by Jefferson Scott

“What’s that beeping?”

Kelli looked around. “Sounds like a cell phone. Jacki, it’s probably your mom checking up on you!”

Allie and Kelli laughed.

The beeping continued. Kelli could barely hear it over the kids filling the middle school cafeteria. School was about to start, so the room was full—and loud.

“Kelli!” Allie said. “It’s you! Your purse is beeping!”

Kelli opened her Gucci purse—brown, to match her shoes, of course—and found her brand new personal digital assistant. She pulled it from its leather case and pushed a button to silence the sound.

“Whoa, Kelli!” Jacki said, snatching the PDA. “You’ve got the new BottleRocket 9000! Girl, you have animated e-mail, broadband wireless, foldout screen and six megapixel digital video! I so hate you.”

Then she looked at Kelli with her puppy dog face. “Can I borrow it?”

Kelli snatched it back. “No, get your own.”

“Oh, right, like my dad makes a million dollars a day like your dad.”

Kelli gave Jacki an annoyed, yet superior smile. Then she pushed the buttons on her PDA to call up the new message. It was a strange one: No title, no sender, not even a date. The message itself was even stranger.

You are rich, but your life is empty.

A chill ran up Kelli’s back.

“Kelli, what’s wrong?” Allie said.

“Huh? I’m OK,” Kelli said, putting the PDA away. “Just some weird message.”

“Talk about weird,” Jacki said, not looking at them. “Look at that!”

Kelli and Allie turned. Coming through the double doors into the cafeteria were Jason Cunningham and—that new girl!

“Oh, no,” Allie said. “Tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing. Are they friends?”

“It sure looks like it to me,” Jacki said.

“Battle stations, girls!” Kelli said.

They wove through the cafeteria like guided missiles.

“Jason!” Jacki said, grabbing the handsome boy’s arm. “Great to see you!”

Allie jumped in front of the new girl and grabbed Jason’s other arm. “Oh, Jason, could you look over my oceanography homework?”

As they led Jason away, Kelli faced the new girl. “Look, Marie, or whatever your name is, you—”

“Madeline,” the new girl said, looking lost. “My name’s Madeline.”

“Oh, ‘Madeline,’ like the kids books? Well, listen, Maddie, Jason’s in our group and you’re not. Maybe you were popular in your old school, but Oldham Hills is a whole new ballgame.”

Kelli turned and walked off, leaving Madeline close to tears. It felt so good to be Kelli Ann Warrick.

Empty Life

The warning bell rang and everybody got up. Kelli tried to catch up with Jason and the girls to tell them how she’d shut down Miss You’re-Not-Welcome. But her PDA beeped.

You have everything, but you have nothing.

All morning long she got messages. They weirded her out.

You are alone, but you don’t need to be.

There’s a hole in your heart that only one thing can fill.

Who was sending these things? Kelli kept looking over her shoulder, thinking somebody must be playing a trick on her.

The worst part was the messages were starting to get to her. Was her life empty? Was she really alone? Nah. Couldn’t be. She had everything she could want.

And yet . . .

She saw Madeline again at lunch, sitting by herself. Good. Over their tossed salads with vinaigrette dressing, Kelli, Jacki and Allie planned their attack.

“It’s perfect,” Kelli said. “I have the dog food in my locker already.”

“Ew,” Jacki said. “Why are you carrying around dog food?”

“It’s a long story,” Kelli said, rolling her eyes. “Can you get it wrapped? It has to look like a real present.”

“I still have a gift bag from my birthday in my locker,” Jacki said.

Jacki led them in a cruel giggle. “And don’t forget the tag! ‘To Madeline. From Jason.’ ”

They giggled again.

Fill It Up

Late in the day during math class, Kelli got one more message.

You have friends all around you, but no one likes you for who you really are. Kelli erased the message. That was dumb. Her friends liked her. Some, like Jacki, joked a little too much about only hanging around her for her money, but that was OK.

She decided to write back: I think you’re wrong, whoever you are. My friends like me for more than my daddy’s money. Besides what could you possibly give me that would be better than what I have?

Now she had to wait.

And wait.

What could anyone give her? A trip to Mazatlan? A space tourist ride into near-earth orbit? As she waited, Kelli began to feel uneasy. She’d never really thought about it, but now she was actually feeling there was a hole in her heart. An awful emptiness. Like maybe her life really was meaningless. Like maybe money really didn’t buy happiness or true friendship.

She had recently turned 13—way past the need for God stuff. But now she remembered a children’s church teacher from years back who always made that Jesus junk sound interesting.

God, she prayed, are you really . . . you know . . . here? Are you what I’m missing?

Her PDA beeped and she almost rocketed out of her chair. Everybody looked at her. She put her head on the desk and read the new message.

I can give you peace. Joy. Hope. Real friendship. I’ll meet you by the trophy case after school and tell you what you have to do.

The bell rang.

Time for Change

Kelli grabbed her books and ran for the door. She knew what the message meant. She needed Jesus. She didn’t know what had changed, but suddenly everything depended on her getting Jesus into her life.

She pushed into the noisy hall. People smiled at Kelli. She saw Allie and Jacki. They shouted at her to stop, but she couldn’t. Something pulled her to the trophy case. She took the middle stairs two at a time and skidded into the huge atrium.

Standing next to the glass case was an ordinary, unpopular girl named Pam. She was holding a PDA and smiling warmly at Kelli.

Kelli walked up to her, aware that popular kids were seeing her mix with Pam. “Are you the one?”

Pam brushed scruffy bangs from her eyes and nodded. “You need—”

“I know what I need, Pam. I need Jesus!” Kelli grabbed Pam’s hand and pulled her to a wooden bench against the brick wall. “Tell me what I have to do.”

Before Pam could answer, Kelli heard voices she recognized. She turned to look. Jacki, Allie and Jason had caught up to Madeline as she left school. They were talking to her, acting nice. Jacki had the gift bag in her hand.

“Oh, no!”

“What is it?” Pam asked.

Jacki passed the gift bag to Madeline and pointed out the tag. Kelli saw Madeline read it, then look at Jason. She reached into the bag. “No!” Kelli shouted, breaking into a run. “Don’t open it!”

Madeline pulled out something wrapped in tissue paper. Her face looked so happy.

“No!” Kelli screamed.

Too late. Madeline unwrapped the “present.” Dry dog food tumbled out of her hand and onto the shiny floor. Her happy smile vanished into a look of confusion. Then Jacki, Allie and Jason said the line they’d practiced at lunch.

“Dog food for a dog! Dog food for a dog!”

Madeline’s face turned instantly red. She dropped her book bag and cried horribly. Others pointed, laughed and repeated the line until Madeline ran away, wailing.

Kelli turned to her friends.

“You guys, stop it!” she shrieked.

“Stop what?” Allie said. “What’s wrong with you, Kelli?”

“Yeah,” Jacki said. “Let’s not forget whose idea this was, OK?”

Jason laughed—a mean sound. “Yeah, what’s up, Kelli? That was totally funny.”

“No, Jason!” Kelli said, feeling awful. “It wasn’t funny. It was terrible. I know I started it. But—”

She looked over at Pam. “But I was wrong. OK? I used to be worse than any of you. But I need to change! I only did it because I was trying to cover up this . . . this emptiness inside me.

“But today I’ve found the thing that will make me feel better, and it doesn’t include making fun of unpopular kids. I’ve found Jesus, you guys. From now on you’re going to see a new Kelli Ann Warrick.”

Jacki’s mouth dropped open. Allie and Jason looked just as surprised. Right away, though, their surprise turned to anger and Kelli knew she would be next on their hit list.

She picked up Madeline’s bag and turned to Pam. “Come on, Pam, let’s go find Madeline. And let’s bring our PDAs. I think we may be using them a lot.”

	Q: How do bees telephone one another? A: They just give each other a buzz. Zephan S., 9, Kentucky Clubhouse Jr. Click here to subscribe