Baby-Sitters Club 061

by Ann M. Martin

  "Hey, what's the fun of having money if you can't spread it around a little?" "It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't brought it up to them. Thanks a million, Kristy." "All I did was ask. See you Monday." On Monday, Kristy seemed much more like her old self. (Nothing cheers Kristy up like accomplishing something.) On Tuesday I reached my dance class early. I was bursting to tell Mme Noelle that Watson was willing to donate two scholarships. When I did, Madame smiled and clapped her hands together. "You are a mind reader!" she cried. "I had ze same idea and I have been contacting company after company looking for a corporate sponsorship. I had given up totally." "Well, now you have it," I said.

  "Come, let us tell Mme Dupre the happy news." We went down to the practice room and met up with Mme Dupre as she was going in the door.

  Her hands flew to her cheeks when we told her. "This is too amazing!" she said. "Oh, this makes me so happy." "Me, too," I agreed.

  I gave Watson's business card to Mme Noelle and she hurried off to call him. When Mme Dupre and I went into class I looked around for Mary. I wasn't too surprised that she wasn't there.

  At the sight of Mme Dupre, the class quieted down. "I have a wonderful announcement," she told the kids. "We have scholarships available for two students. The assistants and I will choose the students based on our evaluation. The ones we feel have the most potential will be given the scholarships. It will be a difficult choice, I assure you. If you wish to be considered to study further, please write your name on a list as you leave today. I will send a notice home to your parents, as well. You will have until next week to put your name on the list." A murmur of excitement spread through the class. I wondered which kids would sign up.

  "And now, today after warm-up we will begin work on a recital," Mme Dupre continued. "We will be putting on a dance program at the end of our classes. I have worked out an original dance for you. Let's begin. We have much to do in a short time." Mme Dupre had come up with a really great program to teach the kids. It would be easy for them to learn since it was a combination of the steps they'd been taught and even some of the warm-up exercises. Madame called it, "Morning in the City." Mr. Tsuji played lively musical pieces by an America composer named George Gershwin. Gershwin had composed the music for an old movie called An American in Paris. His music is really uplifting.

  The dance began with the class sitting in their separate groups, bent over touching their toes. Then group by group, they "awakened" each doing a different stretching exercise.

  The groups continued to dance together as units. One group jeted into an imaginary subway and then did small echappe jumps as they held their hands up like subway riders holding the straps. Another group performed arabesques as they pretended to greet one another on the street.

  Madame singled out Devon to execute a series of pas de chat jumps as he pretended to cross a busy street. Martha was selected to dance a short solo. At a certain beat, everyone was to freeze in place while she performed a bouree, followed by a pas de chat, and end with a single pirouette, which is a spin on one leg. (Martha was the only student in class who was ready for it.) "Will we have costumes?" asked Yvonne, who was featured as a crossing guard.

  "Next week I want you to bring in hats, as many different kinds of hats as you can find," she told the kids.

  The class was over all too soon. While the other volunteers and I finished up, I saw Mme Dupre talk to the parents who had gathered at the door. I assumed she was telling them about the recital and the scholarships.

  At the end of class, Martha ran to her mother. Her eyes were bright and excited as she spoke to her. Once again, I noticed that her mother was looking at me.

  Since I was into speaking up these days, I decided to introduce myself. "Hi," I said. "I'm Jessi. I just wanted to find out if Martha will be applying for the scholarship." "Do you think she should?" the woman asked, speaking with that great accent that comes from the Caribbean islands.

  "I definitely do!" Martha's mother pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "I know Martha is talented," she said after a moment. "I worked very hard for the extra money to enroll her in ballet classes." "She seems to have remembered everything she learned," I commented. "Why did you stop?" "A neighbor told me I was wasting my money. She said there is no room for people of color in the ballet. I don't want Martha to set her heart on a dream which cannot be." "Is that why you've been watching me?" I guessed.

  The woman seemed embarrassed. "Forgive me if I have been rude. You are the only black student I have seen in this school. I was wondering how you feel about your future." "I feel good about it," I told her. "Classical ballet is changing. It's changed a lot already. And some companies, like the Alvin Ailey dancers, are mostly non-white. Judith Jamison is a very respected dancer from that company, even though she's not a classical ballerina. I just think there's a lot of opportunity. I can't let other people stop me from doing what I want, and I don't think they'll be able to. I've already danced in several professional productions." "You have?" she asked.

  "I was one of the swan maidens in Swan Lake," I told her proudly. "And I've danced in other productions." "I'm glad we talked," the woman said. "Martha loves this class. She speaks of you all the time." "She's very special," I told her mother. "And she's really talented." At that, I saw Martha's beautiful smile once again. It warmed me as much as any room full of applause.

  Chapter 15.

  Our Wednesday BSC meeting was almost as busy as the one on Monday. And because we were getting booked up fast, I knew we were going to have to call on our associate members - Logan and Shannon.

  By now all of us were aware that Shannon had become a touchy subject. So a big silence followed Mary Anne's announcement that no one was free to sit for Charlotte Johanssen on Friday. Not even Logan.

  "We'll have to call Shannon," said Claudia, breaking the deadly quiet. "Want me to call her, Kristy?" "No, I'll call." Kristy took the phone and punched in Shannon's number. "Hi, it's me, Kristy," she said into the phone. "Listen, I want to apologize for the other day. I was wrong and I had no reason to talk to you like that. I just felt left out and sort of jealous, I guess." I had to give Kristy credit. That took guts - especially saying it in front of a room full of people.

  Shannon must have told her it was all right, because Kristy went on to ask her about the baby-sitting job. She was free to take it and Kristy hung up, looking relieved.

  "We still have a problem," Claudia said. "We'd still like to keep seeing Shannon, Kristy, but we don't want to hurt your feelings." "I like Shannon, too," Kristy told us. "I wish I could hang out with her, but I don't seem able to with my schedule. When you all spent so much time with her I began to feel she was replacing me. I didn't like it." "Replacing you?" Dawn cried with a laugh. "I don't think anyone could!" There was a general murmur of agreement, which I'm sure made Kristy feel good.

  "I have an idea," said Mary Anne. "Why don't we ask Shannon to attend our regular meetings every now and then? She has the time now. And she could drive over and back with you, Kristy. That way the two of you could have some time together." "Hey, great!" Kristy agreed. "I should have thought of that." "You're not the only one who has great ideas!" Mary Anne said, pretending to be insulted.

  "Speaking of great ideas, I heard about the scholarships," said Stacey. "Way to go, Watson!" "Would any of you guys like to come to the recital? It's not this Saturday, but next Saturday at the school," I said.

  "I'll be there with my parents," Kristy told me. "I wouldn't miss the awarding of the first Watson and Elizabeth Brewer Dance Scholarships." "That's what they're calling them?" I asked.

  "Mme Noelle insisted," Kristy said.

  All the BSC members wanted to come to the recital, which made me really happy. "Should we call Shannon and invite her?" Mallory asked.

  "Absolutely," said Kristy.

  By the last class before the recital, the kids knew their parts pretty well. At the end of class, Mme Dupre gave us volunteers a list of the kids who had applied for the scholarships - a
little less than half the class. (I wasn't surprised to see that Nora and Jane weren't on the list, but I was a little surprised that plump, bouncy Yvonne hadn't applied.) "Pick the two children you think shows the most promise and write their names on a piece of paper," Mme Dupre instructed us.

  We passed the list around and then made our selections. Everyone picked pretty fast. I guess we'd made up our minds in advance.

  After a busy rehearsal, Darcy suggested a trip to Burger King. We bundled up and headed down the block. "Where's Mary been?" Sue asked once we were settled in with our food.

  "She hasn't been feeling well. I guess she needed to take some time off," I said, not wanting to gossip. Actually, Mme Noelle had told me Mary Was being treated by two different doctors - a medical doctor and a psychiatrist. Plus, her family went to the counseling, too.

  "I saw Mary in school," said Vince, breaking into my thoughts. "It looked to me like she put on a few pounds." "Good, maybe she's feeling better," I said, sipping my soda. It was the best news I'd heard all day.

  "This show is going to be cool," Raul said as he put down his burger.

  "Now that the class is over, what do you think of Mme Dupre?" I asked him.

  "I think I misjudged her," Raul admitted. "She's pretty cool." "Yeah, there was a method to her madness, after all," added Darcy. "Remember how undisciplined the kids were when they first came in? Look at them now!" "It's a big difference," I agreed.

  "Huge," said Sue. "I feel good about it, like we really helped her accomplish something." On the afternoon of the recital I was all over the place, helping kids pin on hats and apply makeup. We were in the school's small auditorium. The only scenery was a cityscape backdrop borrowed from another production.

  The kids were nervous and excited as the audience filled with their family members. I peeked out from a stage wing and saw my friends filing into a row near the front. (Kristy and Shannon sat next to one another.) Following them were Watson and Kristy's mom. A few minutes later I saw my parents come in with Aunt Cecelia, Becca, and Squirt. Mama talked with Mme Noelle as they walked down the aisle. An awful lot of people had turned out for our informal little show.

  Soon, the big moment came when Mr. Tsuji played the opening music. The kids ran onto the stage and took their places on the floor.

  I'd like to say the production was flawless. But I'd be lying. Some kids stood when they were supposed to kneel. Others turned right when the rest of the group was turning left. But, on the whole, it was a very good show.

  I was .really proud of the students. (They looked so cute in their hats - baseball caps, flowered hats, a train engineer's hat, a nurse's cap, cowboy hats, you name it!) The audience must have liked the show, too. They jumped to their feet and applauded like crazy when it was over. The kids took their bows and each one of them was beaming from ear to ear.

  Mme Dupre walked out on stage and both the kids and the audience clapped for her. She told us volunteers and Mr. Tsuji to take a bow. The applause continued and it felt really good.

  When the clapping had stopped, Mme Noelle came onto the staged "I will now announce ze winners of ze Watson and Elizabeth Brewer Dance Scholarships," she told the audience as the kids took seats on the stage. While we waited in suspense, she asked Watson and Kristy's mom to stand. She thanked them for their generosity. They smiled and Watson said he was glad to be able to do it.

  Mme Noelle then turned to the class of children. "I am sorry zere can be only two winners. You are all so talented. And you are all winners in my eyes. I invite you to return in ze spring when we "will offer zis class again. We will be proud to have you." Finally Mme Noelle took a slip of paper from her pocket. "Ze winners of the scholarships are Martha Roberts and Devon Ramirez," she said.

  My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. Devon and Martha got to their feet. Martha was so happy, she forgot to be shy. She smiled and hugged herself in disbelief.

  Even more surprising, Devon was so thrilled, he forgot to be cool! "Yes!" he cried, leaping into the air right there on stage.

  Mme Dupre guided them over to Mme Noelle who shook their hands. "I know you will both work hard and be worthy of our faith in you," she told them both.

  When the program at last was over, Martha ran to me. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight. In the wings I saw her mother. She was dressed in a gray suit. In her hands was a corsage box and I could see tears of pride brimming in her eyes.

  On another part of the stage Devon was busily "slapping five" with anyone he could find. Then he ran off to greet his father.

  "Well, it's all over for now," said Darcy, draping her arm across my shoulder. "Maybe we can still go out for burgers on Tuesdays, though." "That would be terrific," I said.

  I found my friends in the audience. "That sure was a success," Kristy told me. "I really liked it." "So did I," Shannon agreed.

  "All right, Jessi!" Mal cheered.

  "Is Mary here?" Dawn asked quietly.

  I looked around the audience but didn't see any sign of her. "No. I wish she had come," I said. "She did a lot to help these kids. I'm sure she would have been proud." "I took some pictures," said Claudia, holding up her camera. "I could make copies for you to send her." "She'd like that," I said, and smiled.

  Sometimes I wonder why I work so hard at my dance; why I let it be so important to me and take up so much of my life.

  Today was one of those days when I didn't have to wonder, though. Today was the kind of day when I couldn't imagine anything more worthwhile! About the Author ANN M. MARTIN did a lot of baby-sitting when she was growing up in Princeton, New Jersey. She is a former editor of books for children, and was graduated from Smith College.

  Ms. Martin lives in New York City with her cats, Mouse and Rosie. She likes ice cream and I Love Lucy; and she hates to cook.

  Ann Martin's Apple Paperbacks include Yours Turly, Shirley; Ten Kids, No Pets; With You and Without You; Bummer Summer; and all the other books in the Baby-sitters Club series.

  Table of Contents

  BSC061 - Jessi and the Awful Secret

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