Ann Martin - The Truth About Stacey

almostdecided to write you a letter."

"What kinds of things were you wondering about?"

"Well, for instance, remember Deirdre Dun-lop, and how we always said she'd be the first one in our class to outgrow her training bra? So, I was wondering — did she?"

Lainelaughed, nearly snorting her root beer up her nose. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "And remember Lowell Johnston?"

"Yeah."

"The day Deirdre came in wearing her new bra, he asked her for a date."

"You're kidding!"

"No. Honest. Cross my heart."

I kept asking questions andLaine kept answering them. I realized how much I had missed her.

The next thing we knew, people were pouring out of thetheater and into the lobby. We'd missed the whole movie!

"Oh, well," I said toLaine . "It was worth it. We can see this movie any time, but on Monday, I'll be leaving."

We tossed our empty cups and boxes in a trash can and waited in front of thetheater for our parents.

That night,Laine and I talked until2:30 . We were tired the next morning, but we wanted to make the most of our day. We ate breakfast by ourselves at Leo's Coffee Shoppe around the corner fromLaine's apartment building. Then we took a walk inCentral Park . In the afternoon, theCummingses and Mom and Dad and I went to Paris Magic. It was the best musical I'd ever seen. Afterward, we ate dinner at one of myfavorite restaurants, Joe Alien's.

When we got back toLaine's apartment, she and I wanted to have another night of secrets and chitchat, but Mrs. Cummings said, "Lights out atten o'clock ," sinceLaine had to go to school the next day. By the time we went to sleep, I felt as if two huge weights had been lifted from my chest. One weight was the fight withLaine . The other was Dr. Barnes and his clinic. I didn't have to worry about either one anymore.

Mom called Dr. Werner's office early Monday morning. The receptionist said she could squeeze me in between patients, so I saw Dr. Werner at10:30 . She said I was doing fine.

And then we went home. I couldn't believe how happy I was to seeStoneybrook again. And I couldn't wait for school to let out so I could talk to the other members of the Baby-

sittersClub. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long.

As soon as I saw kids riding their bikes up my street, I called theKishis .

Mimi answered the phone.

"Hi, Mimi," I said. "It's Stacey."

"Stacey! You are at home? Claudia said that you would not be back until Wednesday. Everything is all right, I hope."

"Oh, yes! It's fine. Great, in fact! I'm glad to be home. Is Claudiaback from school yet?"

"She is just walking in the door. Please wait and I will call her to the phone."

"Hello?" said Claudia, after several seconds.

"Claud, it's me, Stacey! I'm back early! I'm finished with Dr. Barnes. Did anything happen over the weekend? Did you go to the mall? Did any parents call Liz or Michelle?"

"Quite a few," Claudia replied smugly. "Charlotte and Jamie and the other kids told their parents everything. You should have seen the faces those girls put on in school today! If looks could kill, you'd be the only member of the Baby-sitters Club left."

"Wow," I said, giggling.

"I think our meeting this afternoon will be pretty interesting."

"Can I come over now? I can't wait any longer."

"Sure!"

I ran right over to Claudia's house. On the way, I passed Sam Thomas. I realized I'd barely thought about him recently. I'd been too wrapped up in doctors and the Baby-sitters Club. Besides, I was looking forward to going to the Snowflake Dance with Pete Black.

"Hi, Stacey!"Sam called.

"Hi, Sam!"I replied, and ran on.

Claudia met me at her front door and we went upstairs to her room. The girls had not, as it turned out, gone to the mall with their sandwich boards. Too much had been happening with the Baby-sitters Agency and the angry parents. They had decided to try to go the next weekend — if it was even necessary.

The phone began ringing at 4:30, an hour before our meetings start. Kristy and Mary Anne hadn't arrived yet. I answered the first call. It was Mrs. Newton. "Hi, Stacey," she said. "I'm holding a meeting of theLiterary Circle at my house on Friday afternoon, and I need someone to watch Lucy and keep Jamie busy for a couple of hours."

Watch Lucy! I was thrilled. "Oh, I'll do it!" I said. "What time?"

"Three-thirty to five-thirty."

"Great! I'll be there."

"By the way, Stacey, I thought you'd like to know that I had a talk with Cathy Morris. I

hopeI wasn't too hard on her. I explained all the responsibilities that are involved in babysitting and told her how upset I was about last week. I think she honestly didn't realize what she was doing wrong. She also told me she just found an after-school job at Polly's Fine Candy. She seems excited about it."

"Well, good," I said. "She'll probably earn more money that way."

"I also called theJohanssens , theMarshalls , the Pikes, theSpencers , theGianmarcos , theDodsons , and even Kristy's mother, just in case she would ever think of using the agency for David Michael. All the parents agreed that, if nothing else, they ought to know their babysitters in advance, and not trust the agency to find sitters for them. And I heard a number of complaints from other parents. Jamie and Charlotte weren't the only unhappy children. I want you to know how grateful we are that you girls were brave enough to come forward and tell us what was going on."

"Well," I said, "it wasn't easy, but I'm glad we did it."

A minute later, I got off the phone and began bubbling over with everything Mrs. Newton had said.

But Claudia just glared at me.

"What?" I said. "What's the matter?"

"Stacey, you took that job Mrs. Newton offered. You know the rules."

Oops. "Oh, yeah/' I said." Sorry." The rule is that every job that comes along must be offered to all the members of the club before someone takes it. I had just broken one of our most important rules.

"I'd like to take care of Lucy, too, you know," said Claudia. "And I bet Kristy and Mary Anne would feel the same way."

"I'm sorry," I said again. "I just forgot. I was so excited."

"Oh, it's okay," replied Claudia. "I'd be pretty excited if I were you. Besides, I've broken that rule often enough myself."

I grinned. That was true.

During the next half hour, both Mrs. Marshall and Mr.Johanssen called with last-minute jobs they had had agency sitters lined up for, but hadcanceled over the weekend.

Kristy and Mary Anne arrived. We were offered four more jobs. One was with a new client. Atsix o'clock we got off the phone.

"I wonder if anybody will call us at home tonight," said Mary Anne.

"Probably," answered Kristy. "WithChristinas so close, everybody is going to parties, dinners, concerts. . . . This may be our busiest season."

"Well," I said, "it's been tough, but we hung in there and beat out the agency."

"More important," added Kristy, "we beat them because we're good baby-sitters."

"We won the battle and the war," said Mary Anne.

"We're the best!" exclaimed Claudia.

"I feel like we need a cheer," I said. "You know, 'Rah, rah, rah! Sis, boom, bah! . . .Something. . . something. . . The Baby-sitters Club! Hurray!' "

"Would you settle for junk food?" asked Claudia. She removed a bag of gumdrops (and asmushed package of Saltines for me) from under the cushion of her armchair. "We ought to congratulate ourselves and celebrate."

The four of us looked at each other. "Congratulations," we said solemnly.

"We made it," I added.

Claudia passed around the food.

Chapter 15.

Ring, ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello . . . Stacey?"

"Yes. . . .Laine , hi! Oh, I'm so glad you called. Hang on just a sec, okay?" I rested the phone on the kitchen table. "Mom,it'sLaine . I'm going to talk to her in your room, okay? Could you hang up the phone when you hear me get on?" I raced upstairs and closed the door to my parents' bedroom. "I'm on, Mom." I heard a click as she hung up the phone. "All right, now we can talk," I toldLaine . "So what's going on?"