Around then I started seeing a lot of Robert. It was a confusing time for me because Robert hangs with a whole different crowd of kids. In the beginning, I thought they were much cooler than my BSC friends. I dropped out of the club for a while to become part of their group.
That left the club shorthanded. They called Shannon Kilbourne, who sometimes filled in as an associate member, and asked her to be a full-time member. That didn't work out too well because Shannon is so involved in after-school activities that she just didn't have the time for many baby-sitting jobs.
In the meantime I discovered that my new friends might be cool, but they weren't real friends. I asked to join the club again and everyone made me feel welcome (eventually). It was lucky I came back, because not long after that, Dawn decided to return to California - for good.
That left the club one member short once again. Fortunately, around that time Abby and Anna Stevenson moved into Kristy's neighborhood. Kristy invited both twins - who are also thirteen - to join. Anna said no, but Abby said yes. Now, with Abby here, things are running smoothly again.
So, that's a brief history of the BSC.
I arrived at Claudia's house and pulled open the front door. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - which are club meeting days - Claudia's mom leaves the door open so we can go right up to Claud's room. We always hold meetings here, which is why she's the vice-president.
"Hi," I said as I entered Claudia's bedroom. Kristy and Claud were already there. Naturally, Claudia was there because she lives there. Kristy is often early because she's the president of the club and she takes it super seriously.
"We bought the glue," Kristy reported from her usual seat, Claudia's director's chair.
"Good," I replied. I was about to bounce onto Claudia's bed (my usual spot) when I stopped short. "Ahh!" I cried, waving my arms in the air to regain my balance. "What's all this?" Claudia's bed was strewn with pieces of red construction paper, doilies, colored foil, and markers. "It's stuff for making valentines," Claudia explained as she wiggled her fingers into a bag of peanut M&Ms. "I'm putting together valentine craft kits." I should have known making valentines was a project Claudia would dive right into. Anything artistic attracts her like a magnet. She paints, sculpts, sketches, makes prints, tie-dyes, makes jewelry, and even designs her own clothing sometimes.
Her creativity overflows to her unique fashion sense. For instance, today she wore a long-sleeved tie-dyed shirt that she'd dyed herself. Under it she had on black leggings onto which she'd sewn patches of the tie-dyed material. Her silky, long black hair was tied back with a matching tie-dyed scrunchy.
Claudia looks great in her unusual outfits. It doesn't hurt that she's completely gorgeous. She's Japanese-American with the greatest hair, smoothest skin, prettiest dark almond eyes, and a knockout smile.
I can't understand how she can look so great and eat the way she does. Claudia is a total junk food nut. Her parents don't approve of her eating habits so she stashes junk food all over her room. You have to be careful where you sit; you might be squashing a pack of Twinkies or a bag of Doritos.
Claudia's biggest problem is school. She just can't seem to find anything to like about it other than art class. She's so involved with her art that other classes don't interest her. Considering that her older sister Janine is a genius (with a super I.Q. score to prove it), Claudia's parents are shocked by (and sometimes unhappy about) Claudia's dislike of school. They're on her back to study all the time. Claudia tries but schoolwork just isn't for her.
"Claudia, it's almost time for the meeting. You better start organizing this stuff," Kristy said. "Do you have the sandwich bags?" "I have wax paper bags," said Claudia, tak- ing a cardboard box from her top drawer. "They're more biodegradable." She opened the box, pulled out some bags, and started sorting equal amounts of doilies, red paper, and everything else into each bag. "Putting together these valentine kits was a great idea," she told Kristy.
"Thanks," said Kristy. "I figured it would be fun for the kids." That's Kristy, queen of the great idea. She's not shy about sharing her ideas, either. In fact, she's not shy about anything. We seldom have to wonder what Kristy is thinking. She's always happy to tell us.
Kristy doesn't look particularly impressive. She's petite with straight, shoulder-length brown hair. She's not especially interested in clothing. Jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt or sweatshirt are her usual attire.
But, in Kristy's case, looks are deceiving. Kristy is very impressive. She has a big, bold personality. Sometimes her bossiness can be a bit of a pain, but she keeps this club running like clockwork. She's also got a good heart and is a loyal friend. Besides, Kristy can be a lot of fun. Some of her great ideas involve activities - such as sleepovers, plays, and pizza parties - that are a blast.
Kristy's life hasn't always been easy. Her father just walked out on her family after her younger brother was born. That left her mother to take care of Kristy, her younger brother David Michael, and her two older brothers Charlie and Sam. Her mother managed well enough, though I suppose it must have been hard. Then, one day, Kristy's mom met this guy named Watson Brewer and soon they fell in love.
And Watson turned out to be a millionaire.
Before long, wedding bells rang and Kristy's family moved across town to Watson's mansion. You got it - mansion! That big mansion came in handy, too, because Kristy's family started to grow. First, Watson and Kristy's mom adopted a baby girl named Emily Mich-elle who was born in Vietnam. (She's two and a half now.) Then Kristy's grandmother, Nannie, moved in to help look after Emily Michelle. Kristy also acquired two younger stepsiblings, Karen, who is seven, and Andrew, who is four. They live at Kristy's every other month. When you add assorted cats, dogs, and goldfish, it makes for a pretty busy household.
"Am I on time?" asked Mary Anne, rushing breathlessly into the room. She checked Claudia's digital clock. "Five twenty-five. Phew!" she said.
Kristy is a stickler for punctuality. Our meetings start at five-thirty sharp. If we're late we get the Kristy Look, an icy stare of disapproval.
Mary Anne caught her breath and pulled the club record book from her backpack, preparing for our meeting. The record book contains everything she needs to know in order to schedule jobs. All of our schedules as well as the names and phone numbers of our regular clients are carefully noted. Any other important information is in there too, such as clients' allergies or special needs. As club secretary, Mary Anne keeps track of it all and, amazingly, has never made a scheduling mistake.
"Dawn called last night," Mary Anne reported. "Isn't it strange to think that she went to the beach yesterday, while we were here freezing?" As she spoke about Dawn (the club member who left and went to California), Mary Anne was smiling, but I had to wonder how she was really feeling. She and Dawn are very close. She took Dawn's departure the hardest of all. You see, they aren't only great friends, but they are stepsisters.
Dawn and Mary Anne became stepsisters by reuniting their parents, who had once been high-school sweethearts. While browsing through an old yearbook, they discovered that Dawn's mother had dated Mary Anne's father when they were in high school. But then Dawn's mom went to California to go to col- lege, where she met and married Dawn's father. Back in Stoneybrook, Mary Anne's father married someone else - Mary Anne's mother.
Got that so far?
Anyway, as you know, Dawn's parents divorced. Her mother came back to Stoneybrook with Dawn and Jeff, Dawn's younger brother.
Since Mary Anne's mother died when she was a baby, her father was raising Mary Anne by himself. So, as you may have figured out by now, both Dawn's mother and Mary Anne's father were free to get back together again.
After much coaxing from their daughters, Mary Anne's dad, Richard, and Dawn's mom, Sharon, began to date, then eventually married. Mary Anne and her father moved in with Dawn and her mother. (By then, Jeff had already moved back to California.) Becoming a new family had its definite and unexpected pitfalls. For example, Dawn, who is tall with long white-blonde hair, has strong opinions about a lot of things, including food. She can't stand junk food or red meat. Mary Anne, on the other hand, feels ill at the sight of barbecued tofu. But they ironed out their differences and everything seemed to be going great. That's why it was so shocking when Dawn announced her decision to move back to California to live with her brother, her dad, and her dad's new wife, Carol. It was some- thing she felt she really had to do. I sympathized with her because she really agonized over the decision.
I think Mary Anne is still getting over it, although she tries to have a good attitude. She's very sensitive and cries easily. The up side of her sensitivity is that she's a great friend, really tuned in to other people's feelings. The down side is that her feelings are easily hurt.
You can tell Mary Anne is sweet just by looking at her. She's petite, like Kristy, with big brown eyes that look even bigger now that she's cut her brown hair short.
Even though Mary Anne is quiet and shy she was the first one of us to have a steady boyfriend. Logan Bruno is a great guy. He has sandy blond hair and a southern accent left over from when he used to live in Kentucky. He's an associate club member, which means he sometimes takes fill-in baby-sitting jobs when the rest of us are booked.
Our other associate member is Shannon, as I've already mentioned. I like her a lot, even though she attends private school and is so busy that I don't see much of her. She's cute with curly blonde hair, the bluest eyes, and high cheekbones. She lives near Kristy and has two younger sisters.
I glanced at the clock and watched it turn from 5:29 to 5:30. Uh-oh. Abby, Jessi, and Mallory were still missing. They were doomed to get the Look.
Kristy checked the clock and frowned deeply. "All right, we might as well get started," she grumbled, obviously unhappy to have three members missing. "Mary Anne, would you check the record book and - " "We're here!" Mallory interrupted, flying into the room just ahead of Jessi.
"You're late," said Kristy.
"Are not," Mal protested as she looked at the clock. At that very second, the clock switched to 5:31. "It was five-thirty when we walked through that door." "She's right," I said.
Kristy scowled. "I suppose," she admitted grudgingly. Kristy doesn't like us to cut it that close.
Mallory smiled at Jessi and the two best friends slapped a high five.
I love to watch Jessi and Mallory together. In some ways they're both so sensible and grown-up, and then - in an instant - they can seem like real kids. (Right now was one of those instants. They were jumping around and slapping one another high fives behind their backs and in every conceivable way.) Jessi is an excellent ballerina. She studies at a dance school in Stamford (which is the near- est city to Stoneybrook). She's already performed in a few professional productions. She was the lead in one of her ballet school productions.
I'm sure Jessi will be a famous ballerina someday. She works hard and is very talented. She even looks like a dancer with her long, graceful arms and legs. Mostly she wears her black hair in a tight bun like dancers do. Since that hairstyle leaves nothing to the imagination, it's lucky for Jessi she has such a pretty face with clear skin and large dark eyes.
Here's a coincidence. Jessi lives in my old house, the one we moved out of when we returned to Manhattan. Just like my family, her family came here because her dad's company transferred him. The move was hard for Jessi for all the normal reasons that moves are hard on kids, and for one extra reason. Jessi's family is African-American. They used to live in an integrated neighborhood, but Stoneybrook is mostly European-American. (That's a phrase I heard someone use on the radio today.) Some people in Stoneybrook were totally obnoxious to Jessi's family just because of their skin color. (People can be such jerks sometimes!) Fortunately that craziness has blown over, and the Ramseys are happily settled in now with good friends and neighbors. Jessi's family consists of her mom and dad; a younger sister, Becca, who is eight; and her baby brother, Squirt, who is almost two. Jessi's aunt Cecelia also lives with them. She takes care of Squirt and Becca while Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey work.
Jessi has a pretty big family, but it's nothing compared to Mallory's family. The Pikes have eight kids! There are the triplets, Adam, Byron, and Jordan, who are ten, then comes Va-nessa (nine), Nicky (eight), Margo (seven), and Claire, who is only five. They live in a busy house on Slate Street.
The size of Mal's family explains why she's such a good baby-sitter. She sure knows about little kids. Being the oldest has made her very responsible, too. But Mal has her dreams. She wants to be an author-illustrator of children's books. She's talented, too.
Mal says she doesn't want to have her picture on the back cover of any of her books because she can't stand her looks. I think she's too hard on herself, though. Mal has curly reddish-brown hair, glasses, and braces. Mal disagrees, but in my opinion she's cute.
"I need the club notebook," said Mal. "I have a lot to write about my last job, sitting for the Barretts and the DeWitts. Those kids are possibly crazier than my brothers and sisters." The club notebook is a kind of diary where we record our baby-sitting experiences. (Mal loves writing in it, the rest of us don't.) It's very helpful because it's a place to read about client families and keep up with what's happening with them.