The Baby-Sitters Club Friends Forever #3: Mary Anne’s Big Break-up (10 page)

You don’t really want to shop. Do you?”

Jil shook her head. I could see tears in her eyes. She tossed a fuzzy bear

pin back into a basket. Then she led the way out of the store.

At Starburst’s I ordered an iced tea for me and a lemonade for Jil .

“I’m really sorry about the party,” I said final y.

“which one?”

“Both. Yours, for ruining it. And the other one, for going to it.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it isn’t. We shouldn’t have gone.”

Jil was quiet for a moment. Then she said softly, “You could have gotten

kil ed last night.”

That seemed like an exaggeration. But not much of one.

“Walking al the way over there in the middle of the night? You could have

been murdered.”

“You’re right.”

“Dawn, you’re my friend. I care about you. I don’t want anything to happen

to you. Anything bad, I mean.”

“I know,” I said again. I felt a little like I was having a conversation with

Dad or Carol. The conversation in which the parent says (as he or she sets some

limit or takes away some privilege), “I’m not doing this to be mean, I’m doing it

because I love you.” Still, it made me feel more kindly toward Jil . After what we had done to her last night, she still cared about us. About me, anyway.

Jil was looking at me solemnly. She frowned slightly. “Dawn? Is something

going on with you? Something I don’t know about?”

I sighed. “Oh, kind of everything. You know – school, Sunny’s mom, all

these changes. A lot.”

Jil was still frowning. “No, I don’t mean that. You’ve seemed different in

the last few days.”

Suddenly I remembered one of the many reasons Jill and I had become

such good friends. Because Jill is sensitive. She could practical y read my mind.

It was uncanny, but I liked it.

“Well…” I began.

“You can tel me,” said Jill.

“All right, but it’s a huge secret. You cannot tell a soul, and I mean not one

single solitary soul. Because I promised Carol I would not tell anyone this secret.”

“Okay.” Jill was stil solemn as a cat.

“Carol,” I said, “is pregnant.”

Jil ’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened. Then she grinned.

“But,” I hurried on, “somehow it’s not a good thing.” I tried to describe

Carols’ reaction, how she hadn’t told Dad and seemed al nervous – and frankly

not very pregnant.

Jil frowned again. “Wow. That is strange,” she said.

“I don’t like the way Carol is handling things,” I went on. “Not telling Dad,

making me keep it a secret. Anyway, remember – Carol told me this in

confidence.”

“Well, your secret is safe with me.” Jill pretended to zip her lips together,

then to lock them and throw away the key. Very third grade but somehow

confidence inspiring. When we left Starburst’s I felt closer to Jill than I’d felt in a long time. I still thought that I was outgrowing her, but I wanted to be her friend anyway.

Tuesday night 10/7

So. Those are – finally – all the events of the weekend. Now when I

explain what happened yesterday and today, everything will make sense. Here’s

one of the many good things about keeping these journals: When you read about

the bad stuff, you remember how horrible everything seemed. Then you keep

reading – the next entry and the next entry and the next and the next – and you

see that you survived. That life goes on. Not only that, but the bad things seem

less bad. And they seem that way very quickly. Maybe it’s good that our feelings

don’t have the long, accurate memories our brains have. I guess this is a self-

protection device, like the spots on a fawn. Or maybe it’s healing for our minds.

Whatever.

Anyway, here it is only Tuesday, and already Saturday, Sunday, and

Monday don’t seem so bad.

Yesterday morning (Monday) us stupid eighth-graders had to show our

faces at school, had to look into the eyes of al those upperclassmen who didn’t

really like us at al , who probably didn’t want us in their building (or their lives), who had used our eagerness to join the big leagues to put us right back in our

unenviable little places. I wanted to walk into school with my head hanging,

wearing sunglasses. But Sunny wouldn’t let me do the first, and we aren’t

al owed to do the second.

I realized something interesting the moment Sunny and Maggie and I did

enter our building: It was the upperclassmen who couldn’t look at us. They were

in trouble too.

“They set us up and cal ed the police on us,” Maggie said.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. Ducky was standing behind

us.

“Hey,” he greeted us.

“Hi!” we said.

“Have you heard?” Ducky went on. “There’s big trouble.”

That much I knew. The mood certainly was tense.

“What kind of trouble?” I asked. “I mean, specifical y.”

Ducky shrugged. “I’m not sure. Just a lot of rumors right now. But heads

are going to roll.” Ducky pulled something out of his shirt pocket. “Gum?” he

saidm holding it out to us. Sunny took a piece, and Ducky said, “the

administration has figured out exactly what happened. The kids who organized

the party are in deep trouble with their parents.”

“What about the kids the police picked up at the party?” Sunny asked.

“They’re in equally deep trouble.”

“Hey, you guys.”

I turned around to find Amalia hurrying toward us.

“Amalia! How are you?” I cried.

“What happened after we dropped you off?” asked Sunny.

“I got busted. Mom and Dad were waiting for me in their bedroom. They’d

already found out I hadn’t been baby-sitting. I’m grounded for a month. Except for school, of course,” said Amalia.

“Whoa,” I said.

“Wow,” said Ducky.

During homeroom that morning, Mr. Dean made an announcement. He

sounded mad. This was the entire announcement. “Will al eighth-, ninth-, tenth-.

Eleventh-, and twelfth-graders report to the auditorium at ten o’clock sharp

tomorrow morning, please. Do not miss the assembly. No excuses accepted.”

That was it. The entire announcement.

I glanced at Tray Farmer. Our eyes exchanged a look. It meant, Uh-oh.

When homeroom ended, I hurried into the hal way. I was making my way

to my next class when I nearly ran into Ms. Krueger.

“Oh! Um, hi,” I said.

“hi, Dawn. I’ve been looking for you. Sunny and Christopher too. I wanted

to tell the three of you – in person – to meet me in my office before tomorrow’s

assembly. Quarter to ten, please. I’ll see you then.”

“Oh, okay. I mean, fine. I mean, see you then,” I babbled as Ms. Krueger

hurried away. “Quarter to ten!” I called after her.

I was a nervous wreck by lunchtime. “Sunny, did Ms. Krueger find you this

morning?” I asked her.

“Yes,” said Sunny hotly. “And she can’t do anything about us. We didn’t

break the law or anything. We were just looking for my wallet.”

“On her private property,” I pointed out. “The scene of a wild party she did

not give us permission to have.”

“I know, I know, I know,” muttered Sunny.

Sunny, Maggie, Jill, and I sat at our usual table in the cafeteria. The four of

us looked sick. Sick with fear. Even Jill, because she knew that if our parents

ever learned that some of us had been at the party, she would be in Big Trouble

for covering for us.

“Let’s hang out together this afternoon,” I said, needing moral support.

“I can’t,” said Sunny. “I promised Mom I’d spend some time with her at the

hospital. I told her I’d do her nails.”

“I can’t either,” said Maggie. “That big English assignment is due on

Wednesday. I didn’t work on it at all over the weekend.”

“I’ll hang out with you, Dawn,” said Jil loyally.

“Okay. You want to come over?”

“Will Mrs. Bruen let us bake cookies?” “Sure, unless she’s in the middle of

making dinner.”

And that was how Jill wound up at my house yesterday afternoon and

nearly ruined my life.

Bedtime, Tuesday night 10/7

I swear, just when things look bleakest (which is how they still looked

yesterday), something comes along and makes them look totally black. This time

the something was Jil . What gets into her?

Jil and I walked to my house after school yesterday. We were not in tip-

top shape. We were exhausted (well, I was), and the assembly was hanging over

our heads like a storm cloud.

“What do you think Mr. Dean is going to say tomorrow?” asked Jill.

“I can’t imagine,” I replied. Jill looked at me sideways, trying to tel whether

I was being sarcastic. “I mean, I really can’t,” I added quickly. “It depends on how much he knows, I guess, and on how big a stink he wants to make of it. After all,

this doesn’t look very good for Vista.”

Jil brightened. “That’s true.”

“But still,” I said.

“Yeah.”

When we reached my house, Mrs. Bruen was hanging clothes on the line

in the backyard. She said she didn’t need the kitchen for awhile, and that Jill and I could use it.

“We’l clean up!” Jill cal ed over her shoulder as we ran inside.

We found Carol sitting at the kitchen table.

”Hi,” I said. “How come you’re home from work?” It was only then that I

realized her car was parked in the driveway.

“I decided to work at home this afternoon,” she told us.

“Do you mind if we make cookies?” I asked her.

“Nope. Go ahead. I’ll be in the den.”

Jil and I set to work mixing and stirring.

“I wonder what it feels like to be grounded,” Jil said after awhile.

“Grounded? What do you mean? Why?”

“Well, I’ve never been grounded. But if my mom finds out about the party,

and that I lied – “

“Jil ! Shh!” I hissed. “Do you want Carol to hear us?”

Jil lowered her voice. “I guess if we al get grounded it won’t be so bad. Of

course, we wouldn’t have to worry about this in the first place if you guys hadn’t snuck out – “

“Jil !” I cried again. “Shh. SHH! Carol is coming.”

At that moment Carol entered the kitchen. She was carrying a box. It was

labelled PRO-MAX 220 FAX MACHINE

“A fax machine!” Jill leaped to her feet. “carol, you shouldn’t be carrying

that. Not in your condition. It’s too heavy. Here, let me.” Jill reached for the box.

She realized too late what she had said. She dropped her arms.

Carol looked at me, eyes flashing. Jill looked at me nervously. I looked

back at both of them. Final y I said, “Good one, Jill.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Carol set the box on the table. “Wel , I thought I could trust you, Dawn,”

was all she said. Then she left the room.

“You can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?” I said to Jill. ‘What is it with

you? Don’t you ever think? I mean, think like an adult?”

“I’m sorry, Dawn,” Jill said again. “I was just trying to help. I didn’t want

Carol to hurt herself. Or the baby.”

“Jil , I told you the baby was like the biggest secret in the world. I told you

not to tel a soul. I told you that I wasn’t supposed to have told a soul. And then you let the secret out – to Carol of al people. Who else did you tell?”

“No one. I swear.” Jill was wringing her hands. “But if it was such a big

secret, why did you tell me?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s my fault. I should have known I couldn’t trust you

with a secret.” I turned away from Jill. ‘What a baby,” I muttered.

Jil burst into tears. She didn’t say anything, though. Not to me. She just

crossed the kitchen, picked up the phone, called her mother, and asked her to

come pick her up.

I was so mad that I went to my room without a word. Jill sat alone on our

front stoop until her mother arrived.

Wednesday morning 10/8

I stayed in my room for quite awhile. I thought about Jill and Carol and the

baby and Dad. Finally I went to the den and apologized to Carol. Carol

apologized back. It was al very polite. Too polite. I knew Carol was still

disappointed in me.

Well, guess what. I was disappointed in Carol. The secret made no sense

to me. It was ridiculous that Dad didn’t know the news yet. He was going to be a

father again. But the only people who knew that were Carol and me. And Jill.

That night, Dad cal ed. Jeff spoke to him first. He told him an elephant joke

and complained about his soccer coach. Then I got on the phone and told dad

about Sunny and Mrs. Winslow and my homework and lots of other things – but

not that he was soon going to have another son or daughter. When I handed the

phone to Carol, I covered the mouthpiece and said, “It’s Dad. He called to find

out how his children are.” I paused. ‘His children.”

“All right,” said Carol irritably.

As I left Carol’s bedroom, I heard her say, “Hi, Jack. It’s me. I’m glad you

cal ed. I want to talk to you.”

I almost cried. “Yess!” I was planning to listen in on the rest of the

conversation, but Carol closed her door then. By the time I was ready for bed,

she hadn’t opened it.

Wednesday 10/8, in study hall

Promptly at 9:45 yesterday morning, Sunny and Ducky and I met outside

Ms. Krueger’s office. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking. Sunny

looked pale. Ducky seemed subdued.

Ms. Kruger had lined up three chairs across from her desk. She sat behind

her desk and we sat in the chairs, fidgeting, biting our lips, playing with our hair, and jiggling our feet.

“Calm down, kids,” said Ms. Krueger pleasantly. “Look, the teachers have