Baby-Sitters Club 123

by Ann M. Martin

  "Right. I'll do it with a hammer," Bill said to Melody.

  They rose together and Melody grabbed the handle of the stroller. As she whirled it around, the key fell off the seat and clattered onto the cement patio.

  "Oh, man!" Bill smacked himself across the forehead with his hand. "We should have looked in the stroller." "Skylar loves keys," said Melody, leaning down to pick it up.

  'At least we found it before we broke the window," Bill said to his sister. She nodded.

  Mary Anne told me later that she wanted to say something about how well they'd worked together, but she hesitated to break the spell that had settled over them. They were even laughing about how hard it was to see things right in front of them.

  Melody unlocked the door and held it open for Mary Anne, Bill, and Skylar.

  After Skylar was settled in her crib, still asleep, Mary Anne hurried downstairs to find Bill and Melody in the kitchen spreading peanut butter on crackers and pouring juice for the three of them.

  They were finishing their snack when Mr. and Mrs. Korman arrived.

  "It's very quiet in here," Mrs. Korman said, her eyes fixed on Bill and Melody sitting side by side at the kitchen counter.

  "Skylar is napping," Mary Anne said, "and we're finishing up our snack. We've been on a walk - together." "Together?" Mr. Korman asked.

  Bill looked at his empty plate, then at his sister. "You had some good ideas when we were locked out of the house," he mumbled. "I guess you're not so dumb after all." He paused, then continued, "I'm sorry I've been so mean, Melody. I'll try to be nicer." He looked sideways at his parents.

  Mr. and Mrs. Korman beamed.

  "Thank you, Bill. I accept your apology," Melody said in a very grown-up voice.

  "Let's go play rescue nine-one-one upstairs in my room. You can be the dispatcher and I'll be the firefighter trying to help the mom escape from the locked house," Bill said to Melody. "Is that okay?" he asked his parents.

  "Fine. Or you could play outside for a little longer if you want. I thought I saw David Michael and Karen in their yard when we drove by. Maybe they'd like to join you," said Mr. Korman.

  "You mean I'm not grounded anymore?" A big smile appeared on Bill's face.

  "As long as you are considerate of your sister ..." "Come on, Melody, let's tell David Michael how we rescued Mary Anne." The Kormans turned to Mary Anne and she began to explain.

  Chapter 14.

  "Claudia, wake up! We still have cleaning to do before Mom and Dad come home." Janine was leaning over my bed, shaking my shoulder.

  "What time is it?" I mumbled, pulling the blankets over my head.

  "Time to rise and shine. Right now. I'm not going to pick up your mess all by myself," Janine said.

  I threw back the covers. "But I'm sure you have some good ideas about how I should do it." I climbed out of bed, stretched, and looked around for something to put on.

  "This is what you need to do: Clean up the dining room, making sure that you remove every cookie crumb, then vacuum the front hallway, and clean all the debris from the den." 'And what will you be doing?" I asked, yawning.

  "I'm going to fix a special dinner for Mom and Dad." She turned and began to leave my room.

  The dinner sounded like a good idea, but I wasn't going to tell her that. I looked at the clock. It was early. I wondered if Josh was up yet. I felt awful about yelling at him. I reached for the phone.

  "Claudia," Janine said sharply.

  I froze.

  "No speaking on the telephone. Stick to the task at hand." "Yes, ma'am," I said. She left before I could salute.

  As soon as I dressed, I went downstairs. Janine was in the kitchen hunched over a cookbook.

  The dining room was the most visibly wrecked. Every step I took crunched. Crumbs followed me into the kitchen as I grabbed the broom and dustpan out of the closet - neither looking at nor speaking to my sister.

  After I swept, I returned to the kitchen to empty the dustpan. Janine passed by me as if I weren't there.

  In the den, I found the garbage bag I'd left there the night before and started gathering the remaining trash. The living room needed vacuuming. I turned on the stereo in the den loudly enough so that I could hear it in the next room. I was dancing around, picking up trash to the sounds of Blade, when I ran into Janine standing in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips.

  She turned and walked out of the room. The music ended abruptly.

  I rushed to the den. "Why did you do that?" I asked.

  "You're to concentrate on work," Janine informed me.

  I wanted to say "You're not the boss of me," but Janine didn't give me a chance. She was gone before I could open my mouth.

  I threw trash into the bag until it wouldn't hold any more, then twisted it tightly closed, thinking of Janine's neck as I did.

  The doorbell rang. I wondered if answering the door was off-limits for me too? When Janine didn't answer it, I did. I looked out the peephole and saw Stacey on the porch holding a bag. She waved at me.

  "Hi! I didn't expect to see you today," I greeted her, standing back so she could come inside.

  "We have something for you." Stacey held out the bag.

  "What is it?" I slowly opened it. Inside was a vase identical to the one that had been broken the night before. I pulled it out. "This is wonderful! Where did you find it?" "I thought I remembered seeing the vase in a store downtown. After the party, we felt bad that you were in trouble with your aunt and uncle, and we knew that the broken vase was only going to make things worse. I called everybody and we all agreed to chip in to pay for a new vase and I volunteered to bring it to you." I hugged Stacey. "The BSC is the best!" I said.

  "Not only the BSC," Stacey said. "Joanna, Jeannie, Shira, and Josh want to contribute too. So do Greer, Rick, Austin, Pete, Emily, and Erica." I stared at the vase. It would be a permanent reminder of how wonderful my friends were, and how they could work together.

  "We talked about coming over to help you clean up, but we weren't sure that Janine would let us," Stacey said in a low voice.

  "You're right about that. I can't talk on the phone or watch television or anything." I looked toward the kitchen. I was waiting for Janine to come and chase Stacey away.

  "If you have a chance to call, I'll be home later," Stacey said.

  "Thanks again," I replied, keeping a tight hold on the vase.

  Stacey ran out to her car. Mrs. McGill waved as I shut the door.

  "Who was that?" Janine asked.

  "Stacey. Look." I held the vase out for my sister to see.

  "Hmmph!" Again, she turned around and walked away.

  "Janine! They went to a lot of trouble to find the vase and bring it to us. They were worried about what Mom and Dad would say - " "They were worried you'd be in trouble," Janine interrupted.

  I set the vase on the table in the hallway. I'd take it into the living room in a minute, after I carried the trash bag outside. I opened the front door.

  "Where do you think you're going now?" Janine demanded.

  I whirled around - and heard a sickening sound as the vase hit the ground.

  Janine and I jumped back at the same time. The vase twirled, rocked, then lay there, still in one piece. I dropped the trash bag and picked up the vase, searching for cracks and chips.

  "Is it okay?" Janine asked in a whisper.

  I nodded, then let out the breath I'd been holding. When I finally faced my sister, she was massaging her forehead, her eyes closed.

  "Janine, what is going on with you?" I asked. "You haven't been the same since you and Jerry broke up, which was a good thing, remember? He wasn't right for you. Why are you still acting so weird?" Janine sat down on the hall floor, running her fingers through her hair. "You're right about Jerry. But he was my boyfriend for quite awhile and we spent most of our free time together. I lost touch with my other friends and I don't know how to reconnect with those people." She clasped her hands in her lap and looked at me.

 
I couldn't help smiling a little. "Why don't you throw a party?" I asked.

  We laughed together, then Janine reached out and gave me - and the vase - a quick hug. I realized I could have been more sensitive to what Janine was experiencing, if I hadn't been so wrapped up in my own problems. Maybe now we could come up with some ideas - together.

  My first suggestion was a special sister activity.

  "I'd like that, Claudia," Janine replied. Her eyes glowed. "We'll discuss the details later. But, I'd like to know more about art." "And I'd like to know more about computers," I admitted.

  We were still in the hall, brainstorming ways that Janine might reestablish some of her old friendships, when Mom and Dad opened the door.

  Mom looked at the big bag of trash, then at Janine, then at me. "Hello, girls," she said.

  I pulled the trash bag behind me. "Mom, Dad, you're back!" We exchanged hugs all around.

  "Did you have fun?" Janine asked.

  "It was a wonderful conference," Mom said.

  "And so good to see the Simpsons," Dad added. "I can't remember when I've eaten as much as we did the last few days." He patted his stomach.

  'And what about you two?" Mom asked, looking at the bag again, then at the vase I still held.

  "There's something we need to tell you," I said quickly, and Janine moved a little closer, nodding.

  Mom's eyes darted nervously between us.

  "Everything is all right," Janine assured her. "But, well, last night I agreed that Claudia could have a few friends over." "I wanted my BSC friends and my seventh-grade friends to have a chance to get better acquainted," I said. "But I wasn't very clear about who was invited, and a few more people showed up than we expected." "Things never went truly out of control," Janine continued, "but it was loud and messy . . . and a vase was broken." I held up the new one.

  "Claudia's friends replaced it," Janine said.

  Mom's and Dad's expressions grew serious as they looked from me to Janine and back to me.

  "Russ and Peaches stopped by and they, um, weren't happy," I said.

  "They thought we were being irresponsible," said Janine.

  "And we were." Janine and I nodded.

  "I'm surprised at you, Janine," Mom said.

  "And a little disappointed," Dad added.

  "There was no ... drinking involved, was there?" Mom looked at the trash bag again.

  "Nothing like that at all. They ate a lot. Pizza, soda, cookies, that sort of thing. No drinking," Janine stressed.

  "I'm glad you told us about it. I don't think I would have known from looking at the house. It's very neat." Mom walked through to the kitchen and everyone followed.

  "What's that smell?" Dad asked.

  "I took one of Mom's casseroles out of the freezer and put it in the oven so it would be ready when you returned. I wanted to prepare something special, but there wasn't much left to eat," Janine explained.

  "You seem well aware that what you did was wrong." Mom opened the oven door and peeked inside.

  "And it was," Dad emphasized.

  I waited, still clutching the vase, for what they were going to say next - what our punishment would be.

  "Still, we can't have something like this happen again." Dad looked at Janine, then at me. "Mom and I will discuss your punishment and let you know later. Why don't you finish cleaning up while we unpack?" "Thanks, Dad," Janine said.

  "Glad you're back," I said.

  Janine grabbed the big bag of trash she'd gathered from the kitchen, and I grabbed the one in the front hallway. Then we took them outside together.

  Chapter 15.

  "I tried to call you last night." I whirled around and came face-to-face with Josh. I stuffed my backpack inside the locker and stood in front of it. "I know. I'm not allowed to use the telephone this week except for official BSC business. Mom and Dad were a little upset about the party." "I guess they weren't the only ones." Josh looked away.

  "I know I yelled at you and I'm sorry. I even asked Mom if I could call and tell you that, but she said no. That whole night was a little out of control," I admitted.

  "I guess." Josh shrugged. "See you later." He wandered off.

  Oh, well. It would give me a chance to carry out the surprise I'd spent the evening working on.

  I headed for Josh's locker. As soon as I made sure he wasn't anyplace nearby, I opened the locker and stuck in the candy flower bouquet I'd put together. I'd used up a major part of my junk food stash to create my masterpiece. Hershey Kisses were bunched together to form silver flower buds on top of licorice stems with candy bar leaves. Then I dug out the certificates Janine had helped me create on the computer. I'd made three "Claudia Time Certificates," each one redeemable for an afternoon of quality time - Josh and me only. I wasn't sure he'd take me up on the offer. But I wanted to try.

  I closed the locker door, then, using the wrapping paper and ribbon I'd brought from home, I decorated the outside to look like a gift package. I'd barely had time to admire my work when the bell rang and I had to rush to my first class.

  I didn't see Josh all day. After school I hung around my locker, waiting for him to show up. My backpack was loaded and I'd slung it over my shoulder when he appeared.

  "Hi," I said, smiling.

  Josh was holding one of the certificates, and the red ribbon was hanging around his neck, but he wasn't smiling.

  "What's up?" I asked, my smile fading.

  "Exactly how do I redeem this certificate?" "For when?" "This afternoon?" Josh asked, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

  I cleared my throat.

  "If you can't -" Josh began.

  "Excuse me, sir, but I would be happy to redeem this certificate for an afternoon of Claudia time. That will involve a short trip to Donut Express followed by a delicious serving of the doughnut of your choice and my uninterrupted attention to whatever fascinating topics you care to discuss." I'd been spending too much time with Janine. That speech had sounded exactly like something she would say.

  "Cool," Josh said, finally smiling. "Could I carry a few of those books?" He pointed at my stuffed backpack.

  "Oh, no, sir! I would be pleased to carry anything of your choice." I tugged on the strap of his bag.

  "Come on, Claudia," Josh said, laughing. "You're weighed down now. I'll carry my own stuff." "If you insist." I curtsied.

  Josh grabbed my hand and we headed for Donut Express.

  We ordered, then found a table in the corner. Josh told me about the report Joanna had given in English class, and I told him how long it had taken to clean up the house after the party. I also thanked him for the vase, and told him how it makes me happy every time I see it.

  Things were starting to feel right between us again.

  "Claudia!" Kristy and Mary Anne rushed over to our table.

  I glanced at Josh. He was watching me, waiting to see what I would do. "Hi, guys," I said. "Don't worry. I'll be on time for the BSC meeting." I looked at Josh, then at the door.

  "Sure, we'll see you then," Kristy said, backing away with a puzzled look on her face.

  "Hey, Mary Anne, I talked to Logan this morning. We might go bowling together this weekend. He's going to be surprised when he finds out that I'm as good as I said I was," Josh said.

  "Logan is pretty good too," Mary Anne replied.

  "You and Claudia will have to come along and be our cheerleaders." Josh looked at me.

  "Sure. Sounds like fun," I agreed.

  "I like to bowl," Kristy put in.

  "Maybe we can make a . . ." Josh looked at me, grinning, "party of it." I groaned. "So long as it's not at my house!" "I'll check with Stacey, Jessi, Mal, and Abby, if you'll check with Joanna, Shira, and Jeannie," said Kristy.

  "You might try to find some time to practice. They call me 'Josh two hundred' around the bowling alleys. I have my own ball. And it has a name." "You've bowled two hundred?" Mary Anne asked, her eyes growing wide.

  "No, but I think by now my total score is at two
hundred," Josh said.

  We laughed.

  Shira waved to us through the window, and Kristy motioned for her to come inside.

  "Want to go bowling this weekend?" Josh asked her.

  As I watched and listened, I realized that the BSC and my seventh-grade friends would probably never be one big group, but right now they were fitting together pretty well.

  Kristy leaned on the back of my chair, her arm resting on my shoulder. Shira knelt on the floor between Josh and me. Mary Anne pulled a chair up to the table and in the tight quarters our knees touched. I reached out and put my hand over Josh's, making the circle complete.

  Dear Reader, In Claudia's Big Party, Claudia and Janine are left on their own for a weekend, and Claudia finds that her relationship with her sister is changing. Claudia and Janine have never been close, but now Claudia sees that her sister would like to be her friend too. When I was growing up, I was the big sister like Janine, and Jane was my little sister, like Claudia. We were just two years apart, but for a long time we weren't very close. We had different friends and very different interests. I excelled in school, and my sister excelled in sports and was involved in lots of activities. It was not until we had grown up and each moved to New York City that we became friends and spent a lot of time together. Now my sister is not just my sister, but a mother too, and I have a brand-new nephew Henry, named after our father. Relationships constantly change - so who knows ... maybe one day Claudia and Janine will be best friends too! Happy Reading, Ann M. Martin.

  About the Author ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, NJ, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.

  Although Ann used to be a teacher and then an editor of children's books, she's now a full-time writer. She gets ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences. Others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events.

  All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. (So is Stoneybrook.) But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, other times she chooses names she likes.

  In addition to the Baby-sitters Club books, Ann Martin has written many other books for children. Her favorite is Ten Kids, No Pets because she loves big families and she loves animals. Her favorite Baby-sitters Club book is Kristy's Big Day. (By the way, Kristy is her favorite baby-sitter!) Ann M. Martin now lives in New York with her cats, Gussie, Woody, and Willy. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework - especially making clothes for children.