The Baby-Sitters Club Friends Forever #3: Mary Anne’s Big Break-up (4 page)

baking and popcorn-making. However, Maggie

Oh, boy. My thoughts are al over the place. I’m giving myself a headache.

I better go to bed. But what is happening to my friends?

Friday 10/3

Hmm. I hardly know what to say about what happened in school today. It’s

thril ing. It’s also really surprising, considering the Puppy Pal incident. Maybe the nice upperclassmen are behind it, not the mean ones.

I just reread what I wrote and realize I’m not being clear, so let me start

over and explain things better. Okay. When I got to school on Friday morning I

went straight to my locker. (My locker. Not Mandy’s. I’ll never make that mistake

again.) And sticking out of the vent at the top was a folded piece of paper. I

opened it. It turned out to be an invitation to a party. This is what it looked like: SHHH! It’s a secret.

Come meet your fel ow students and

get acquainted.

The upperclassmen want to get to

know you and a few others.

But only a few others -

you, the select few.

Food and drink served.

The fun starts at 10:00 on

Saturday night.

Don’t be early!

An address appeared at the bottom of the invitation. But no name. My first

thought was that it was from Mandy and it was a joke. I mean, why would Puppy

Pal be invited to a cool party put on by the upperclassmen for a select few

eighth-graders?

But just then Sunny ran to me and grabbed me. She jumped up and down,

squealing. “Look what I got! Look what I got!”

Sunny held out an invitation identical to mine.

Frowning, I held mine up for her to see.

“You got one too!” she cried.

“Yeah, but – “

“Hey! Hey, you guys! Look!” Maggie rushed to our sides, breathless. She

held up another invitation.

“I – “ I started to say.

Sunny couldn’t contain herself. She cut me off, grinning. “I know for a fact

that not everyone got one,” she said. “Lucinda Dayton didn’t get one, and neither

did Dakota Wilde.”

“Or Polly Guest,” added Maggie.

“This is so cool,” cried Sunny. “It’s the big time. A party given by the

upperclassmen and they want to meet us.”

“And the party doesn’t even start until ten,” added Maggie. “Extremely

cool.”

I started to feel more hopeful about the party.

Until lunchtime.

Friday afternoon 10/3

It was at lunch that I found out that Jil had gotten one of the invitations

too. I waited until she had left the table to buy a carton of milk. Then I said, “If this party is for cool kids, how come Jill got invited?”

Sunny waved her hand. “Oh, they probably thought they had to invite her.

You know, because of us. They must have found out that we al hang out

together and they didn’t want to hurt Jil by leaving her out.”

When I looked unconvinced, Maggie said, “You should hear who else was

invited, Dawn.” And she began to reel off a list of the most popular eighth-

graders.

“Really?” I said.

“Yup.” Maggie nodded smugly.

Jil returned with her milk then.

“So?” Sunny said to us.

“So what?” I replied.

“So are we going?”

“Going to what?” asked Jil .

“The party,” said Sunny.

“The one we just got the invitation to? Are you crazy?” said Jill. “We can’t

go to a party like that.”

“Why not? We were invited,” said Maggie.

“They are eleventh- and twelfth-graders!” cried Jill. “They’re, like, four

years older than us. Some of them are eighteen already.”

“So what?” said Sunny. “I want to go. Besides, like Maggie said, they

invited us. So they must want us at the party.”

“It doesn’t mean we belong there,” said Jil . :”Just think. They’re going to

be doing al sorts of stuff – “

“How do you know what they’ll be doing?” asked Sunny.

“Come on, you guys,” I said, interrupting them. “We don’t have to decide

this now. We have al today and tomorrow to think about it.”

“Well, if we do go, we should probably bring something,” Jil went on.

“What do you mean,” I asked.

“We can’t show up at a party empty-handed. My mom says. We can bake

cookies. Or make fudge.”

“Fud –“ Maggie started to say, and incredulous look on her face.

“We can talk about it later,” I said again. “End of discussion.”

I snuck a look at Jill’s face then. She seemed puzzled. She always seems

puzzled lately. Ordinarily, that would have made me feel protective of her. But

today I felt annoyed. And then I got mad at myself for feeling annoyed. What kind

of friend am I?

Even later Friday afternoon 10/3

I wonder that a lot lately. What kind of friend am I? Actual y, I think I mean

what kind of person am I? What kind of friend, sister, stepsister, daughter,

stepdaughter? I’m not always a very good person. I know that. I also know that

most people are not “good” all the time, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.

I don’t like being a bad friend, daughter, sister. But sometimes I can’t help myself, and then I feel guilty.

Jil is driving me crazy.

Whoa. I just overheard the most amazing thing. I didn’t mean to. Not

exactly. I mean, I didn’t intentionally eavesdrop. I just picked up the phone when it rang, and Carol picked it up at the same time on the downstairs extension, and

when I heard the caller say, “This is Dr. Barnat,” I somehow didn’t manage to

hang up the phone. Dr. Barnat is Carol’s new gynecologist. And here she was

cal ing Carol at 5:30. After office hours. Something was up. I really intended to

hang up the phone, but at the last minute my hand wouldn’t cooperate with my

brain, so I was still on the extension when I heard Dr. Barnat say, “Well, your EPT

was correct. You’re pregnant. Roughly three weeks pregnant.”

I did hang up the phone then, but only because I nearly dropped it. EPT. I

know what that stands for. Early pregnancy test. Early pregnancy test.

Oh. My. God.

Carol is pregnant. I am going to be a big sister again. We are going to

have a baby in the house.

Oh. My. GOD.

I am so amazed that I had to take a little break here and go get a drink of

water and then throw some of that water on my face. I want to spread the news.

You hear something like this and all of a sudden things that had recently seemed

important (like deciding whether to go to the party) don’t seen so important

anymore. I know I cant go calling people without talking to Carol first, though.

Wait. She’s off the phone. More later.

Friday night 10/3

Well, I just do not understand Carol. She isn’t mad at me for

eavesdropping. But

This is confusing. I’m going to start over again.

Okay. It is now Friday night. Supper is over. Jeff asked if we could eat on

trays in front of the TV, and Carol said that would be all right. Now Jeff has gone to bed, and Carol is puttering around her room. We’ve already said good night.

I’m alone, thinking over what happened this afternoon.

After I hung up the phone, and after I had recovered somewhat, I ran

downstairs. Carol was already off the phone. She was sitting on a chair in the

kitchen, looking stunned.

“Carol?” I said. (She didn’t answer.) “Carol?”

“What? Oh, Dawn. I didn’t hear you.”

“Carol, I have to tell you something. I really didn’t mean to do this, but I

overheard part of your conversation with Dr. Barnat. I answered the phone when

I heard it ring, and I picked it up just in time to hear Dr. Barnat say that you’re three weeks pregnant.” Carol just looked at me. “I hung up then,” I said. “Honest.

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I know it isn’t –“

“Never mind,” said Carol. “Don’t worry about it.”

I was so relieved not to be in trouble that my excitement about the baby

bubbled over then. “Carol, you’re going to have a baby!” I cried. “We’re going to

have a baby! I have a great name if it’s a girl. Ashley. Isn’t that a good name? Or better, we could spell it A-S-H-L-E-I-G-H.”

Carol just sighed. “Honey, let’s not get too excited right now.”

“Why not? Is something wrong?” Maybe that’s what the rest of the

conversation had been about.

“No, no,” said Carol quickly. “It’s just that this isn’t quite the way I’d

imagined this happening. I mean, with your father away. I wanted to tell him the

news in person, and he’s not going to be back for six days. Plus, I wanted him to

be the first to know. So Dawn, you have to keep this a secret. Please. Please

don’t tel a soul. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “I promise.”

The more I thought about this later, though, the more it didn’t seem right.

What’s the big deal about tel ing Dad in person? I have a horrible feeling

something else is going on.

Saturday 10/4

This morning Maggie, Sunny, and Jil came over. We holed up in my room.

The party is tonight and we had to decide whether to go to it.

“Of course we’re going to go,” said Sunny stubbornly.

“We have to,” I added, although I didn’t feel very certain about this.

“Well, we really want to,” Maggie said. “But let’s be realistic. Do we

actual y think our parents are going to let us go?”

Nobody said anything for a moment.

“What would we tell them?” I finally asked. “I mean, where would we say

we’re going? To a secret party three miles from here given by a bunch of older

kids?”

“Well…” said Sunny.

Jil final y spoke up. “It’s an impossibility,” she said firmly.

Sunny rolled her eyes. I shot a glance at her, but of course Jill had seen

the eye-rolling for herself.

“Don’t look at me like that, Sunny!” Jill exclaimed. “Come on. Get real.

What are we going to tell our parents? We have to tel them we’re going

somewhere.”

Nobody had any ideas. About getting to the party, that is. But Jill had

another idea. “You guys, we can have our own party,” she said. “It’l be fun. Just the four of us. Like we used to. Please?”

“Oh, man,” muttered Sunny.

“What else are you going to do tonight?” asked Jil . “Our parent aren’t

going to let us go to the other party.”

“Well, that’s true,” I said.

“So come one,” said Jill. “Let’s go to the mall today. We can buy some

stuff for our party.”

“And look at clothes,” added Sunny, brightening.

“And window-shop,” I said.

Jil looked from Maggie to me to Sunny. Expectantly. Like a dog who’s just

heard his master say a whole bunch of words and is positive that one of them

was “walk.”

“All right,” said Sunny. “Mall. Then sleepover.”

Saturday afternoon 10/4

We have been to the mall. In a little while it will be time to leave for Jil ’s

sleepover.

We had fun this afternoon. We real y did. I think we’re going to have fun

tonight, too. I hope so. I don’t like this feeling of everything changing. I feel so torn. Sometimes I’m like Jil and I just want everything to stay the way it’s been. I want us to be young and safe. But sometimes I’m like Sunny, wanting to surge

forward and get on with things. Impatient for whatever is coming. Not even caring

what it is. Just wanting to experience it, taste it, live it.

Jil showed up at the mal with a list of things she said we needed to buy

for the sleepover. It included popcorn, sodas, and fortune-telling cards.

Sunny glanced at the list. “Okay, we’ll get al this stuff last. Let’s look

around first. How about the jewelry store?”

“Um, okay,” Jill replied reluctantly. She folded the list slowly and slid it back

into the pocket of her jeans.

In the jewelry store, Sunny ran to a case of pierced earrings. “Maybe I’ll

get another couple of holes in one of my ears,” she said.

“Another couple of holes?” I replied.

“Sure. They can do that here. See that stool? That’s where you sit for ear-

piercing…or navel-piercing.”

“Navel-piercing!” I exclaimed.

“Ew,” said Jil .

“You are not getting your navel pierced,” I said. “Or getting extra holes.

You have enough holes already. Why don’t you just buy some more earrings?

Here. Look at these. These are cute.”

“I guess,” agreed Sunny. “But I want something a little…I don’t know…

wilder. Like these.”

“Those?” I said. “They’re just plain gold hoops.”

“They are eyebrow rings,” said Sunny.

“Ew,” Jill said again.

“Maybe we’ve looked long enough in here,” said Maggie. “Let’s go to the

pet store. I need some supplies.”

“Goody, we can look at kittens!” exclaimed Jil .

Sunny rolled her eyes.

I pulled her aside. “Sunny,” I whispered, “quit doing that, okay? Please?

Jil is going to see you. Let’s just have a nice afternoon.”

Sunny’s response was to roll her eyes again. “Tsk.”

“What is wrong?” I said, exasperated. And then I caught myself. “Is it your

mother?” I whispered.

Sunny turned away from me. “We can talk about it later.”

“Okay,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulder.

We hurried out of the jewelry store and caught up with Maggie and Jill,

who were heading into World of Pets.

“What supplies do you need?” I asked Maggie.

“Let me see. Fish food, a water bottle for Cosmo’s cage, a new bell toy for

Curtis, and – you won’t believe this – tartar-control dry food and a feline

toothbrush for Herman.”

I started to giggle. “What?” I said.

Maggie was laughing too. “I took Herman to the vet yesterday after school