Ann Martin - Shannon's Story

Mom appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Maria's at swim practice," she said. (This I knew. Maria is always at swim practice. And besides, she'd already told us she would be there this morning.)

I nodded and pulled on my other shoe. "Tiff's out in her garden," I said as neutrally as I could.

My mom smiled a little. "My grandmother used to garden. But I never did like it very much. You have to wait so long for the flowers to come up after you put the seeds in."

I laughed and shook my head. "You're into instant gratification? I didn't know adults were allowed to do that!"

My mom didn't laugh. In fact, she looked

kind of sad. "I don't know what I'm into," she said after a moment. Then, quickly, "Listen, Shannon, why don't you have your meeting over here? I could make some cookies and . . ."

"We always have it at Claudia's because Claudia has her own phone. Our clients all call us at that number. They expect us to be there, Mom." I tried not to sound impatient, but I knew my mom knew this.

"Oh." A one-two punch. She sounded both disapproving and disappointed.

"Tiffany's garden looked pretty good from the bedroom window, Mom," I went on. "You ought to go check it out." Wow, who did I sound like? In fact, what did this whole conversation remind me of? Well, I didn't have time to think about it just then. I stood up and bounded down the stairs.

"Gotta go," I said and shot past Mom and out the door before she could make any more suggestions. Kristy Thomas, the founder and president of the BSC, is a real stickler for punctuality. She lives across the street from me, and her brother Charlie drives her to meetings. Today he was giving me a ride, too.

Kristy must have been hovering by the front door, because it opened before I even dashed up the steps. "We're ready, Charlie!" she

called back into the house without even saying hello.

That was cool. I was used to Kristy's ways now. When we'd first met, we hadn't liked each other at all. Kristy was new to the neighborhood and she thought I was an awful snob, and I thought she was a jerk who was stealing all my baby-sitting jobs. But we'd gotten past that and Kristy had even invited me to join the BSC as an associate member, to help out when other members couldn't take babysitting jobs. Now, with the BSC's regular member, alternate officer Dawn Schafer, making a long visit to her father and younger brother on the Coast (the West Coast, as in California), I was attending a lot more meetings. And doing a lot more baby-sitting. I didn't mind, though. Not only were the meetings fun and the work, too (mostly), but I was saving every penny for my trip to Paris.

"Punctuality is the courtesy of kings," announced Kristy as Charlie slid into the car, where Kristy had already hustled me. She was talking to Charlie but I knew her comment was also aimed at me. I hid a smile. King Kristy? With Kristy, it just might happen.

"Hey, they're not going to start without the president, are they?" Charlie teased.

Kristy looked stern for a moment longer,

then her face relaxed into a grin. "They'll start on Claudia's stash of treats without me," she said.

"That's for sure/' I agreed and we gave each other a knowing look.

Claudia Kishi, artist and maverick student, is a secret reader of Nancy Drew books. Hidden around her room at any given moment you are likely to find at least half a dozen Nancy Drews. (Claudia's parents just don't understand why Claudia won't read more "serious" books, the way her older sister Janine does. Janine's a high school student who is a genuine genius. She even takes college courses because she's advanced beyond what the high school can teach her in some subjects.)

Guess what. Claudia is also a world-class junk food addict. A collector's cache of junk food is part of Claudia's hidden decor. You think I'm kidding? You haven't watched Claudia reach down behind an open drawer and produce chocolate-covered coffee beans, or slide her hand between her mattress and box springs and pull out chocolate-covered Oreos and half a box of graham crackers.

We rode the rest of the way to Claudia's comparing Claudia Kishi junk food notes (Charlie couldn't believe it!) and we got there with three minutes to spare.

Janine let us in.

"Merci," I said airily as we charged up the stairs to Claudia's room.

"Ban apr£s-midi," replied Janine, wishing us good afternoon in French without missing a beat. A genius, see what I mean?

Claudia was just passing around a package of Mallomars and a package of oatmeal raisin Frookies. Mallomars are a big club favorite and I knew they'd be gone before the meeting was over. The Frookies, which are special healthy cookies made without sugar, would last a little longer.

The Frookies are for Stacey McGill, mainly, and Dawn (when she's here). You'll hear more about them and everyone in the BSC later, but first I should tell you how the club works.

The BSC was an inspired idea from the churning, seething brain of our fearless leader, Kristy. It came to her one night when she was at home, listening to her mother call babysitter after baby-sitter for her little brother, David Michael. That's when it hit Kristy: why not call one number and be able to reach several sitters at once?

In what seemed like no time at all, the BSC was set up, meeting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons at Claudia's from 5:30 until 6:00. That's when clients call to set up baby-sitting jobs. The three original members of the BSC, Kristy, Claudia (BSC vice-president

who lived across the street from her), and Mary Anne (BSC secretary who lived next door to Kristy and had been Kristy's best friend forever), weren't sure three people were enough for a club. So they invited Stacey McGill, who was new in town and becoming friends with Claudia, to join. She became the treasurer. Then Dawn Schafer followed, to become the alternate officer. That means she takes over the duties of anyone who can't make a meeting. Then came Jessica Ramsey and Mallory Pike as junior officers. Now there is one other associate member, too: Logan Bruno (who is also Mary Anne's boyfriend). Associate members don't have to attend meetings, but they can, and they also take any jobs that won't fit into the BSC schedule.

Kristy not only thought up the BSC, she also added other Kristy touches — like the record book, the notebook, and Kid-Kits.

The record book is where we keep all our appointments. Plus a list of clients and any special information about them, plus a record of our dues and expenses. The record book is the secretary's responsibility, except for the money part, which is the treasurer's.

We all use the notebook. We have to write about every job in it and read each other's entries. It helps us keep up with what's going on in regular clients' lives (like who's teething

or who's developed a new passion for dogs, for example). It also helps us learn how to deal with new problems that come up — we learn from what others write down.

Kid-Kits? They are boxes we've all fixed up with puzzles, games, toys, books, colored pencils, stamps, stickers, and all kinds of fun things. Some of it is our old sniff. Some of it we buy out of BSC funds. We take the kits on some jobs and the kids love them. Even though some of the toys and books are old, they're new to the kids. And, as Kristy noticed, kids always love to play with other kids' toys!

So. Back to the members of the BSC.

I settled down on the floor with a couple of Mallomars and looked at Stacey as she took a Frookie out of the box, offered them to everyone else, and then put them down on the floor next to her.

Stacey, who as you now know is the BSC treasurer, is a math whiz. She is also diabetic. That means that she has to watch what she eats very carefully (no sugar! yuck) and even give herself shots or else she could get very, very sick. But Stacey is cool about it. In fact, she may be one of the coolest people I know, generally. For one thing, she is from New York City, which makes her just a little more sophisticated than most the kids her age around