Ann Martin: Stacey And The Mystery At The Mall

Stacey And The Mystery At The Mall

Ann M. Martin

Chapter 1.

"Terrific work, Stacey," said Mr. Schubert, handing back my final report. "According to your summaries, you've earned so much in the stock market that you could retire in — oh, about two years."

I giggled. "Right," I said. "I'll move toMiamiat the ripe old age of fifteen." I looked at the front page of my report, which had a big, red A + at the top of it. It wasn't my first A or anything (I'm a pretty decent student), but I felt especially proud of it. I've always been good at math, but this class was something new. Math for Real Life, it was called. It was part of a program at school called Short Takes, in which all the students in every grade take the same special class. This is how it works: you study a subject intensively for a short period of time, and you learn awesome stuff that isn't usually taught in school. For instance, one really cool Short Takes class was

Modern Living, in which pairs of students had to "adopt" an egg and pretend it was their baby. We've also had Career Class, and special health and civics classes.

Math for Real Life was my favorite Short Takes class yet. In it, we had learned how to balance a checkbook, make a grocery budget, and figure out mortgage payments. We also learned how to play the stock market, which was the best part. Mr. Schubert told us that we each had (an imaginary) five thousand dollars to invest, and then he showed us how to read the financial pages and pick out stocks to buy. The report I had just gotten back showed the results of my investing, which were pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

I'm Stacey McGill, and the school I go to isStoneybrookMiddle School, which is inStoneybrook,Connecticut. I'm thirteen and in the eighth grade, which is why I cracked up when Mr. Schubert said I could retire in two years. I'm nowhere near ready for retirement. I have a long, exciting life in front of me, and there are lots of things I want to do before I start spending my days in a rocking chair. I don't know what I want to be "when I grow up," as we used to say in first grade, but lately I've been thinking about going to business school and becoming a trader on the stock exchange!

Mr. Schubert makes that sound pretty exciting.

Another thing I think I'd be good at is running a small company — or even a big one. I'd love to own a chain of stores, for example. My math skills would come in handy, and so would my shopping skills. I'm an excellent shopper. This is partly because I grew up inNew York City, which is like shopper's heaven. If you want or need anything, you can find it inNew York, usually at half price. I know how to track down all the bargains, whether I'm inNew Yorkor Stoneybrook. I love fashion, for example; I really enjoy dressing in trendy, sophisticated outfits. But I don't just buy the first thing I see. I make a game of it: shopping around, checking prices, figuring out how to get the most for my money. Like, when I see a pair of jeans I want, I note the cost and move on. I have this little place in my brain where I remember the prices of the things I've seen, so it’s easy for me to figure out where to get the best value.

On the other hand, money and math and clothes aren't the only things I care about. I love to go to museums, and dance performances and Broadway shows, and yes, even the opera. (Well, not all operas.) I guess I'm a "culture vulture" — another result of growing up inManhattan. My parents were always dragging me to one event or another, and eventually I learned to appreciate and love the arts.

That may be part of the reason my best friend, Claudia Kishi, and I get along so well. I'm a patron of the arts (at least, that's what my dad calls it), and Claudia's an artist. She doesn't just draw or paint; she also sculpts, makes collages, and creates all kinds of "wearable art." Give her some raw materials — a few beads, some clay, a tube or two of paint — and she'll come up with a masterpiece.

Claudia also shares my love of fashion. She believes clothes should do more than cover our bodies and keep us warm. Instead, she sees dressing as one more creative outlet, and it shows. She always looks fabulous, and she never looks just like everyone else. She'll pair a long white shirt with a colorful vest, accessorize with handmade jewelry, pull her hair up into an outrageous ponytail, and look like a million dollars.

Claud's gorgeous to begin with, anyway. She's Japanese-American and very exotic-looking, with her long black hair and almond-shaped eyes. On the other hand, I'm your basic blue-eyed blonde. The other differences between me and Claud? For starters, she thinks being in math class is like being in a

torture chamber. School is not Claudia's favorite thing, to say the least. (Her older sister Janine is a certified genius. Honest! Teachers are probably always wishing they had higher grades than A+ to give to Janine.)

For another thing, Claudia is the Junk Food Queen of Stoneybrook. Give her a Ring-Ding, and she's happy. Add a couple of Three Musketeers bars, and she's in heaven. Me? I don't eat the stuff. Not because I don't like it — I do. But I have diabetes, and I have to be very, very careful about every single thing I eat. Sweets are out. See, diabetes is this disease in which your body doesn't deal well with sugar. This has to do with an organ called the pancreas, but I don't really want to get into that right now. Basically, I'm all right as long as I follow my diet carefully and take shots of insulin every day. I give the shots to myself, which sounds much worse than it is. I'm used to it. I'd better be, since I'll probably have to do it for the rest of my life.

"People! People, please settle down." Mr. Schubert had finished passing out our papers, and he was standing in front of the room trying to get our attention. Everybody was comparing papers and talking excitedly about how much money they'd made — or lost — in the stock market. This boy, Pete Hayes, was joking about how there should be one last

topic in Math for Real Life, called "How to File for Bankruptcy."

Finally, we quieted down and looked at Mr. Schubert. "This has been a great class," he said. "I've enjoyed teaching you all, and I'll miss you when you go on to your next Short Takes class next week."

"What's it going to be?" somebody yelled out. "Zoo-keeping? How to Be a down?"

They never tell us about the next Short Takes course until the week before, which means it’s always a surprise. Some other kids jumped in with funny ideas.

"Advanced Skateboard Riding?" Pete Hayes called out.

"How To Drive Your Little Sister Crazy?" asked somebody else.

Soon we were all cracking up. Even Mr. Schubert was laughing. Then he held up his hands for silence. "Give me a chance, and I'll tell you," he said. As soon as we all shut up, he announced, "The next Short Takes is called Project Work."

Everybody groaned.

"What, like doing chores around the house?" asked Erica Blumberg, who was sitting in front of me. "I don't need a class to teach me how to take out the garbage or rake the lawn."

I had to admit Project Work didn't sound

like a whole lot of fun. But I listened to Mr. Schubert anyway. "For Project Work," he went on, "every student at SMS will go out into the community after school three days a week and actually work in a business of his or her choice."

"Cool," said Erica. "So we can, like, make a bunch of money and get school credit at the same time?"

"Well, not exactly," said Mr. Schubert. "You won't be getting paid. The idea is for you to pick a place that interests or excites you, and find out what it’s really like to work there. Ifs called hands-on experience. We have a wide variety of businesses for you to choose from, some in Stoneybrook, some in Stamford, and some at the Washington Mall."