Ann Martin: Stacey And The Cheerleaders

"I'll get it!" a voice shouted from behind the closed door. Thump-thump-thump-thump came the sound of footsteps down stairs.

"Get out of my way!" Another voice.

"Hey, stop!" The first voice.

"You're so slow!"

"Mo-om!"

"Baby!"

"Don't call me that!"

"What?"

"Baby!"

"Okay, baty\"

"Girls, will you please stop!" Whew. A grown-up voice. Finally.

"She started it!"

"She pushed me!"

"She was being slow!"

"She called me baby!"

Uh-oh.

Suddenly Kristy wished she hadn't volunteered for this job. She could tell it was going to be a long, long day.

The door lurched open. Mrs. Kilbourne gave Kristy a wide, beaming smile. (Of course. She

was the one who was leaving.) "Well, hello, Kristy! Come on in."

Clutching her Kid-Kit, Kristy walked inside. She saw the two girls at the foot of the living room stairs. They stood there like statues, the goddesses of Gloom and Doom.

Kristy said hi.

Gloom and Doom grunted.

Mrs. Kilbourne led Kristy into the kitchen and gave her instructions. The last thing she said was, "Make sure Tiffany starts her homework before dinner." Then she got her coat, kissed her daughters, and breezed out the doorway.

Kristy could have sworn she heard a sigh of relief.

"So," Kristy said. "Want to go outside before you start your homework? There's plenty of snow for a snowperson."

No reply.

"No, huh? Well, that's okay." Kristy set down her Kid-Kit and began to open it. "Maybe we can find something in here."

The girls leaned forward to look. Kristy pulled out an old rag doll, some dinosaur figurines, and a few small puzzle books.

"Ooh, word searches!" Maria cried out. "I love those." She reached for one of the books and a pencil.

Tiffany crinkled her nose. "Thafs baby stuff." She rummaged around and pulled out an old yo-yo.

Maria sat on the floor next to the coffee table. As she opened the book and began working on a puzzle, Tiffany experimented with the yo-yo.

Kristy was proud of herself. She settled onto the couch.

"Sub . . . ma . . . rine," Maria muttered, circling a diagonal word in a puzzle.

Tiffany was swinging the yo-yo in an arc now. She was also moving closer to her sister.

"Ooh! Tug ... boat!" Maria said. "Look! I got them all!"

Whack. The yo-yo smacked Maria on her elbow. "Owww!" She whirled around. "You did that on purpose!"

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."

"Uh, Tiffany," Kristy said. "That's a little close. Maybe you could do that in another room?"

"Let's go to the TV room," Tiffany replied. "Can you teach me some tricks?"

"Sure." Kristy looked over at Maria. "You okay in here by yourself?"

"Kan ... ga ... roo," Maria mumbled.

Tiffany led Kristy into a large, wood-paneled room just past the kitchen. A long Haitian-

cotton couch faced a huge TV set. Next to the TV was a cabinet with glass shelves above and drawers below.

Kristy noticed a few trophies and awards on the shelves, so she stepped closer to look. The top two shelves were obviously Shannon's — a drama plaque, a framed honor society certificate, and an archery trophy from summer camp, among others. The third shelf held a few swimming trophies. " 'League of Independent Schools Athletics, Swimming, Elementary Division, First-Place Butterfly,' " Kristy read. "Is this yours?"

Tiffany exhaled impatiently. "Read the namel"

"Oh." Sure enough, Maria Kilbourne was engraved at the bottom of the plaque. "Wow. I didn't know she was a swimmer," said Kristy.

"Can you teach me the yo-yo stuff now?" Tiffany asked impatiently.

"Oh! Sorry." Kristy reached for the yo-yo. "Do you know 'Walking the Dog'?"

Maria's voice responded with, "Did you see the one for school record in the breaststroke?"

Kristy 'turned to see Maria peeking in the room. Beaming, she ran to the case.

Tiffany slumped onto the couch. "Bo-ring!"

"Jealous." Maria stuck out her tongue. She opened the case and took out a gaudy plastic trophy.

"Maria, I am impressed!" Kristy said. "I remember you used to hate athletic things."

Maria beamed. "I did! But now I love swimming. My coach says I'm a natural. I even got a write-up in the Stoneybrook Day School newspaper!" She reached into the top drawer and pulled out the article.

"You are so conceited!" Tiffany snapped. She leaped up and grabbed the article. "Kristy was teaching me something."

·Maria held tight to her end of the paper. "Give me that!"

Rrrrrrip!

Each sister now held half an article. "Look what you did!" Maria cried.

"What's the difference, baby! You have a hundred and three copies of it!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Whoa! Truce!" Kristy called out. She had reached the end of her patience. "Okay, look. Maybe you two need to get out of each other's hair. Why don't you go upstairs and start your homework — peacefully, in your own rooms. Uh, do you have separate rooms?"

"Yeah," Maria replied. "Want to see?"

"Sure." Anything to get them upstairs, Kristy thought.

She followed Maria up the steps. Halfway there, she turned around. "Tiffany? Are you coming?"

"I don't want to do my homework! You didn't teach me those yo-yo tricks, like you said you would."

"Okay, okay. If I come down and teach you, then will you do your homework?"

Tiffany said something under her breath. It didn't sound like yes.

At the top of the stairway, Maria led Kristy down a hallway, then proudly showed off her room. It had pink wallpaper with a heart pattern, and stuffed animals were propped up all over the place. Framed swim team photos hung over her desk. Another swimming trophy sat on her dresser. "That's for the side stroke. I just got it yesterday."

As Maria sat down at her desk, Kristy said, "Let me know if you need anything. I'll get your sister."

"She won't come," Maria replied. "She never does her homework. She is so bad in school."

"Come on, that's not nice."

"It's true. The teacher sends her home with notes sometimes. Mom and Dad get really mad. Last time they took away her allowance. So that's why she's not — "

Maria's eyes widened and she cut herself off.

"Not what?" Kristy asked.

"Nothing."

Kristy raised her presidential eyebrow. "Mariaaaaa."

Maria looked at the floor. "Tiffany got another note today. She told me. But she's not going to give it to Mom and Dad."

"Maria!" Tiffany's voice boomed from downstairs. "I'm going to kill you! I told you not to tell — "

"She made me!" Maria gave Kristy an angry and frightened look. "See what you did!"

WHACK/ The TV room door slammed shut.

Kristy took a deep breath. "Sorry, Maria," she said. "I'll go talk to her. It'll be all right."

She left Maria's room and walked through the hallway. She caught a glimpse of Shannon's room — a Stoneybrook Day pennant on the wall, neat stacks of books on the desk, and a poster from a summer camp production of Oklahoma]

Just opposite it was another room. Kristy couldn't help stopping when she saw what was inside.

It was a pigsty. Papers, books, pillows, and plastic wrappers covered the floor. The bed was unmade, and the desk was buried under notebooks, paperbacks, CDs, cassettes, you name it.

No wonder Tiffany doesn't want to do her homework, Kristy thought. She needs a snow-plow just to get to her desk.

x And every time she does go upstairs, she has to deal with an older sister who's Ms. Star Student and a younger sister who has suddenly become a Future Olympian. Being a normal kid in a family like that couldn't be easy.

With a sigh, Kristy went downstairs. She wasn't angry at Tiffany now.

Slowly she pushed open the TV room door. Tiffany was flumped on the couch, arms folded, in her own storm cloud.

"I didn't forget about 'Walking the Dog,' you know," said Kristy.