Ann Martin - Stacey's Broken Heart

And while Janine adores nothing more than sitting in front of her computer, Claudia can hardly stand school. Schoolwork doesn't come easily to her and her spelling is the pits. (If you saw the club notebook, you'd see what I mean.) I believe Claudia isn't good at school-work because she can't bring herself to pay attention. She's always concocting some new art project in her head instead of listening to the teacher. Then when she's home, instead of studying, she's working on that project.

Speaking of sisters who are different, our newest member, Abby, has a sister, Anna, who looks exactly like her. They're twins. They both have very dark eyes and wear either contacts or glasses. They have thick, curly brown hair, but they each wear it differently; Abby's is long and Anna's is short.

Honestly, though, apart from their looks, Abby and Anna Stevenson are almost as different as Claudia and Janine. Anna is a musician devoted to playing the violin. Abby is an athlete who loves to play soccer and helps Kristy with the Krushers. (She lives two doors down from Kristy on McLelland Road, so it's

convenient for them to go to games and practices together.) Even though Abby suffers from occasional asthma attacks and has lots of allergies, she doesn't let it slow her down.

The Stevensons are originally from Long Island, which isn't far from Manhattan. Their father died in a car accident when Anna and Abby were nine. Their mother works as an editor and commutes to and from the city every day. She works hard and sometimes gets home late, so Anna and Abby have become very self-sufficient and independent.

When Dawn moved back to California, we invited both Anna and Abby to join the BSC. Anna didn't want to take the time away from her violin practice, but Abby said yes. It's funny to see how Abby interacts with Kristy. They're so different, yet both are outspoken and take-charge types. I think Abby is having trouble taking orders from Kristy even though she likes her a lot.

Shannon Kilbourne also lives on McLelland Road along with Kristy, Abby, and Anna. In fact, she's good friends with Anna. Shannon is another associate club member, like Logan. For awhile she was coming to meetings and we thought she could take over for Dawn. But Shannon's very active in after-school activities and she simply didn't have the time. She still comes to meetings once in awhile when she's

free and can get a ride to Claudia's with Kristy and Abby.

That covers the thirteen-year-olds, but I could never leave out our junior officers, Jessi and Mallory. They're best friends, too.

Jessi Ramsey is a talented ballerina who takes classes in Stamford (the city closest to Stoneybrook). She looks like a ballerina, with long legs and graceful arms. Her black hair is usually pulled back in a bun or a braid the way dancers wear it. She has a pretty face and smooth, dark skin.

Jessi lives in the house my family moved out of when my dad was transferred back to New York. She and her family (which consists of her mom, dad, younger sister Becca, baby brother Squirt, and her Aunt Cecelia) had come to Stoneybrook because her father's company transferred him to their Stamford office. The fact that the Ramseys are African-American bent some of their neighbors out of shape for awhile. This was a shock to Jessi because her old neighborhood had been well integrated. But before long, the jerky neighbors chilled out and the Ramseys made some good friends.

Mallory Pike is also talented, like Jessi, although she isn't a dancer. Mallory wants to be a writer-illustrator of children's books when she gets older. She'll have lots of kids to test

her stories on since she has seven younger brothers and sisters. After Mal, there are the triplets, Byron, Jordan, and Adam (who are ten years old), Vanessa (nine), Nicky (eight), Margo (seven), and Claire (five).

Somehow I know Mallory will be successful as a writer-illustrator. She has a funny, original way of looking at things. She says she loathes the idea of having her author picture on the back of a book or on the jacket flap. That's because she doesn't like her looks very much. She has curly reddish-brown hair, glasses, braces, freckles, and a great smile. Okay, so it's not the standard beautiful-girl look, but Mal has an inner beauty and I think she really shines.

So that's our crew. By five-thirty we were assembled and ready to begin the meeting. "Any new business?" Kristy asked from the director's chair.

"I won't be here for a week," I announced. As I told them about the Walker job I could see Kristy's expression growing grimmer and grimmer. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"You keep doing this!" she exploded, tossing her arms up in the air, which caused her baseball cap to tumble backward off her head.

"Doing what?" I demanded indignantly.

'Taking long-term jobs. You took that every-day job at the Cheplins'. And now this!"

Awhile back I'd sat for two kids every day after school until it got to be too much. Kristy hadn't wanted me to take the job because it left the club minus one sitter.

"Kristy,” I said, "what is the difference if I take a different baby-sitting job every day of the week or baby-sit for the same people all week?"

"I understand what you're saying," she said, picking up her cap. "But you take these jobs with people we don't usually work for. Our regular customers depend on us to have enough sitters to cover them."

"It's just for one week," I protested.

"The worst possible week," Kristy grumbled. "I'll be away the same time. With you gone, Stacey, we'll be two members short."

"Late August is usually our slowest time," Mary Anne pointed out as she sat at the edge of the bed with the record book open on her lap. "So many of our clients are away on vacation."

A piece of Kristy's hair had fallen into her face. She blew it away and sighed. "I suppose. I don't feel good about it, though. I'm afraid things are going to get out of hand. Mary Anne, you're organized, why don't you take over as president while I'm gone?"

"Hey, wait!" Abby objected, rising to her knees from the spot on the floor where she

was sitting. "Isn't that supposed to be my job? I'm alternate officer, aren't I?"

"Well, yeah," Kristy admitted. "Sure. But you just joined the club. And this isn't a regular job. This is president."

"President is a job just like any other job," Abby insisted.

"If you're president, then who will be treasurer while Stacey is gone?" Kristy countered. "You can't be president because you have to be treasurer."

"I'll do both," Abby said. "What's the .big deal? I'll collect the dues. Stacey will be back in time to pay the bills and all the rest she does. Most of the time the alternate doesn't do anything. It's driving me crazy. I want to do something."

"Claudia is vice-president," Kristy said. "Maybe she should take over. That's what happens in the White House, the vice-president takes over if the president can't do it."

"They don't have an extremely bored alternate officer in the White House," Abby argued. "Besides, I hate to break it to you, but this isn't the White House."

Kristy glared at Abby a moment, then her expression softened. She rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully. "All right," she said, leaning forward in the chair. "All right. You

can take over as president and as treasurer." Abby punched the air triumphantly. "Yes!" "On one condition," Kristy put in quickly. Abby's smile faded.

"The condition is that you run Wednesday's meeting. I'll be here and I'll decide if it goes well."