Kristy Power! by Ann M. Martin Page B

sheaf of papers. I picked them all up and shoved them into my backpack. When I finally stood up I couldn't take it anymore. "Cary, I'm sorry!" I blurted out. "How many times do I have to say it? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You can't believe how sorry I am!" He just nodded.
    I gave a huge sigh (I felt like screaming, but we were in the library, after all). "Well, thanks for writing out the answers to my questions," I said. "And maybe one of these days, if I'm patient, you'll start speaking to me again." He raised an eyebrow. "Ah, but which one of these days?" Yes! A weird answer. And the eyebrow. He was starting to sound like himself again. Maybe there was hope.
    Claudia and Jeremy were just leaving as we arrived at Ted's room. They were talking happily, and I'm not even sure Claudia saw me as she passed by. I knocked lightly on the door.
    "Come on in," said Ted. He smiled broadly as we entered. "Kristy, I want to thank you again for that marvelous speech you made. I was very moved by the things you said about me." I felt myself blushing. "Well, they're true," I murmured.
    "It wasn't easy to speak in front of that huge crowd," he said. "My knees felt like JellO when I was talking." "Kristy did a good job," Cary announced, taking me by surprise. "She said what all of us feel." He wasn't looking at me while he spoke.
    "Thanks!" I couldn't believe he'd said that. But the way he was avoiding my eyes sent a clear message: He might give credit where credit was due, but he still hadn't forgiven me.
    "So," said Ted. "Why don't you take a seat and tell me how your projects are going." We each sat down in one of the chairs near his desk. Cary cleared his throat. "Things are going well," he said.
    "Great." Ted smiled at me. "You agree with that?" "Sure." I shrugged. "I have most of the information I need. Now I just have to put it together in an entertaining way." "That's the trick," Ted said. "The facts are the easy part. The hard part is making them interesting." Well, yes and no. One of the facts I knew was pretty interesting all by itself. But it was the one that was never going to appear in my finished paper.
    "Have you been able to find many secondary sources?" Ted asked.
    "I have," said Cary. "Kristy's pretty famous around these parts. I've found articles mentioning her, not only in the school paper but even in the Stoneybrook News." "Excellent." Ted nodded. "How about you, Kristy?" "Well, Cary hasn't lived here very long," I said vaguely, looking down at my notebook. I was thinking that there was probably plenty about him in his hometown newspaper. But I wasn't about to mention that to Ted. "The interviews with his brothers were helpful, though." "Good, good." Ted seemed satisfied, and I felt a little guilty. After all, Cary and I weren't being completely honest with him. "And the fiction part of the project? How's that going? Have you both chosen the books you want to read?" I nodded. "I'm going to read Homecoming" I said. "I hear it's really good." I'd ended up changing my mind about what to read at the last minute.
    "I think you'll like it," said Ted. "How about you, Cary?" "I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye. I've already started it. I think Salinger is an awesome writer." "And a controversial one," Ted added with a little grin. The Catcher in the Rye was one of the books that seemed to make people like Mrs. Dow angriest. "Good fiction - and nonfiction - is hard to write, and sometimes even harder to accept." Cary and I both nodded wisely.
    "That's it, then," said Ted. "I think our time's just about up. I'm glad to know you're both on target with your projects." He stood up and stretched as we gathered our things. "Speaking of Salinger," he said to Cary, "how's your novel coming? I think I saw his influence in the section you showed me." "It's going okay," Cary muttered.
    "I think it's terrific that you can write in notebooks," Ted went on. "I'm