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that hardly mattered anymore. Laura McCall had just made
it clear that Christie had already been found guilty.

CHAPTER 9
    After classes had ended for the day, Christie trailed along
after her friends to the auditorium. She couldn't help feeling gloomy about her
chances of proving she was innocent, but her friends had insisted on going over
what had happened.
    "Laura McCall makes Joe Isuzu look honest," Katie
said, giving her a sympathetic look. Christie smiled at her friend gratefully.
    "Okay, Christie. Tell us exactly what happened during
the tryouts," ordered Jana.
    "Well, we came in, and Mr. Neal told us to sit where we
had been sitting the day before."
    "Where was everyone sitting?" asked
Melanie. "Show us."
    "Kyle Zimmerman and Holly Davis were sitting on one
end, Daphne Alexandrou and Brad Cochran were in the middle. I was next to Brad
and Curtis was next to me."
    "Where was Melissa?" asked Katie.
    "Over there, at the other table," answered
Christie, pointing.
    "Where did you put your books?" asked Jana.
    "I put them right in front of me on the table where I
was sitting."
    "Did you put them down someplace else before you sat
down?" asked Beth.
    Christie bit her lower lip and thought a moment. "No .
. . I had them in my arms until I sat down." Her four friends' eyebrows
wrinkled into frowns almost in unison.
    Katie walked over to the podium. "You didn't talk to
Mr. Neal and put the books down over here, did you?"
    Christie shook her head. "I didn't put the books
down, except at the table where I was sitting. And no one came near
them. That's why I can't understand how the folder got in with my books."
    "Curtis or Brad?" asked Jana. "They were
sitting next to you. Could either one of them have done it?"
    Everyone looked at her.
    "Why would they?" asked Katie. "There has to
be a motive."
    "Speaking of motives," said Beth, "Laura said
she heard that Tim gave you a blue folder. You have to admit that he's
been hanging around you a lot ever since the tryouts started."
    "Right!" said Jana excitedly. "And he's a
real brain so he's sure to make the team."
    "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" asked
Melanie, nodding to the others and opening her eyes dramatically. "He
wanted to make sure Christie made the team, too, so he gave her the questions
without her knowing it."
    "He wouldn't do that," Christie insisted. "Besides,
I know the folder he handed me was the one Miss Simone gave me to take home to
my mother. There has to be something else."
    "But what?" asked Jana.
    The Fabulous Five stared at each other in gloomy silence. "I
don't know what else to tell you," said Christie quietly. "That's all
that happened." She felt the tears beginning to well up in her eyes again.
    Jana came over to her and hugged her. "Keep thinking,
Christie. We all believe you didn't do it, and there has to be an explanation."
    "That's right," said Katie, wrapping her arms
around both Christie and Jana. As Beth and Melanie joined them, Beth raised her
hand for a high five and shouted, "One for all, and all for one!" The
others slapped it, but Christie could tell they weren't enthusiastic. They
knew, just as she did, that her chances of finding out how she had gotten the
Super Quiz questions before the Wednesday deadline were pretty slim.
     
    Christie braced herself as The Fabulous Five entered
Bumpers. The room was filled, as usual, with the after-school crowd, and the
old Wurlitzer jukebox was blaring loudly. Mr. Matson, the owner, was working
the cash register as kids lined up with sodas, dishes of french fries, and hamburgers.
    "All the booths are filled," said Christie.
    "Why don't we stand by the jukebox? That way all the
boys can admire us," suggested Melanie.
    "Yeah," agreed Beth. "And we can talk to them
when they come up to play songs."
    "Who wants a cola?" asked Katie cheerfully. "I'll
go get them if somebody will help."
    "I do and I'll help," said Melanie. "I see
Scott in line and I want to talk to him." Christie, Jana, and Beth