Ann Martin - Kristy Power!

"I'm sure he would have," Mary Anne put in. "Eventually, I mean." Stacey just glared at her. "The most meaningful experience of his life, and he tells somebody else before he tells me?" She was holding a big pretzel Claudia had passed her, and she broke it in half without seeming to notice.

"One of the most meaningful," I pointed out. "Not the most meaningful." "Oh, big difference," said Stacey. "Right. So all I have to do is ask him what was the most meaningful experience, and then I'll know more than her." Claudia blushed. "Actually," she said, "he kind of told me that already." Stacey looked as if she wanted to stomp out of the room. But she kept her cool. "Oh?" she said, raising her eyebrows. "And what was it?" Claudia's blush grew deeper, but she was smiling. "Um, I'm not really supposed to tell." "Oh, that's just terrific." Stacey threw up her hands.

I decided the time had come to change the subject. "So, about my Christmas party," I began, trying to sound cheerful. "The invitations are in the mail!" Stacey, who had still been glaring at Claudia's profile (Claudia refused to look at her), glanced at me. "You invited Jeremy, right?" she asked.

"Right," I said with a sinking feeling. Oh, man.

If Claudia and Stacey couldn't deal with the Jeremy issue when he wasn't even in the room, what was it going to be like when the three of them were at a party together?

"I just hope he doesn't spend the whole evening whispering secrets into his friend's ear," she said frostily, avoiding Claudia's eyes.

"I won't go near him, if that's what you want." Claudia looked angry now. "If you're so insecure about your relationship, I'll just stay away." "Insecure? I'm not insecure. I just don't like it when - " Luckily the phone rang just then. For a few minutes we were forced to act professional. By the time I'd set up a sitting job with the Pikes, Stacey and Claudia had simmered down.

"So, Kristy," Mary Anne asked with a falsely casual note in her voice, "did you invite Logan?" She bit into her second Mallomar.

"Not yet," I replied. "I was waiting to talk to you about that. Do you think it would be okay? Or would it be awkward?" "You mean you might not invite Logan?" Claudia interrupted. "That would be weird, since a lot of his other friends will be there." "I know. But it has to be okay with Mary Anne." I looked at her. "Is it? Okay, I mean?" Mary Anne glanced down at the Mallomar she was holding. She looked as if she'd just lost her appetite. "Do you think he'll come with a date?" she asked.

I shook my head. "It's not that kind of party. At least I don't want it to be. I think people will just come on their own." "Not that he couldn't date if he wanted to," Mary Anne added, with a shaky smile. She was still holding the Mallomar. She reached for a tissue from the box on Claudia's night table, wrapped the cookie in it, and threw it away. "Sorry to waste that. I just wasn't hungry anymore." She took a deep breath and turned to me. "It's okay if you invite him," she said. "I'm a big girl. I can handle it." I nodded. "All right, then," I said.

As I looked around the room at my friends, I realized that I wasn't the only one with problems. It wasn't an easy time for any of us.

Chapter 11.

Eeesh. I looked down at Cary's list of questions. Could they be any more boring? Oh, well, I thought. At least it won't take me long to answer them. It didn't either. I whipped through the whole page in under an hour. Then I wrote up a similar list for Cary. It was just as boring as his, because I couldn't ask the one question that mattered most: What did you do to be kicked out of school? When the list was done, I rode my bike over to his house to drop it off.

I was hoping he might be home so I'd have another chance to talk to him, but the house was deserted. I left the list in his family's mailbox and headed back home.

Sunday evening seemed to stretch on forever. All I could think about was the meeting about Ted, now less than twenty-four hours away. I'd told Watson and my mom about it, and they'd promised to come. I tried to make some notes about things to say at the meeting, but I couldn't concentrate. I was too mad.

All day Monday I felt as if I were marking time. Every hour was just part of the countdown to the big meeting.

Finally, the moment arrived. My English class had agreed to gather in the hall and walk into the meeting together, so I looked around the crowded entrance until I spotted Jeremy and Alan. As I headed for them, I saw Watson and my mom arrive and join some of their friends. Jeremy looked tense.

"What's up?" I asked.

He glanced to his right, and I followed his eyes. There was Merrie - and Mrs. Dow. They were arguing in hushed tones.

"But I promised I'd sit with my friends," Merrie was saying in a strained voice, "Friends? Those are not the kind of friends you should have, young lady," said Mrs. Dow. "You're sitting with me." Merrie looked pale. Slowly, she shook her head. "No, I'm not," she said. "I'm sorry," she added in a Whisper. Then she turned and joined the boys and me. Mrs. Dow gaped after her.

I reached out to touch Merrie's shoulder. "Good for you," I said quietly. "You really stood up for yourself." She tried to smile. "Thanks." Jeremy nodded to her. "That couldn't have been easy," he said sympathetically.

Alan just smiled and kept quiet, which was probably a good thing. It wasn't the time for one of his wisecracks, and for once he had the sense to see that.

I glanced at my mom, who was standing near the door with Watson and another couple. I spotted the SAY No TO CENSORSHIP button on my mom's lapel and smiled to myself. I was proud of her, and I knew I was lucky to have a mom who felt the way I did about issues like this one.

Soon the rest of our class arrived. The crowd around the entrance had grown, and I tried to guess how many of them were on Ted's side and how many were not. It was impossible to tell by looking at people, except for the small knot of men and women standing with Mrs. Dow. They were all talking angrily, and several of them were carrying briefcases bulging with, I assumed, materials to support their case.

"We'd better go in," Jeremy said, "if we want to find seats together. Looks like it's going to be crowded in there." He was right. We were able to grab a row in the auditorium (I saved seats for Mary Anne and Stacey, who had promised to come), but by the time everyone had filed in, the room was packed and most seats were taken.

I sat between Jeremy and Claudia. Cary took a seat at the other end of the row, but I tried not to let it bug me. I was here to concentrate on helping Ted.

The noise level in the auditorium was incredible. If you think a cafeteria full of middle-school students is loud, you should try an auditorium full of angry community members. Everybody was talking at once while they waited for the meeting to begin.

"... no right to subject our children to filth ..." I heard on one side.

"... a decent man, and he doesn't deserve to lose his job over ..." I heard on the other.

The buzz in the room became even louder when Ted walked onto the stage, accompanied by a man and a woman in business suits. "They're lawyers from the teachers' union," Jeremy said. "I heard they'd be with him." Now Mr. Taylor was walking onto the stage, along with our assistant principal, Mr. Kingbridge, and several teachers, including most of the English department. They filed in, looking very serious, and took seats on the other side of the stage from Ted. A large podium stood between Ted and everyone else from SMS.

"This looks more like a trial than a meeting," I whispered to Claudia. She nodded with a little shiver.

Mary Anne and Stacey arrived just before Mr. Taylor stood up at the podium. They slid into their seats as he called the meeting to order. "I'd like to welcome you all to this meeting," he said. "The administration of SMS is pledged to consider the needs and concerns of the Stoneybrook community. An issue has been raised concerning the conduct of Mr. Ted Morley, and we are here to discuss the case and hear from those involved: that is, Mr. Morley himself, the head of the English department, the parents of this community, and any students who wish to speak." I felt my heart race when I heard that. I did "wish to speak," but the size of the crowd in the auditorium was intimidating. Would I really be able to stand up for what I believed in, in front of all those people?