Ann Martin - Mystery At Claudia's House

she'd been that night, but I think she understands now that we expect the truth from her."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I muttered.

"Claudia," said my father sternly. "Why don't you just tell us what this is all about?"

"Okay," I said. I took a deep breath. "The thing is, Janine isn't being honest with you. You know how she said she was working at the chemistry lab today?"

My parents nodded.

"Well, that's not true," I said. I started to talk fast. "She was here when I got home from baby-sitting this afternoon. And then she left and she met this guy and got into his car with him and drove off." I stopped for a breath.

"What?"both of my parents said at once. Then they started to ask a million questions.

"How do you know this?" asked my father.

"Who was this 'guy'?" asked my mother. "Did you know him?"

"What do you mean she drove off with him?" asked my father.

"Where did they go?" asked my mother.

I held up my hands. "Wait, wait," I said. "I'll start from the beginning."

"All right," said my father. "Go on." He crossed his arms.

I told them everything I knew, and I told them how I'd found it out. I could see that

they were unhappy with the idea of my "detective work," but they let that pass for the moment. As soon as I had finished, my father stood up and opened the den door. "Janine!" he called. "Please come down here for a moment. We need to talk."

When Janine walked into the den, I stood up to leave.

"Oh, no," said my mom. "You stay here. This is going to be a family conference. Why don't you tell Janine what you just told us?"

It wasn't easy, but I did it. Janine stared at me angrily the whole time. "How could you?" she hissed, when I'd finished. "You little sneak." Then she turned to my parents. "I think I better clear some things up," she said.

My father nodded. "We'd appreciate that."

"Well," said Janine. She paused for a moment, and seemed to gather herself together. Then she looked straight at my mother and said, "I have — I have a boyfriend."

You wouldn't believe how quiet that room became. My parents looked as .if they'd just heard that the sky was actually green and the grass blue. As for me, I was sure I couldn't possibly have heard Janine correctly.

"A what?" I asked.

"A boyfriend," said Janine. "His name is Jerry Michaels. I met him at the college. He's

a junior in high school, like me, but he's in advanced placement, too."

My parents were still looking stunned, so I said, "But he's a total hunk!" I said.

Janine nodded, looking miserable. "That's one of the reasons I kept it so quiet," she said. "I've always hated people who put physical appearance first. I never understood girls who wore makeup, or spent money on clothes, just so they could attract cute guys. To me, it's a person's mind that matters."

"But lately you've been wearing makeup and dressing better," I said. "Was that to attract Jerry?"

Janine nodded again. "But I found something out today," she said. "He said he liked me in spite of the way I look, not because of it. So I'm going back to the old me. I was never comfortable wearing all that stuff on my face. I just thought it was the only way to get Jerry's attention."

"So he's a hunk and a genius," I said. "He sounds perfect for you. What's the problem?"

Janine glared at me. I was so fascinated by her news that I'd almost forgotten she was mad at me. "Maybe the problem is that I'm a very private person," she said stiffly. "I'm not used to other people knowing my business. I guess I wanted to keep Jerry to myself for a little while."

"I can understand that," said my mother softly. She'd finally come out of her state of shock, and she was gazing fondly at Janine. "I felt the same way when I met your father." She reached over and took my dad's hand. He smiled at her. "Janine," she went on, "I'm very happy for you. But I'm also disappointed. I may have wanted to keep your father a secret when I met him, but I never lied to my parents. And I would not have expected you to lie to us."

"That's right," said my father. "You've earned yourself another two days at home. You're grounded — and I hope I'll never have to say those words to you again."

"You won't," whispered Janine, looking down at her hands.

"One other thing," said my father, sounding even more serious. He paused until Janine looked up at him. "When are you going to bring Jerry home, so we can make sure he's good enough for you?" He smiled at her, and she smiled back, a little nervously.

"Yes," said my mother. "I'm looking forward to meeting him."

"You mean I can keep seeing him?" asked Janine.

"Of course," said my mother. "You just have to promise to be honest with us about where you're going, and with whom."

"Oh, I will! We never go anywhere special, anyway. Most of the time we just find a quiet place to study."

I rolled my eyes. It figured. Janine gets a boyfriend, and all they do is study together. Most couples go to the movies, or out for dinner. But Janine and Jerry just want to crack the books. They were made for each other.

I thought again about how cute Jerry was. "Does he have a younger brother?" I said, grinning. "Like, maybe an eighth- or ninth-grader?"

Janine didn't grin back. "No," she said shortly. "Just sisters."

I could tell she was going to stay mad at me for a long, long time.

Chapter 15.

"So that guy is actually Janine's boyfriend?" asked Mary Anne. She shook her head in disbelief, and then helped herself to one of the Yodels I was passing around. We'd already covered our club business, so I was using our BSC meeting to fill my friends in on the solution to the big mystery.

"That's right," I said. "His name's Jerry, and he's a genius, just like Janine. How about that?"

"I think it's wonderful," sighed Mallory. "A secret love is so romantic."

"To tell you the truth, I'm sort of disappointed," said Jessi. She was next to Mallory on the floor, but instead of sitting still, she was doing one of her ballet stretches, with her head all the way down on the ground between her legs. She looked up. "I mean, I was really hoping Janine was a kleptomaniac, at the very least. Something interesting, you know?"

"I agree," said Kristy. She tucked her pencil over her ear, and leaned back in the director's chair. "But still, I'm happy for Janine."

"Me, too," said Dawn. "A boyfriend with a little red car! She's got it made."

Stacey sighed. "I can't believe we all laughed the other day when Mallory guessed the truth. Now it seems so obvious that she was right."

"It does, doesn't it?" I asked. "But, you know, if it had been anybody but Janine, I would probably have guessed right away. I just never thought of her having a boyfriend before. Especially such a cute one." I unwrapped another Yodel. "It just goes to show you — "I started to say, and then the phone rang.

Kristy grabbed it. "Baby-sitters Club," she said. "Kids are our business." She listened for a moment, and then smiled. "That's great, Derek," she said. "You must be relieved." She listened again. "Oh, well. There's always next season." A few moments later she hung up. "Guess what?" she asked us. "Derek's agent called and told him the writers for the show have decided to forget about the kiss. They think Waldo's too young."