Fabulous Five 021 - Jana to the Rescue Read Online Free Page B

Fabulous
Five."
    "Oh, yeah?" Liz mumbled. "What's so fabulous
about you guys?"
    Jana winced inwardly. Why did Liz act this way? She wanted
her friends to like Liz and help her feel at home. But how could they when Liz
behaved like a jerk?
    There was an awkward silence for a moment. Melanie cleared
her throat and glanced nervously from Beth to Katie to Jana, obviously hoping
someone would say something helpful.
    "Sit down," Beth offered, and moved her tray over
to give Liz room. Melanie sighed loudly with relief, and Jana seated herself
across from Liz.
    "It's very nice to have you here at Wakeman, Liz,"
Melanie said. Jana thought she sounded as if she were being dutifully polite,
saying something she didn't mean.
    Liz rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh," she said, looking
bored.
    "No, it really is," Beth insisted. "It's
always great to meet new people." Around the table, the others nodded
eagerly.
    "Liz, if you need help getting caught up in math, the
person to ask for help is Christie," Jana said. "She's really a whiz."
    "Well, I don't know that I'm a whiz, but I'd be happy
to help you," Christie said sincerely.
    Liz nodded but didn't say anything. She picked up the peanut
butter sandwich in front of her and took a tiny bite.
    "And I'm pretty good in English," Jana said.
    Still no response from Liz.
    "What do you like to do?" Melanie asked Liz. "I
mean, what are your hobbies?"
    Liz glanced at Melanie and then at Jana and finally at the
table. She looks scared, thought Jana.
    "I don't have any hobbies," Liz mumbled. Jana
could barely hear her.
    "What?" Melanie asked.
    "I said, I don't have any hobbies! You deaf, or
what?" Liz shouted, her eyes filling with tears. She grabbed her books
from the floor, stood up, and ran out of the cafeteria.
    "What did I say?" cried Melanie, looking
bewildered.
    "Mel," Jana said gently, "Liz lives in a
shelter for the homeless, remember? The last thing on her mind is a hobby."
    Melanie gulped and blinked back tears of her own. "I'm
sorry," she said. "I wasn't thinking."
    "That's okay, Mel," Katie said. "I have a
feeling that Liz is pretty tough. I don't think your question killed her. We'll
just have to be more thoughtful about what she's going through and try to ask
the right questions from now on."
    "She sure isn't easy to get to know," Jana said,
sighing. She got up and collected her own books. "I just wish I knew the
right way to handle her."
    "Why don't you talk to some of the other kids who're
helping homeless students," Beth suggested. "Maybe they're having the
same problems."
    "Good idea," Jana said. "I'll call Whitney
tonight. Excuse me now, guys, I think I'd better see if I can find Liz."
    Jana left the table and hurried out into the hall. Miss
Dickinson, her English teacher, was walking toward her with an armload of books.
    "Miss Dickinson," Jana said, "have you seen
Liz Flagg?"
    "Yes," said the teacher. "She came running
this way. I was about to ask her to slow down, but she looked so upset, I
decided to let it go. I think she may have ducked into the girls' bathroom at
the end of the hall."
    "Thanks," Jana said, and sped off in that
direction.
    She found Liz in the last stall at the back of the restroom.
She recognized the old, worn sneakers under the door.
    "Liz?" she called softly.
    There was no answer.
    "Liz, Melanie didn't mean to hurt you or make you mad,"
Jana said. "She feels really bad that she said the wrong thing. Won't you
come out so I can talk to you?"
    "Go away," Liz said. "I don't want to talk to
you."
    Jana sighed. "Liz, we just want to be your friends.
Honest."
    "I don't need any friends," she said.
    Jana tried to think of what she could say to make Liz feel
better, but then she considered the possibility that maybe Liz really didn't want to have friends at Wakeman.
    "Okay," Jana said. "If that's what you want."
    She turned and walked out of the restroom, hoping that Liz
might call her back. But she didn't.
    Jana had planned to talk to Liz during one of their
afternoon