Ann Martin: Stacey's Broken Heart

BSC099 - Stacey's Broken Heart - Martin, Ann M.

Chapter 1.

Oh, no!I thought as a girl with dark brown hair and a wide smile walked toward us. Things were going so well, too.My perfect summer day with Robert was about to be ruined.

I reached over and took Robert's hand, intertwining my fingers with his. He'd just bitten into a tuna sandwich on a roll, but he smiled at me with his eyes. I returned his smile.

We had spent the whole morning together playing tennis. (He'd won three games and I'd won three.) Then we'd biked to the deli and brought back lunch, which we were now eating as we sat on a green bench by the outdoor courts. It was perfect end-of-summer weather, warm but with a cool breeze. The day had been so much fun. I wanted it to go on — undisturbed by Andi Gentile — forever.

Robert hadn't yet noticed Andi Gentile approaching. He was looking at me. Maybe if I pretended I didn't see her he wouldn't notice

her, either. Maybe she'd just keep walking.

I swiveled around and acted fascinated by a tennis game at one of the courts behind us. (And I do meanacted.The two people playing were moving at a snail's pace.) "Look, Robert,” I said. "Doesn't that guy have a great serve?"

"I guess,” Robert said, eyeing the game skeptically. "It's kind of slow motion."

"Hi, guys," Andi exclaimed.

No luck.

"Oh, hi, Andi," I replied with casual friendliness as I turned away from the slowest game of tennis on earth.

"Andi! Hi!" Robert said, quickly wiping at his mouth with a white deli napkin. He swallowed his tuna in one big gulp. "How are you?"

"Okay," she replied, rocking on the soles of her gleaming white sneakers and casually swinging her chrome tennis racket.

I didn't like the way he was smiling at Andi.Calm down, Stacey,I ordered myself. There was no reason to worry about Andi. Robert and Andi were just friends.

"I'm meeting Sheila here for tennis," Andi informed us as if that were great news.

Not Sheila MacGregor, too!I thought. Of all the girls who hang around with Robert's old crowd of friends, Andi and Sheila are not the

worst. Not by far. I even sort of like Andi. But I wasn't in the mood to hang out with them today. I didn't want them spoiling this time with Robert.

You see, lately Robert has been spending less and less time with his old crowd and I want it to stay that way. Those kids have caused me so much grief, you wouldn't believe it. They almost got me in trouble for shoplifting, and I even stopped hanging around with my real friends because of them.

Sure, they're popular kids and all, but I think their values are the pits.They'renot what I'd call true friends at all.

Believe me, I know what real friends are because I have them. Seven of them to be exact. Kristy, Mary Anne, Abby, Claudia (my very best friend), Mallory, Jessi, and Dawn. (Even though Dawn has moved to California, she's still a friend.) When you add me — Stacey McGill — we make up eight devoted friends who would do anything for one another. We're even in a club together, the Babysitters Club. I'll tell you more about that later.

For now, though, let me get back to the story of my ruined summer day. (Well, almost ruined, anyway.)

I definitely didnotlike the way Robert was smiling at Andi. Not that Robert isn't allowed to smile at other people. That would be ridiculous. But it was thewayhe was smiling that bothered me. He was smiling with his eyes and his mouth, smiling as though he were really glad to be talking to Andi.

Andi was telling Robert this supposedly funny story about how a friend of theirs, Jacqui Grant, got caught going from movie to movie at the quadraplex in the Washington Mall. I know it's not the worst crime on earth, but still, those kids are always doing things like that. They're always getting into trouble and they seem to think it's funny.

Apparently Andi thought this story about Jacqui was hysterical. She was nearly breathless with laughter. "And then . . . and then . . ." she gasped, struggling to speak through all her laughing. "When the usher wasn't looking, she ducked into the Disney movie and had to crawl down the aisle to get away from him."

Robert roared with laughter at this. "I can just picture her crawling around in the dark," he said.

"I know! I know!" Andi laughed, putting her hand on Robert's shoulder as if she were laughing so hard she needed him to hold her up. "Guess how she got caught? She got her foot stuck between two seats. When the usher came after her she was sprawled in the middle of the aisle. Helpless! She couldn't even move!

She just looked up at him and said, 'I seem to be stuck.'

That really set them off. Even I had to smile, not because I thought it was so funny but because their laughter was contagious.

They were doubled over with hysterics, and I was so distracted by them that we didn't notice Sheila until she was right in front of us. While Andi was dressed in tennis whites, Sheila wore a tight purple unitard that showed off her perfect figure. (All Sheila's outfits show off her figure.) She tossed back her silky, thick blonde hair. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"I'm telling Robert and Stacey what happened to Jacqui," Andi replied, panting.

"Oh, isn't that hysterical?" Sheila laughed.

"Hey," Andi said. "Why don't we play doubles?"

"Yeah, why not?" Robert agreed, scooping his racket up off the bench.

"No thanks," I said, my voice overlapping Robert's. "We've already played six games. I'm pretty pooped."

"Oh, that's right," Sheila said with sickly sweet sympathy. "Your illness and all."

"No, it's not that," I said quickly. "I'm just tired." Sheila was referring to the fact that I'm diabetic, which means my body has trouble controlling the sugar levels in my bloodstream. Diabetes is a serious disease but I can live a

normal life as long as I give myself injections of insulin every day and stick to a strict, healthy diet. (No sweets. Or my system would go wild and I could even go into a coma.) There's no doubt that having diabetes is a major drag, but I don't let it stop me from doing anything I want to do.

"I guess we won't play then," Robert said, looking disappointed.

"You can, if you want," I offered, knowing full well he wouldn't.

"Come on," Andi coaxed him. "One quick game."

"No, thanks. Another time," Robert said. Waving, Sheila and Andi went off to play their tennis game. Robert turned to me. "Do you feel all right? Do you want to go home?"

"I feel fine," I answered honestly."Ijust didn't want to play tennis with them."

Robert nodded. He knows how I feel about his friends so I didn't have to explain. "Okay," he said. "What do you want to do now?"

"I don't know," I admitted with a shrug. "Want to try that new computer game my dad gave me? Mom and I set it up last night. It's pretty fun."

Robert stood up. "Sounds cool. But will your mother mind me being in the living room?" (Mom's rule is that Robert is allowed

to come into the house while she's at work, but we have to stay in the kitchen. "The TV is definitely in your living room, remember?" he added.

Personally I didn't see any difference between being in the kitchen and being in the living room. "I'll call her when we get to my house. I'm sure she won't care as long as I let her know."