Fabulous Five 012 - Katie's Dating Tips Read Online Free

He looked bored as he waited, but the moment he caught sight of
Katie his face broke into a smile.
    "Do you always wear your hair lopsided, or is today
special?" he teased.
    "What!" she shrieked. Her left hand shot up to
first the left side of her hair, which was still firmly pulled up in a barrette
and then to the right, where a barrette dangled from a lock of hair and the
rest of the red curls hung forward.
    "Oh, brother," she said, rolling her eyes. "Wait
until I tell you what just happened to me."
    By the time she had fixed her barrette and hung up her
jacket, she had finished the story of her encounter with Mr. Dracovitch, and
Tony was doubled over with laughter. "That explains it," he said
between guffaws. "Everybody's been wondering what Dracula cooks in his lab
every morning, and now we know. Garbage."
    "Oh , please! " said Katie, making a face. "Well,
one thing finally went right this morning anyway. I think I've set things up so
that Mr. Newkirk will get interested in my mother. He's on his way to the
office right now to escort her to her first classroom. She looks sensational,
too. I picked out her outfit and helped her do her hair. This is going to work.
I know it is."
    Tony gave her a long, solemn look and then shook his head
helplessly. "Well, good luck . . . I guess. Come on. I'll walk you to
class."
    All morning long Katie tried to pay attention in her
classes, but her mind kept flashing to her mother. How was Willie getting along
in her seminars? Were the kids behaving themselves and listening to her? Was
she still nervous?
    It would be the last period of the day before Willie Shannon
would step to the front of her own English class. Would Willie dazzle them with
her good looks and her talent as a writer? Or would the seminars turn into a
disaster for both of them? Katie had tried not to think about that possibility,
but after all, her mother wasn't really a teacher. And it was nerve racking for
anyone to have their mother at school. If something went wrong for Willie, kids
would never stop teasing Katie. She knew she shouldn't let the chance of that's
happening bother her, but it did.
    Then her thoughts went back to Tony's warning about her
mother's dating one of the teachers at Wakeman. Maybe he had known what he was
talking about after all.

CHAPTER 5
    As Katie made her way to English class, Clarence Marshall
rushed up behind her in the hall. "Hey, Shannon. Guess what I saw during
lunch period. Your mother heading into the teachers' lounge with old man
Newkirk. What a jerk. Hey! That rhymes. New KIRK! Whata JERK! New KIRK! Whata JERK! "
    Clarence plunged on through the crowd, ignoring her
drop-dead look and strutting in time with his new rhyme, which he continued to
chant until he was out of sight. She knew her face must be red. It was as hot
as fire. How dare Clarence make fun of Mr. Newkirk's walking with her mother?
Talk about a jerk! she thought angrily.
    The good news, she told herself, was that Mr. Newkirk was
keeping his promise to befriend Willie while she wasn't in class. They probably
even had lunch together. So what if Clarence had laughed. Once this week was
over, nobody would see them together anyway. Certainly Clarence Marshall wouldn't.
She giggled at the absurd image of him at the Natural History Museum with his
hair combed and dressed in a suit and tie. She could visualize him gazing
raptly at the exhibit of Ramses the Great and then turning to Willie and Mr.
Newkirk, who just happened to be standing beside him, to comment on how well
preserved the artifacts were.
    "What's so funny?" asked Beth.
    The two had reached the English classroom at exactly the
same time, and they stopped for a moment outside the door.
    "It's a long story," said Katie. "I'll tell
you later. Right now I'm too nervous about Mom teaching this class. Let's go on
in."
    The room was crowded since two seventh-grade English classes
had been grouped together for Willie's seminar, but Katie followed Beth into
the classroom