Fabulous Five 019 - The Boys-Only Club by Betsy Haynes Page A

The others looked at her
with interest.
    "Well . . . now! " Katie managed to say.
Tony was headed toward the tray return and would have to pass right by their
table. She would show them. The others turned to see where she was looking.
    Katie gulped when she realized what she had just said. She
was going to ask Tony for a date and do it right in front of everyone. Well,
she would show them. Her and Tony's relationship was the way boy-girl
relationships were supposed to be.
    Tony stopped at the end of the table. "Hi, everybody."
He looked at Katie, then added, "Hi, Your Honor."
    In spite of Katie's aggravation, his bright smile almost
melted her down to her tennis shoes. Before she had gotten to know Tony, she,
like everyone else, had thought he was just a show-off. That was before he had
been brought before the Teen Court by Mr. Bell, the principal, for wearing an earring.
Katie was a judge for the court, and as she listened to Tony argue his case,
she found herself believing that the rule in the school dress code that
prohibited boys from wearing earrings wasn't fair. She had even gone so far as
to start a petition to change the rule. Katie and Tony had been going together
ever since.
    "Well?" Melanie's question jerked Katie back to
reality.
    "Oh, uh, hi . . . Tony." She returned his smile
weakly as she fumbled for the right words. "Uh, I was wondering . .
."
    "Wondering what?" he asked. Katie could feel
everyone staring at her.
    "I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies, on
Friday. My treat," she added cheerfully. There, that should show her
friends.
    "Oh, sorry, I can't. I've already told Randy, Shane,
Keith, and some other guys I'd play computer games with them."
    The silence at the table added to Katie's embarrassment.
    "It's not that I wouldn't rather go with you," Tony
added hastily, seeing her red cheeks. "It's just that some of us guys
started this club. We're going to get together at Kevin Walker-Noles's house
every Friday and order out pizza and have Nintendo contests."
    "Hey, that sounds great!" said Christie. "I
love computer games. Can I come?"
    "Me, too," said Beth. "I play my brother
Brian's games all the time."
    "It's just us guys getting together to play," Tony
answered, looking embarrassed. "You wouldn't really like it."
    Katie snapped to attention. "You mean you're starting a
boys-only club? Girls can play computer games."
    "Hey, I know you can," Tony said defensively. "It's
just that everyone decided it would just be for boys."
    Katie's face started turning red all over again. "A boys' club! You mean no girls allowed?"
    Tony looked sheepish. "It's just what everyone decided."
    "I can't believe this," Katie said, slapping her
forehead. "All-male clubs practically went out with cavemen."
    "Hey, I didn't make the rules," Tony said, backing
away from The Fabulous Five's stares.
    "Well, you obviously went along with them,"
snapped Katie. She had never felt so humiliated in her life. After telling her
friends Tony was sensitive to women's issues, he had come up and told them he
belonged to a club exclusively for boys. She stood up and fixed a furious stare
on Tony. "Don't worry about it. I'll find another date for Friday."
    "But . . ." Tony sputtered.
    Before he could finish, Katie stormed out of the cafeteria.

CHAPTER 2
    "I'm home!" yelled Katie as she walked into her
house after school.
    "Hi, dear!" her mother, Willie, answered. Her
voice came from the direction of the room she used as her office.
    Katie went upstairs to her own room and dejectedly dropped
her books on the table she used as a desk. The house she and her mother rented
was old and her room was small, with an old-fashioned dormer window overlooking
the backyard. The tiny house was all they could afford on the money her mother
made as a free-lance writer. There was some insurance money from when Katie's
father had died, but they were saving it for emergencies and Katie's college
education.
    Katie went to the window and raised it to let