Fabulous Five 025 - The Fabulous Five Minus One by Betsy Haynes

parents let anyone come
to see you?"
    "I think so."
    "Look, I've got to go and watch Randy swim in the meet
this afternoon. Why don't I stop by when it's over? I'll bring Katie, Melanie,
and Beth with me."
    "I'd like that," said Christie. As usual, she
could count on The Fabulous Five to be there when she needed them.
     
    "I never would have believed you'd be grounded,
Christie," said Beth. "Not you." The Fabulous Five were in
Christie's bedroom. Beth, Melanie, and Katie were lounging on the bed, while
Jana and Christie sat in chairs.
    "It's like putting the president in jail, because
someone found out he was a crook," said Melanie.
    "Thanks, Mel," replied Christie. "I am not a
crook. Chase and I were just having so much fun, we forgot what time it was."
    "You forgot for a whole hour?" asked Katie. "Whose
idea was it anyway, yours or Chase's?"
    Christie looked at her in disbelief. "It was both of
ours," she fibbed. "I thought you'd be on my side."
    "We are on your side, Christie," said Jana, "but
I have to agree with Katie that that's a long time to forget about the time."
    Christie sighed. "I guess I did know. But I was having
so much fun with Chase, and we're going to be moving soon, so what difference
does it make?"
    "It just doesn't sound like you, Christie," said
Beth.
    "Speaking of Chase, did you know that Coach Benfield
didn't let him race today because he missed two practices this week?"
asked Katie.
    Christie's mouth dropped open. "How could he do that?
Chase is the best swimmer on the team."
    "Coach Benfield told the team that it didn't make any
difference. Obeying the rules is more important than winning. The others just
had to try harder," said Melanie.
    Christie was afraid to ask, but she did, anyway. "How
did they do?"
    "They lost," said Beth. "Randy won first
place in the butterfly and one-hundred-meter freestyle, and Tony won first
place in the backstroke, but the rest of the team couldn't help enough."
    Mixed emotions churned inside of Christie. The Wakeman team
had lost because Chase couldn't race. Maybe Chase should have been to all the
practices, but his coach in California had let Chase race when he missed
practices. Why wouldn't Coach Benfield? Did that make sense?
    Deep down Christie knew it did. Chase had just pushed it too
far. It wouldn't have been that much trouble to either go to practice or at
least talk to the coach about missing it. But that was just the way Chase was.
He was carefree and happy-go-lucky.
    "I'm sorry that happened," said Christie.
    "It's not your fault," said Jana. "It's just
the way Chase is."
    "I know," Christie agreed with a smile. "He's
always getting behind in things. That's why I'm helping him with his math and
English. He can do good things, though. He got an A in the history test."
    Jana gave her a funny look. "What history test?"
    "The one he took last week."
    "I'm in Chase's history class, and we didn't have a test
last week," said Jana.
    Christie stared at her. "The one you had on Thursday."
    Jana shook her head.
    "Chase said . . ." Christie suddenly understood.
Chase hadn't wanted to be bothered doing the homework himself, so he had told
her he had to study for a history test. Christie felt used.
    Jana reached out and put her hands sympathetically on
Christie's. "Christie, Chase is a nice guy, and he's a lot of fun. But the
rest of us have been talking, and we're not sure how much you should trust him."
    "He may mean well," agreed Katie. "But you
have to admit, he's always in trouble."
    Christie looked at the faces of her friends. She knew they
were right.
    After the others had left, Christie sat alone in her room
thinking, a tear running slowly down her cheek. Now that she thought of it,
there were a lot of things Chase did that she should have paid more attention
to. Deep down she had known he was conning her parents. Why hadn't she seen
what kind of person he was?
    But what difference would it have made if she had? she asked
herself. Would she have refused to go