oldest class at school."

"Wow," said Beth. "That's terrible. Are the
subjects here hard?"

Christie nodded. "The schools are tougher here. If you
want to go to college, you have to start taking subjects to prepare for it when
you're thirteen. And when you're sixteen, you take a comprehensive exam to see
if you can get into the college you want."

"That sounds serious," said Melanie. "Do you
know which college you want to go to?"

"Either Oxford or Cambridge," answered Christie.

"They're both in England, right?" asked Katie.

"Yes," Christie replied.

"You won't even be coming back to the United States to
go to college?" asked Beth.

Christie shook her head.

"Isn't there any chance your father will be transferred
back to the States?" asked Melanie.

Christie shrugged and looked down at her hands folded in her
lap. "I doubt it," she said softly. "He hasn't been in his job
long enough."

The room was filled with silent gloom. Finally Jana broke
the tension. "I need to brush my teeth. Don't talk about anything interesting
until I get back."

Christie watched Jana as she left the room. "Is
something bothering her?" she whispered to the others after she was gone. "She
seems so distracted—or something."

Beth, Melanie, and Katie exchanged glances.

Katie nodded. "She is worried about something."

"Does it have anything to do with Randy?" asked
Christie.

Randy Kirwan and Jana had been going together since
elementary school, and everyone called them the perfect couple. They had even
been elected Mr. and Miss Wakeman Junior High earlier in the school year.

"No." Melanie shook her head. "But it's
pretty serious."

"Maybe Jana will tell you about it herself," added
Beth.

When Jana returned, the talk shifted back to Wakeman Junior
High and the possibility that it would be a middle school next year. As the
girls talked, Christie half-listened. She still wanted to hear about kids from
Wacko and what they were doing, but as time went on, she felt less and less
interest. Even Chase Collins, whom she used to think of all the time, seemed
far away now.

Will I ever see Chase again? Christie wondered. I'd like to
. . . It would be so much fun if he visited me in London, too. We could ride up
the Thames River together, or tour Soho. It would be so romantic to be together
in Europe.

With a tiny stab of guilt she thought of Connie and how much
she liked him. He was so nice and had been so friendly to The Fabulous Five
tonight. Why did I ever have to move, anyway? Christie thought as Katie shut
out the light and everyone called "Good night." Sometimes it was so
confusing to have friends who lived in separate places.

"What are we going to do today?" asked Katie the
next morning as The Fabulous Five ate breakfast.

"Let's get tickets for the Brain Damage concert right
away," suggested Melanie.

"Yeah," agreed Beth. "I can't wait to see
them—and a play. I've
got
to see a play."

"There's a half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square,"
volunteered Christie's mother. She had taken a couple of days off from her job
at the University of London to be at home with the girls at the start of their
vacation. "And there are agencies nearby where you should be able to get
tickets for the concert. From there it's an easy walk to Piccadilly Circus,
where there are some good shops, like Lillywhites and Simpsons. There are lots
of great shops in Soho."

"All right!" exclaimed Melanie, raising her toast
into the air. "Monster shopping and a circus, too."

Mrs. Winchell chuckled. "Piccadilly Circus isn't the
kind of circus you're thinking of, dear. In England they call a traffic circle
a 'circus.'"

"It's a traffic circle?" Melanie said in
disbelief. "How come I've heard of it, if it's just a plain old traffic
circle?"

"Lots of interesting things go on there. Performers
like jugglers entertain, and people often demonstrate over political causes,"
said Mrs. Winchell.

"One of the first things we have to do is get you
travel cards," said Christie. "You'll need to take along your
passports to be able to buy them."

"What are travel cards?" asked Jana.

"They're special tickets that let you take the buses or
the Underground as often as you want," Christie explained. "We'll be
using them a lot."

"Will we get to see Buckingham Palace?" asked
Melanie. "I want to see Princess Di."

"And Old Bailey, the court where they held the trials
for all those famous murderers and spies," added Katie. "I've got to
see that."

"Will we be able to use our travel cards to get to
Connie's place in the country?" asked Jana.

The girls' questions came faster and faster.

"Mo-om!"
cried Christie as the girls
overwhelmed her. "Help!"

Mrs. Winchell laughed. "I think you girls need to get
organized," she told them. "Why don't you make a list of the things
you want to see, then decide when you want to visit each one."

"Will Dad be able to take us to Connie's on Friday?"
asked Christie.

"You'll have to talk to him about that, sweetheart.
Some executives from the company's headquarters in the United States are here
this week checking on things. He may be pretty busy. When you get your list
made, we'll sit down with your father and go over it."

"Great idea," said Katie.

"Don't forget about Christie's birthday," said
Mrs. Winchell. "It's Saturday, and we need to plan a special dinner for
her."

"Christie's our old lady." Melanie laughed. "She's
the first one to turn fourteen."

Christie stuck her tongue out at Melanie. "Your
birthday's next month, Melanie Edwards, and the rest of you will be fourteen
before you know it."

"First things first," declared Jana. "Let's
go get tickets to Brain Damage, and we can decide what to do next."

"That was easy," remarked Jana as The Fabulous
Five emerged from the Underground at the Leicester Square stop. "I wish we
had subways like that at home. Everything's so clean, and there's no graffiti
here. I want to ride one of those big double-decker buses," she said,
pointing to one that was passing by.

"Let's get our concert tickets quickly and go to
Piccadilly Circus," suggested Katie. "Maybe Melanie can ride one of
the elephants there."

"Funneeey!" retorted Melanie, wrinkling her nose at
Katie. She unfolded the map she was carrying so they could all see it. "Buckingham
Palace doesn't look far from there. Maybe we can go there afterward."

"Don't forget shopping," Beth said. "We have
to go to Soho to shop."

"All right! All right!" Christie laughed. "We'll
do it all eventually. Just give me a break." She had to chuckle at her
friends. They were like little kids in a candy store.

Piccadilly Circus was mobbed. Cars and buses were pouring
into the circle from several side streets, and darting back out again. In the
center of the circle was a statue of a man with wings holding a bow and arrow.

"Look at those people sitting around the statue,"
observed Jana. "Have you ever seen such wild hair and clothes? Check them
out, Beth."

Several of the people had their hair moussed into long
spikes or Mohawk cuts and dyed in bright colors. Most had on black leather or
torn denim jackets and pants with shiny metal studs. The boys in the crowd were
wearing at least as many earrings and necklaces as the girls.

"They're punkers," said Christie.

"They look pretty wild—even to me," commented
Beth.

Katie pointed to the statue. "Who's the guy with the
wings?"

"It says here on the map it's Eros," replied
Melanie. "Is he some ancient English guy?"

Christie put her hand over her mouth to hold back a giggle. "He's
the Greek god of love, Mel. Your kind of guy."

"My gosh," said Melanie, looking at the winged
statue with awe. "I've always thought there
should
be a god of
love; now I know there is one."

The girls stood there for a minute, taking in all the
amazing sights: a juggler, the punkers, the flood of cars and tourists from all
over the world.

Suddenly Melanie turned to the others. There was a sly look
in her eyes. "Christie, didn't you say that anyone can perform here?"
When Christie nodded, she continued, "Well, I've just made up a cheer! How
about this?"

She raised her arms and did a Flying Dutchman jump, touching
her toes with her fingers.

"Yea, Fabulous Five!"
she yelled.

People passing by smiled at her.

Katie groaned. "Melanie, don't humiliate us."

"Come on," Melanie coaxed, grabbing Beth's and
Jana's hands. "Let's all do it."

"Not me," said Jana. "I'm not going to make a
fool of myself."

"Come on, Katie," urged Melanie. "Christie?"

"I'll do it with you, Mel," Beth said finally.

The two of them did the cheer together, and a few people
stopped to watch. Most, however, walked past without thinking twice about the
girls' impromptu performance. Clearly stranger things happened in Piccadilly
Circus!

After that The Fab Five devoured sandwiches and sodas they
bought at a small stand-up shop, and then went to several clothing stores in
Soho.

By the end of the day Christie felt exhausted but happy. It
was so much fun being with her friends again. It was as if they'd never been
apart.

It was almost five o'clock when they trooped back into
Christie's home and collapsed on the couch and chairs in the living room.

"You certainly look as if you've had a good time,"
Mrs. Winchell said. "You didn't spend all your money, did you?"

"Not yet," replied Katie, grinning. "But we
tried. I think we went to every store in London."

"Oh, Christie," Mrs. Winchell added. "Phoebe
called a couple of times. She wants you to call when you get a chance."

"I'll do it right now." Christie got up and headed
for the phone. "I'll tell her which Brain Damage concert we got tickets to
so she and the others can get tickets for the same night. I'll call Connie,
too, and he can talk to Davey and Charlie about it."

"Hi, Phoebe," Christie said when her friend picked
up. "Mum said you called. Boy, did we have a great day! Melanie and Beth
did a cheer for the crowd at Piccadilly Circus."

At that Melanie and Beth started yelling and hooting in the
background.

Christie grinned and motioned for them to be quiet. "We
went to Soho," she went on, "and, oh, yeah, I wanted to tell you that
we got tickets for Brain Damage for Friday night."

"It sounds as if you and your chums are having great
fun," said Phoebe. Her voice sounded funny.

"We are," answered Christie, wondering if something
was wrong.

"We thought you were going to ring us up so we could go
with you," said Phoebe. "Nicki and Eleanore were over here all
morning waiting. They went home when we didn't hear from you."

"Oh . . ." Christie was caught by surprise. She hadn't
realized they had expected her to call. "I wasn't thinking," she said
softly. "I'm sorry."

"I think I should warn you, Christie," Phoebe
responded. "That's not the only thing bothering Nicki and Eleanore. They're
not too happy about Davey's and Charlie's paying so much attention to Melanie
and Beth."

Christie's heart sank. She really needed to talk to Phoebe
in private. "Just a minute. Let me get on another phone," she said. "There's
too much noise in here." She asked Jana to hang up the phone after she picked
up the extension in the kitchen.

When Christie heard the click of the phone being put back in
its cradle, she said to Phoebe, "Melanie and Beth really didn't do
anything. They just talked to Davey and Charlie, and danced a couple of dances
with them."

"I know," replied Phoebe, "but Nicki and
Ellie are still a bit put out, especially Nicki."

"I'll call them right away," said Christie. "I
don't want my two sets of best friends to be angry at each other."

Then she said as cheerfully as she could, "Tonight we're
going to sit down and make up a schedule of all the things The Fabulous Five
want to do while they're here. I'll give you a call and let you know what we're
planning."

"That would be nice," Phoebe told her. "I'll
let you get back to your chums now. Talk to you later."

"Phoebe," Christie said before she could hang up, "are
you still mad at me?"

"Not any longer," she replied. "Give a call
when you're ready to do the town."

As soon as they had hung up, Christie took a deep breath and
punched Nicki's number into the telephone.

"Before you say anything, let me apologize for not
calling to ask you guys to come with us today," Christie said when Nicki
answered. "It's completely my fault."

"Well, it did get a trifle boring sitting around all
morning with Phoebe and Ellie," said Nicki.

Feeling relieved at Nicki's reaction, Christie went on to
explain about the concert tickets. Before hanging up, she decided to bring up
Melanie's and Beth's dancing with Davey and Charlie.

"They were just being friendly," said Christie. "Melanie
has a boyfriend at home, and Beth wouldn't steal
anyone's
boyfriend."

There was a moment of silence, then Christie heard Nicki
chuckle. "I guess I should have realized that," Nicki said. "You
wouldn't have friends who would. What I need to do, I guess, is put a leash on
Davey—or blinders."

Next Christie called Eleanore to explain things and
apologize. Finally she made her call to Connie.

When she was finished, she felt a little better, but she
still blamed herself for the misunderstandings. It just hadn't occurred to her
to invite her British friends to go with them today. After all, they had seen
Piccadilly Circus and Soho hundreds of times.