Claudia's Big Party
Page 9
“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.
“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 resti
ng 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,
* * *
The author gratefully acknowledges
Vicki Berger Erwin
for her help in
preparing this manuscript.
About the Author
ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.
There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.)In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.
Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.
Copyright © 1998 by Ann M. Martin
Cover art by Hodges Soileau
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First edition, October 1998
e-ISBN 978-0-545-87463-2