Ann Martin: Mystery At Claudia's House

"My red sweater?" I asked, surprised. First of all, Janine never borrows my clothes. Secondly, if she did, I'd expect her to borrow clothes that were black, or brown, or navy blue. Janine never wears wild colors like red. "Well, sure," I said. "I guess so. Except I can't seem to find it."

"It's in my room," admitted Janine. "I — I saw it on top of the clean laundry pile, and all of a sudden I thought maybe I'd like to try it on. So I did." She sounded kind of defensive, as if she thought I was going to be mad at her.

"Well, I'm glad to know where it is," I said. "I thought it was lost. Sure, you can borrow it. But Janine, why — ?" I was about to ask her why she was acting so weird; why was she wearing makeup, and missing dinner, and stealing my clothes. But Janine had disappeared. I heard her call "thanks" as she headed back to her room, and I realized I'd lost my chance to find out what was going on with her. I shrugged. I couldn't wonder about

it if I was going to make it to the Pikes' on time.

"Claudia's here! Claudia's here!" I heard footsteps running down the hall,awayfrom the front door. I was standing outside on the porch. I'd rung the bell, and Claire, Mallory's five-year-old sister, had come to see who was at the door. She'd peeked through the window at me, and waved. I'd waved back. I could tell she was excited to see me. So excited, in fact, that she forgot to let me in.

I stood on the stoop for just a second, then let myself in. I'm no stranger to the Pikes, so I knew it would be okay. "Mal?" .I called.

"In here," she yelled. Her voice was coming from the kitchen. "We're just finishing up the breakfast dishes."

As I approached the kitchen, I heard squealing and -giggling and clattering sounds. The Pike family never does anything quietly. They can't, since there are so many of them. I poked my head into the kitchen. The room was full of noise and activity — and kids. "Hi!" I said.

"Hi," said Mallory. "Boy, am I glad you're here. My parents had to leave early, so they've already been gone for half an hour. I was okay for a little while, but how I'm definitely ready for some help!" "You should have called me," I said. "I would have come earlier."

"I know," said Mal. "But it's Saturday. I figured you'd be sleeping in."

I giggled. "Ordinarily I would have been," I said. "But you won't believe what happened this morn—“

I was interrupted by a loud crash. I turned . to Nicky, Mal's youngest brother. He's eight. He looked down at the floor, where a pile of forks and spoons lay scattered; then glanced up guiltily. "I didn't mean — " he began.

"It's okay," I said. "Let's pick them up and put them back in the sink. I'll wash them again, and then you can dry them and put them away. Deal?"

"Deal," he said. "And this time I won't try to pick all of them up at one time."

I rolled up my sleeves and started to wash the silverware.

"So, what happened this morning?" asked Mallory, who was putting away the pots and pans.

"Well, I woke up in a total panic," I said, "because I thought — "

There was another crash. This time Byron looked up guiltily. "It was Jordan's fault," he said quickly.

"Was not," said Jordan. "Adam did it."

"No way!" said Adam. "It was Byron."

Adam, Byron, and Jordan are triplets. They're ten years old, and they are almostalwaysgetting into some kind of trouble. This time, though, Mal let them off the hook. "It doesn't matter who dropped the frying pan," she said. "Just give it to me, and I'll put it away." Byron handed it to her, looking sheepish. I realized I'd probably never get around to telling Mal about what had happened that morning, and decided to concentrate on finishing the cleanup, instead. After I had washed the last fork, I looked around to see what else needed to be done.

Vanessa, who's nine, was wiping the kitchen counters with a sponge. She looked dreamy, as if she were in another world. Vanessa wants to be a poet, and she's often composing sonnets in her mind. That probably explained why she'd already wiped the same counter about ten times.

Claire was helping Margo, who's seven, organize the cereal boxes as they put them back in the cabinet. "I think the Chex should go next to the Shredded Wheat, since they're both squares," she said.

"Uh-uh," said Margo. "The Chex go next to the Cheerios, since they both start with C."

"Just get them-in there however you can make them fit," said Mallory. "We could have

been done by now if you all didn't dawdle so much. It's already almost time for lunch."

"Lunch?" said Byron. "What are we having for lunch, anyway? Derek likes hot dogs, I think."

"Derek?" repeated Mallory.

"Yeah. He's coming for lunch," said Adam. "Didn't we tell you?"

"No, you didn't," said Mallory. "But that's okay. I'll be glad to see him."

"Me too," I said.

"Me three!" said Nicky.

"Weallwant to see Derek," said Jordan. "And maybe we can have Hershey'sKissesfor dessert, right, guys?" He nudged Adam and Byron. They snickered.

"Uh-oh," said Mallory under her breath. We exchanged glances. Obviously the kids at school had found out about Derek's kissing scene. Mal and I had already heard about it from Kristy. I smelled trouble, and I could tell Mallory did, too.

"There's the doorbell!" said Jordan. "I bet that's kissy-face Derek right now." He ran to answer the door.

As soon as he'd left the kitchen, Byron and Adam grabbed Vanessa. "Are you ready?" Byron asked her. ."Yourboyfriendis here!"

Vanessa pulled away. "I'm not so sure about this," she said.

"Sure about what?" asked Mal. "Hey, you guys, what kind of plot are you hatching?"

Byron tried to look innocent as Jordan and Derek came into the kitchen. As soon as the other kids saw Derek, they were all over him.

"It's like he's magnetic!" I whispered to Mal. She nodded. After we'd said hello to Derek, we stood there, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

The triplets pushed Vanessa so that she was standing next to Derek. "Go ahead!" hissed Jordan.

After a moment of hesitation, Vanessa closed her eyes, pursed her lips and tilted her chin up. Derek gave her a funny look. Then Adam bumped Derek from behind, pushing him into Vanessa. "Hey!" said Derek. "What are you guys doing?"

Nicky and the triplets just giggled. I was beginning to catch on, and so was Mal, I think. But Derek caught on even quicker. "Oh, I get it," he said. "You're trying to trick me into kissing Vanessa." He shook his head. "You guys are so immature. Kissing a girl is no big deal. I've done it tons of times." Derek spoke with plenty of confidence, but he didn't fool me. I could tell he was embarrassed, and boasting just to cover up.

Mallory looked as if she were in shock. "Youhave?"she asked Derek.

"Sure," he said nonchalantly. "I'm an expert. I'll show you; Ready, Vanessa?" He grinned devilishly and started toward her. She shrieked and ran out of the room.

The triplets seemed awestruck, and so did Nicky. Claire and Margo gazed admiringly at Derek. Mal's mouth was still hanging open in surprise. But I folded my arms and looked straight into Derek's eyes, and when he looked back at me the truth was obvious. Derek had never kissed a girl in his life.

I winked at him, to let him know his secret was safe with me. Then I said, "Who's ready for lunch?"