Read Online Fabulous Five 003 - The Popularity Trap by Betsy Haynes - Free Book Online

time
keeping a straight face. What makes it even funnier, thought Christie, is that
it's taped up next to one of Melissa's posters. One that says she wants to
clean up the gum tree. How boring, compared to a mystery candidate.
    "Maybe it's Whitney Larkin," offered someone in
the crowd.
    "Naw," said someone else. "There aren't
enough letters."
    "Hey, look," called Jana, who had walked down the
hall a short way. "Here's another one." Christie followed as everyone
rushed down to see.
    This one said:
    WHO DOES EVERYONE
KNOW?
WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON?
WHO DOES EVERYONE TRUST?
WHO WOULD MAKE THE BEST 7TH-GRADE CLASS PRESIDENT?
VOTE FOR THE MYSTERY CANDIDATE
____________________?
    As the group of seventh-graders stared at the poster in
silence, Christie had to bite her lip to keep from grinning.
     
    When the bell rang signaling the start of seventh-grade
lunch period, Christie raced to her locker and grabbed her lunch and her
grocery bag of oranges. The bag was practically overflowing, and she balanced
it carefully, clamping her chin down on the oranges on top to keep them from
spilling onto the floor as she headed for the cafeteria.
    She ignored curious stares as she made her way toward The
Fabulous Five's regular table. Katie was already there with her oranges, and
Jana and Beth were coming through the swinging doors behind Christie. That left
Melanie, and she was a few minutes late because she had persuaded Mr. Bartosik
to let her store the wagonload of oranges in the supply closet down the hall.
    "That should do it," she said as she shoved the
wagon under the table and sat down with a breathless sigh.
    "Has anyone found out who put those posters up for the
mystery candidate?" asked Jana, taking a bite of her cream cheese and
jelly sandwich. "They're all over school."
    Christie cringed at the mention of the mystery candidate. It
was one thing to dream up the scheme with Jon and another to have to keep a
straight face while her friends talked about it.
    "No," grumbled Beth. "But I still think it
was Laura and her friends."
    "I don't think so," said Katie. "They really
seem to be as confused as everyone else."
    "I agree," said Jana. "There is someone else running. But who could it be?"
    "Somebody who knows more people, the poster says,"
answered Melanie.
    "And knows about everything that's going on,"
added Beth. "And someone people trust."
    "That definitely leaves out Laura and her friends,"
snickered Katie.
    "Come on, guys," said Christie, desperately trying
to change the subject. "If we're going to pass these oranges out, we'd
better get at it."
    "Right," said Jana, "before Melissa and her
friends sing their dumb little jingle again."
    They cleared away their lunch bags and then began passing
out oranges to all the seventh-graders. Christie took the outer rows of tables
on the left side; Katie took the outer rows on the other side. Jana and Beth
worked the next rows, and Melanie pulled her little brother's wagon up the
center aisle.
    "Gimme two!" shouted Clarence Marshall. Without
even reading the stickers he began trying to juggle the oranges, but instead of
catching them, they crashed down on his head. Everyone around him roared with
laughter.
    Soon kids all over the room were raising their hands and
asking for oranges, and the girls were wading through the tables as fast as they
could hand them out. Only Laura McCall and her friends refused them, sticking
their noses into the air and turning away when Beth went by their table.
    When Christie reached Jon, he was smiling. "What do
your friends think of the posters for the mystery candidate?" he
whispered.
    Christie laughed. "It blew their minds. Wow! Have I
been having trouble keeping a straight face."
    "It's going to work," he assured her.
    Christie nodded and handed him an orange. For an instant
they both held it, looking at each other and smiling.

CHAPTER 13
    Christie and her friends were in a happy mood when they
reached Bumpers after school. Laura and her