The Pumpkin Principle Read online

  “Keeping busy, too. I’m on the school’s gymnastic team this year, and—”

  “As if I didn’t know! As if all of Whittington High didn’t know! Why, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to girls’ sports in this town! School’s only been in session for a few weeks, and already you’ve managed to win—what is it—two meets?”

  “Well ...” Katy blushed, embarrassed by Christine’s praise. But it was obvious that she was pleased as well. “At any rate, I’ve been pretty busy with that. We have gymnastics practice almost every day after school. Ms. Barlow works us all pretty hard!”

  “Well, it’s certainly paying off. I heard that your routine on the uneven parallel bars has been totally astounding every judge who’s seen it!”

  Chris’s praise of Katy Johnson’s athletic abilities was well-founded. Although she was just over five feet tall and weighed in at barely one hundred pounds, Katy was a natural athlete. Combined with her strength was a certain grace that invariably gave her performance that special something the judges always looked for, whether she was on the parallel bars, the horse, the balance team, or the mats doing free-style exercises.

  And with her freckles, bright green eyes, and curly red hair, which was usually worn down around her shoulders, as it was today, but was pulled back in a ponytail during competitions, she made many people think of a little elf as she expertly ran through her well-practiced routines. Katy Johnson was, without a doubt, Whittington High’s best female athlete.

  “By the way,” Katy said, “do you know Carolyn and Jennifer?”

  Chris hadn’t met Katy’s two friends before, and the four girls chatted amiably for a minute or two.

  “Well, Katy, I’ve really got to get going,” Jennifer said. “My homeroom’s all the way on the other side of the school, over by the science labs. As it is, I’m going to have to make a run for it.”

  “I’ve got to go, too,” Carolyn agreed. “Nice meeting you, Chris. See you around, Katy!”

  Chris was glad that she and Katy had a moment to talk by themselves.

  “I really wish we could get together sometime soon,” said Chris. “I know Susan would love to see you, too. In fact, we were just talking about going for a long bike ride one of these days. This autumn weather is perfect for that kind of thing. Maybe you could join as after gymnastics practice some afternoon.”

  “Maybe. I’d really like that. If I’m not too wiped out, that is,” she added with a rueful grin.

  “Great. We thought we-might head over to the Atkinses’ farm to pick up some pumpkins....”

  “Pumpkins! Is it Halloween already?”

  Chris laughed. “I guess Ms. Barlow really has been keeping you busy! Sure, Halloween is just three weeks away now.”

  “Believe it or not, I’ve been so wrapped up in getting ready for our next meet that I haven’t given it a single thought!”

  “Well, you’d better start thinking about a costume,” Chris teased. “You don’t want to be the only one at the Halloween Dance without one!”

  Instead of looking pleased at the reminder that one of Whittington High’s most popular events was only a few weeks away, Katy’s expression darkened.

  “Getting a costume together is the last thing I have to be concerned about,” she said seriously.

  Chris was surprised. “Why, Katy. Aren’t you planning to come? I’m sure it’ll be lots of fun! In fact, I joined the Halloween Dance Committee to help make sure it’ll be lots of fun!”

  Katy just shook her head slowly. “I don’t know, Chris. I’m not very good at going to that kind of thing alone. I always feel silly standing around and waiting for somebody to ask me to dance. And I feel even sillier if no one does!”

  “What if someone invited you? Would you go if you had a date?”

  “Well, sure! But I really don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “Why not?” Chris was genuinely puzzled.

  Katy, however, was ready with an explanation. “Oh, Chris, I’m not like you! I don’t have half a dozen boys dying to take me out, calling me every night and begging for a date! I’m not the president of this and the chairperson for that, the way you are. I’m simply not one of the most popular girls around school.”

  “But that doesn’t mean no one will ask you to the dance, Katy! You don’t have to be on a million committees just to get a date!”

  “I know,” Katy sighed. “But, frankly, Chris, I don’t know too many boys. I’m basically very shy. I’m not good at talking to them. And, besides, girls’ gymnastics takes up so much of my time that I don’t even have that many opportunities to meet any boys.”

  Chris felt bad for her friend. She seemed so resigned to the fact that she couldn’t get a date for the Halloween Dance and so determined not to go alone or even with some of her girlfriends. But Chris refused to let it pass.

  “Well, if someone were going to ask you to the dance, who would you want it to be?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, Chris.”

  “Come on, Katy! You can be honest with me. I won’t tell, I promise. There must be somebody around school that you’ve got your eye on.”

  “Well, there is one boy ...”

  “Who?”

  Katy glanced around furtively, as if the last thing she wanted was for anyone to overhear. “Do you know Wayne Lowell?”

  “Of course I do! He’s in my English class, as a matter of fact. I see him every day.”

  “To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t mind going to the Halloween Dance with him. I think he’s one of the sweetest boys I’ve ever met.”

  “He is awfully nice,” Chris agreed.

  Inwardly, however, she groaned. It was true that Wayne Lowell was nice, but he was undoubtedly one of the shyest boys in their class as well. The chances of him mustering up the courage to ask Katy, or anyone else, to the Halloween Dance were about as remote as ... as Chris turning into a bat and flying through the corridors of Whittington High.

  “At any rate,” Katy said a bit sadly, “there’s no point in worrying about it. I’m sure I’ll have a perfectly wonderful time on Halloween helping my mother hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I just love seeing all the kids in the neighborhood dressed up in their cute little costumes.”

  “Sure. That sounds like a lot of fun.”

  Just then, the last warning bell sounded. Chris and Katy both grimaced.

  “We’d better get going,” said Chris, “or we’ll be late for homeroom. I still have to stop off at my locker.” She wrinkled her nose. “Math quiz today, first period.”

  “Well, good luck, Chris. Not that you’ll need it. And, listen, let’s try to go on that bike ride really soon, okay?”

  “Great. I’ll call you, Katy!”

  As Chris dashed off to her locker in pursuit of her math notebook, it was not the factoring of algebraic equations that she was thinking about. It was Katy Johnson—and her dilemma. She had so much going for her, yet because she was too busy to meet many boys—and too shy to talk to those she did meet—she had to miss out on something like the Halloween Dance. If only there were some way she could help…

  But maybe there was.

  After all, Chris was not one to let the chance to play matchmaker slip by. Already her mind was clicking away. Maybe, just maybe, part of her unusual idea for this year’s dance would include a way that everybody could participate—whether or not he or she had a date—without letting shyness or anything else get in the way. She was more determined than ever to wrack her brain until she came up with some solution. There was absolutely no reason in the world why someone like Katy Johnson should have to miss out on something that was as much fun as a costume party!

  Goodness! It’s been quite a day, thought Chris as she slammed the door of her locker. First such bad news about Mr. Peterson’s sister, on the verge of giving up her home because she believes it’s haunted. And now, problems with Katy’s social life ...

  But there was no time for worrying about either right now. C
hris tried to force herself to start thinking about her math quiz as she ran off to her homeroom. After all, she reminded herself, first things first.

  But the very moment that’s over, she vowed, I’m going to become totally single-minded. Maybe I can’t help Cecilia Carpenter, but I’m going to find a way to get Katy and Wayne Lowell together, or at least get Katy to that dance!

  And once she set her mind to something, Chris knew, she always—always—saw it through.

  Chapter Three

  For the rest of the day, Chris found it difficult to concentrate on any of her schoolwork. Even during the math quiz, visions of those orange and black streamers and balloons that Susan had mentioned kept dancing before her eyes— even as she was trying to solve the longest algebraic equation she had ever seen.

  Of course there are some things that simply have to be a part of every Halloween celebration, she kept thinking. But, somehow, there just has to be more!

  By the time the last bell of the day rang, right after her eighth-period French class. Chris couldn’t wait to get to the meeting of the dance committee. Maybe one of the other members would have come up with a super idea ...

  The turnout for the meeting was better than Chris had expected. Betsy Carter, this year’s chairperson, also seemed surprised. As she called the meeting to order right on time, she looked around the biology lab, the classroom in which this first meeting was being held. There were half a dozen students there besides Chris and Betsy.

  Chris recognized all of them, from classes or other club meetings, except for one. A boy with sandy blond hair sat in the back, slightly apart from all the others. He was good-looking, and she noticed him with surprise.

  I thought I already knew all the cute boys at school, she thought with amusement. I’d better not let Susan know I missed out on this one. She’ll think I’m losing my touch!

  The boy was quickly forgotten, however, as the meeting came to order. Chris immediately turned her attention toward Betsy.

  “Good afternoon, and welcome!” Betsy began with a smile. “I can already tell that there’s a lot of interest in making this year’s Halloween Dance a really memorable event. I don’t think I’ve seen so many people at a committee meeting since last year’s first Bake Sale meeting, when we made sure everybody knew we’d be sampling brownies made by the home economics classes!”

  Everyone laughed, relieved that being on this committee was going to be fun besides a lot of hard work.

  “Unfortunately, I can’t reward you all with brownies this time around,” the energetic, dark-haired girl continued. “But I can promise you that if we all put our heads together and do some creative thinking, we can come up with a really terrific dance.

  “Now, I’d like to get started by listing all of the different things we have to make plans for. Music, of course, and refreshments ...”

  “How about a theme?” suggested Don Ellis, a lanky junior who was known around school for his active participation in the debating club.

  “What do you mean?” Connie McCormick asked. She was a soft-spoken senior who didn’t join committees very often. “Isn’t this going to be a masquerade party? I thought that was the theme.”

  Most of the others murmured in agreement. It was then that Chris raised her hand.

  “Yes, Chris?”

  “I think I know what Don means. About having a theme, that is.”

  “You don’t like the idea of a costume party?” Betsy sounded surprised.

  “Oh, I definitely think everyone should dress up. After all, that’s what Halloween is all about, isn’t it?” Her sister Susan’s words earlier that day popped into her mind. “I think we should keep all the Halloween traditions. Wearing costumes, bobbing for apples, decorating the gym in orange and black ...

  “But I’m wondering if we could take the whole thing one step further.”

  “Sorry, Chris,” Betsy said, shaking her head slowly. “I’m afraid I still don’t follow.”

  “Me, either, Chris,” Wendy Pierce called out, her tone teasing. “Unless you’re talking about one of those practical jokes you Pratt twins are so famous for!”

  Chris could feel her cheeks turning pink, but she laughed. It was no secret that she and Susan had always enjoyed both aspects of the “trick or treat” theme.

  “Well, to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what I’m talking about, either. I mean, I know that I’d like to do something different this year. Something that’s never been done at Whittington High before. Something that’s ... well, special. The only problem is, I don’t have any good ideas.”

  Chris glanced around the room, wearing a sheepish expression. “I thought maybe somebody here could help me come up with something.”

  “That’s the kind of thing I was thinking about, too,” Don Ellis said, this time sounding a bit more sure of himself. “How about having a theme for everyone’s costume? Something like the American Revolution. And everybody would have to wear clothes from that period.”

  “Oh, I love that idea!” cried Connie. “The boys could dress up like rebels and redcoats, and the girls could wear those fancy gowns.”

  “Or how about having ‘the future’ as our theme?” someone else called out. “We could all come as space travelers!”

  “Or creatures from other planets!”

  “How about a dance where everybody comes dressed as who—or what—they wish they were?” asked Connie. Almost to herself, she added, “I could come dressed as a rock star.”

  “It seems as if everybody agrees that it’s a good idea to have a theme,” Betsy said.

  She turned to the blackboard and wrote: “Masquerade party with a theme.” She underlined the word theme. “I guess we should decide on what we want, and then take a vote.”

  For the next half hour, the group brought up new ideas for themes and then heatedly debated each one. Circus performers, animals, famous historical figures, movie stars— everyone seemed to have a different thought on the matter. And one idea led to another, until Betsy had listed over twenty different possibilities on the blackboard.

  By then it was getting late. Don suddenly glanced at the clock and said, “Hey, look what time it is! I’ve got to get going.”

  “Me, too,” agreed Wendy. “But we still haven’t come to any decision.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” Betsy said, holding up her hands for silence. “We’ve all got a lot to think about here. We’ve got some great ideas, and picking out just one isn’t going to be easy. So how about holding off on our final vote until our next meeting? That way, everybody will have a chance to think about it some more. Maybe we can all talk to some of our friends, too, to see which ideas are the most popular.”

  Everyone agreed that that was a wise thing to do.

  “Besides,” Don added with a chuckle, “this way we’ll all have a chance to come up with even more ideas!”

  “No, please!” Betsy wailed, laughing. “We already have enough! Let’s all put our creativity on hold for a while, okay? All right, I’ll see you all next week. In the meantime, see if you can settle on just one of these ideas. Then we can start planning all the details. Decorations, refreshments, music ... we still have a lot of work to do, everybody!”

  As the meeting started to break up, the members of the dance committee chattered away excitedly. They wandered off in twos and threes, debating the pros and cons of each idea for the Halloween Dance theme.

  Chris, it appeared, was the only one who had reservations.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like the idea of having a theme. On the contrary, she thought it was fresh and original. It would, she hoped, inspire the students of Whittington High to come up with some interesting interpretations, some unusual twists in putting together their costumes.

  What was troubling her was her conversation earlier that day with Katy Johnson.

  Chris had vowed, then and there, to work really hard to make the Halloween Dance one that everybody could participate in. And while the theme idea was a go
od one, it didn’t really make this dance any different from all the others held at Whittington High. Katy wouldn’t come to a theme masquerade any more readily than she would come to any other high school dance.

  As she wandered out of the classroom, carrying her books and her shoulder bag, Chris was lost in a dream world. In fact, she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice that someone was walking alongside her. That is, not until he spoke to her.

  “Excuse me. You’re Chris, aren’t you?”

  She turned to see that the boy with the sandy blond hair had joined her.

  “Yes, I am.” She was genuinely surprised. “Do you know me?”

  “Not yet!” he replied with a laugh. “But during the meeting, Betsy called you by name. And, well ... let’s just say I made a point of remembering it.”

  Chris, usually at ease with boys, could feel her cheeks turning pink. How direct this boy was! Yet she was flattered. More than that; she was pleased. So he had noticed her—just the way she’d noticed him.

  “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name,” she said as they strolled out of the biology lab together.

  “It’s . . . My friends call me B.J.”

  “B.J.! That’s original!”

  “B.J. Wilkins. I suppose we should introduce ourselves formally.” He grinned and extended his hand.

  Chris was already beginning to feel much more relaxed with this boy. Perhaps he was a bit more honest than most boys she knew, but she was also beginning to find him quite charming.

  “I’m Christine Pratt,” She smiled and shook his hand. “Are you a senior here at Whittington?’’

  “Yup. And I know exactly what your next question is going to be.”

  “Are you a mind reader?”

  “I could pretend that I am, I suppose, but then you’d probably want me to tell you what you’re going to be when you grow up and what presents you’re going to get for Christmas and all kinds of things like that, and I’d be found out. No, I’m not a mind reader at all. To be perfectly honest, I’ve already had this conversation with different people about a million times.”