Fabulous Five 007 - The Kissing Disaster by Betsy Haynes Page B

anything for a moment. Then Melanie
asked in a small voice, "What am I going to do?"
    "I don't know yet, but I'm thinking," Christie
assured her. "And so are the rest of The Fabulous Five. I've already
talked to them. Meet us at the fence in the morning. Maybe by then one of us
will have thought of a way to stop the lies that Laura and her friends are
telling."
    Melanie tumbled into bed as soon as they hung up, but she
had too much on her mind to go to sleep. She wanted to hug herself with joy now
because Christie had found out that mono wasn't really a kissing disease, and
because Christie and the others wanted to help fight the rumors Laura had
started. But at the same time, she felt confused. The real reason she had
gotten mono was because she had been going to all those dance committee
meetings so she could make new friends and had been going out with cute boys
and trying to be popular. And the reason she had worked herself silly trying to
be popular was because she had thought that her old friends in The Fabulous
Five didn't want to be friends with her anymore, and she wanted to show them
that she didn't need them either.
    No, she corrected herself. I didn't just work myself silly. I worked myself into a big, fat case of mononucleosis. And for what? Just so
that The Fabulous Five can help me get out of all the trouble that I created
for myself! The thought was so funny that she rolled over onto her back and
giggled in the dark.
     
    When Melanie got to the fence the next morning, the rest of
The Fabulous Five were already there. For the first time in weeks they acted
genuinely glad to see her, gathering around her and asking how she felt.
    "Lots better," she said, "but I still don't
know what to do about Laura's lies. Does anyone have any ideas?"
    "No," confessed Christie. "I thought and
thought and thought last night, but I couldn't come up with anything."
    "Me, either," said Beth.
    "I guess all we can do is talk to as many kids as
possible and tell them that mono isn't really a kissing disease," said
Melanie.
    "But who's going to believe us?" argued Katie. "They
all know Melanie is one of our best friends. They'll think we're just saying it
to make her look better. What we need is someone with authority to tell them."
    Everyone sighed and lapsed into silence again. Melanie knew
that Katie was right. There was no use in going around saying one thing when
Laura and her friends would be saying the opposite. Just as many kids would
believe Laura as would believe them. What good would that do? What they needed
was someone with authority. But who?
    "What about the school nurse?" asked Jana.
    "She visits a different school every day," Melanie
reminded her. "This is only Tuesday, and she won't get to Wacko until
Friday. I can't wait that long."
    Jana shrugged apologetically and everyone went back to
thinking again.
    "I know this is far out," Katie said, "but
what about Mr. Dracovitch?"
    "Get real," Beth said incredulously.
    "The biology teacher?" murmured Melanie.
    "Sure," said Katie.
    "Maybe you've got something," said Melanie. "He
knows about all kinds of medical things. You should have heard what he told our
class about eyeballs. And everybody believed him. I'll bet if he made a
scientific announcement about mono's not being a kissing disease, kids would
believe him about that, too."
    "I don't know," said Jana, shaking her head.
    "Wait a minute," said Katie. "It's a great
idea. Let's at least go ask him. If we hurry, we can talk to him before the
bell rings."
    Melanie was still feeling weak from her illness so she
trailed the others as they raced into the school and up the stairs to the biology
lab. She kept her fingers crossed the whole way that he would be in his room by
now, and her heart was pounding from both exertion and excitement when she
peeked inside the laboratory door and saw him sitting at his desk.
    "Mr. Dracovitch?" she asked softly.
    He looked up and smiled at her. "Hi, Melanie. Come on
in. Oh, I see you have