Ann Martin: Stacey And The Mystery At The Mall

I, for one, was getting interested. Project Work sounded as if it could be fun. As I said, I've often thought I'd like to run a store — maybe this was my chance to see what it was like.

"The good news," Mr. Schubert said next, "is that there won't be any homework assignments or tests." A cheer went up. "You'll have to keep a journal, and Mr. Withum, your next teacher, will tell you more about that."

I started to think about what kind of work I might be able to do. I knew my mom would have some good ideas. She's a buyer at Bellair's, a department store in downtown Stoneybrook. She took the job after my parents got divorced. That was a hard time for me, the divorce. Here's how it happened. I had grown up in New York, but then my dad was transferred to Stoneybrook, so we moved here. I made friends right away and joined this great dub called the BSC — the Baby-sitters dub. But then my dad was transferred back to New York, and I had to say good-bye to all my new friends. Bummer. But an even bigger bummer was coming my way.

Soon after we moved back to the city, my parents started to fight a lot. Now, a lot of parents fight, and it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to get a divorce. But in my parents' case, it did. When they decided to split up, my mom told me she planned to move back to Stoneybrook. My dad was staying in New York. And guess what? I had to choose which one of them I wanted to live with. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Obviously, I chose to come back to Stoneybrook with my mom, and I have never regretted the decision. I visit my dad as often as possible, and I still feel dose to him. But Stoneybrook is my home now. It may not have Bloomingdale's or Carnegie Hall, but I love it anyway.

The bell rang, and Mr. Schubert smiled at

us. "Enjoy Project Work!" he said. "I know you'll have a great time."

Since Short Takes is my last class of the day, I headed for my locker as soon as we were dismissed. When I reached it, I found a note stuck into the vents. I could tell at a glance that it was from Claudia. She always decorates her notes with swirls and moons and stars. "Projekt Work sounds grate!" it said. (Claudia has this little problem with spelling. She says it stifles her creativity to have to spell things the same way every time.) "Meet us by the fense," the note went on. "C U soon!"

I knew that "us" meant Claud and the other members of the BSC, and "by the fense" meant that we were meeting near the fence in the parking lot, which is where we often gather before and after school. Sure enough, when I arrived at the "fense," I found the other members of the BSC already there. Kristy Thomas, carrying a baseball bat, was talking to Logan Bruno, one of our associate members (and the only boy in the club). Logan was holding his girlfriend Mary Anne Spier's hand. Mary Anne was facing away from him, though, talking to Claudia. And Jessi Ramsey and Mallory Pike were chattering away off to the side.

What were they all talking about? Project Work, of course. Everybody was excited about

it, and everybody had ideas and dreams about what they might like to do. Jessi and Mal were talking about working at a riding stable (they both love horses), and Kristy and Logan were trying to figure out whether they could play ball at Shea Stadium (they're both big Mets fans). Mary Anne was saying something about running a country inn. And Claudia was talking about working as a guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Whoa, hold it!" I said. "These are supposed to be local jobs, aren't they?"

"Sure," said Claudia, giggling. "But we can dream, can't we? We're just fooling around."

"Well, in that case," I said, "I think I'd like to be president of the Gap."

Claudia grinned. "Does that mean your best friend will get a discount?" she asked.

Just then, Kristy saw her bus pull up. The rest of us walk home, but Kristy lives across town and takes the bus. "Gotta ran!" she said. "I'll see you later. Let’s talk about Project Work during the meeting."

We would all be together again in just a few hours, for our Friday BSC meeting: the baseball player, the museum guide, the innkeeper, the stable workers, and the president of a huge clothing chain. What a crew!

Chapter 2.

"I don't know," mused Claudia. "Maybe it would be more fun to work at the Museum of Modern Art." She and I were in her room, waiting for the other members of the BSC to arrive for our meeting. We were still fantasizing about dream jobs.

"And maybe, instead of the Gap, I'd like to run a really fancy clothing business, like Chanel or something," I said. I pictured a fashion show in Paris, with gorgeous models wearing outrageous clothes. "You could design the clothes, Claud, and I'll run the business." I lay back on Claudia's bed and hugged a pillow.

"Sounds awesome," said Claudia. Just then, Kristy burst into the room. "I've been thinking," she said, without even saying hi. That's Kristy for you. "Project Work probably means we're going to have to make some temporary changes in the BSC," she went on. She plopped down in the director's chair at

Claud's desk, grabbed a pencil, and began to make a list on the back of an envelope. Claudia and I exchanged an amused glance. Kristy is a dynamo. You'll never catch her lying around fantasizing. She's a woman of action.

Kristy is our club's president. In fact, the original idea for the BSC was hers. She guessed that parents would love to be able to call one number and reach several responsible sitters — and she was one hundred percent right. Our club now meets in Claudia's room three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from five-thirty to six. Parents can call during those times and set up sitting jobs. And wow, do they call. We always have plenty of work.

Our clients keep coming back because, as Kristy says, "we offer a quality service." Good baby-sitting, that is. We keep on top of our charges' special needs, for one thing. The dub notebook helps us with that. That's where we write up every job we go on, so everybody knows what’s happening with the kids we sit for. Also, instead of just plopping the kids in front of the TV, the way some sitters do, we have fun with them. For example, sometimes we bring along our Kid-Kits, which are boxes packed with hand-me-down toys and games, plus new stickers and crayons and markers. The kids we sit for love to see us arrive with

Kid-Kits in hand. We're also very responsible about scheduling jobs carefully, with the help of our record book, in which we keep track of every member's schedule. We never "stand up" a client.

Kid-Kits, the club notebook, and the record book were all Kristy's ideas. Like I said, she's a dynamo. Kristy is short, with brown hair and brown eyes. She doesn't waste any time on fashion or makeup: her daily "uniform" is a turtleneck shirt, jeans, and running shoes. , The running shoes are important, because Kristy's life keeps her on the run. For example, Kristy coaches Kristy's Krushers, a softball team for little kids.

She also has a very busy home life these days. Kristy grew up with two older brothers, Charlie and Sam, and one younger one named David Michael. Kristy's dad skipped out on the family when David Michael was just a baby, and for a long time things weren't easy for the Thomas family. But then Mrs. Thomas met — and eventually married — a really nice guy named Watson Brewer. Watson happens to be rich and, soon after the wedding, the Thomases moved across town to live in his mansion. Along with their new home came more additions to the family. Watson has two kids from his first marriage, Karen and Andrew, who live at the mansion part time. Plus,

Kristy now has a brand-new little sister: Emily Michelle, a Vietnamese girl whom Kristy's mom and Watson adopted. And Kristy's grandmother lives with the family as well. Add in the pets (Shannon, a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, Boo-Boo the cat, and a couple of goldfish), and you've got one hectic household.