Ann Martin - Mystery At Claudia's House

The kids began talking and fooling around again. They forgot about kissing, at least for the moment. Derek gave me a grateful look, and I knew I had just made a friend for life.

Chapter 6.

I was all set. Six boxesof beads were arranged on my desk, along with plenty of string and a couple of needles. I was planning to work on some necklaces and bracelets, and I was hoping to finish at least a few of them before the BSC meeting, which would start in about an hour.

I love to string beads. It's relaxing, because once you decide on your design, there's not much to think about. You stick the beads onto the needle and push them down the string, and that's it. I make beaded jewelry for myself, for friends, and even for some of the kids we sit for. This time, though, I was making it as a favor to my mother. See, she's the head librarian at the Stoneybrook Public Library. And recently the library's budget was cut. Mom has had to be really creative about raising money for things the library needs — like books. Her latest idea was to hold a crafts fair,

at which local artists and craftspeople could sell their work. The library would keep most of the money, and the artists would get some nice exposure. I thought it was a great idea, and I'd offered to donate some handmade jewelry. I was going to do beadwork, and also make some papier-mâché jewelry. But as usual, I had procrastinated (that's a word my mother taught me a long time ago — she uses it often to describe what I'm doing) and now I was going to have to work like crazy to finish the pieces.

So there I was: blue beads on my left, red ones on my right, and black, white, green, and purple ones in the middle. I threaded a big needle and reached for a red bead. Just then, I heard a knock at the door. I groaned. "Who's there?" I asked. It would be just like Kristy to be early for our meeting.

"It's me, Janine. Can I come in?"

"Sure," I said. "I'm just making some jewelry."

Janine came into my room, shutting the door behind her. "Hi, Claudia," she said.

"Hi," I replied. "What's up?"

She sat down on my bed and stared down at her shoes. "Nothing, really," she said. "What's new with you?"

"Not much." I strung some blue beads, then glanced at her. She was frowning slightly, and

she kept smoothing the bedspread, as if she were nervous. "Janine," I said. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing! I mean — well, I wanted to ask you a favor."

"If you want to borrow my red sweater again, you'll have to wait," I said. "It's in the wash."

"It's not that, although I would like to borrow it again sometime." Janine paused for a moment. "What I wanted to ask was — was —"

"Come on, Janine," I said. "Spit it out! It can't be that bad."

"Would you give me a lesson on how to apply makeup?" she asked, all in a rush. "And also some advice about clothes?"

I was in shock. I guess I should have seen it coming, but still, it felt so strange for my sister to come to me for something. She's never needed my help before.

Janine seemed to think I was going to say no to her. "Claudia, I hate to bother you with this, but I don't know who else to ask. None of my friends wear cosmetics or get dressed up. Besides, I've helped you with your school-work so many times. Couldn't you help me just this once?"

"Janine," I said. "Of course I'll help you. Don't be silly. But why — "

"Do me one favor," she said, interrupting.

"Don't ask me why, okay? Let's just say it's time for a change, and leave it at that." She gave me an intense look.

"Fine!" I replied. Wow. I was dying to know ' what was going on with my sister, but I could see she was not about to tell me. Anyway, I figured it certainly was time for a change. After all, Janine is sixteen, as Stacey had pointed out. "Well," I said, putting down my needle. "Let's see. Where should we start? Stand up, Janine."

She stood. I looked her over and took inventory: straight black hair, cut in an old-fashioned Dutch-Boy style. Black wire-rim glasses. Navy-blue crewneck sweater, worn over a white blouse with a Peter Pan collar. Pleated knee-length gray wool skirt. Gray knee socks. Brown loafers. In those clothes, she looked like a skinny twelve-year-old. "Oh, boy," I said, sighing. "We've got our work cut out for us."

"I don't want anything too wild," said Janine nervously.

I laughed. "Don't worry. We'll take it one step at a time." I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the full-length mirror. "First of all, your clothes need a little pepping up. You can keep that preppie style if you want, but let's make it a little more interesting." I pulled a green-and-blue patterned sweater out of my

bottom drawer, and a white oxford shirt out of the closet, then found a short black wool skirt I hardly ever wear. "Try these on," I said. "See, it's the same thing: sweater, blouse, skirt. Only a little more daring and a little more defined."

Janine stepped into the bathroom to change. She's shy that way. When she came out, she was grinning. "I like it!" she said. "I look really different, but I'm still comfortable. This is great!"

I studied her. "Not bad," I said. "But you're going to have to ditch those loafers. Brown doesn't work with that outfit. Here, try these." I tossed her a pair of short black boots, and she put them on. "Perfect!" I said. "Now, let's work on your hair and your face." I sat her down at my dressing-table and stood behind her so we were both facing the mirror.

Janine shook her head dismally. "I'm so plain," she said. "You got all the good looks in the family."

"No way!" I cried. "You're really pretty. You just need to play up your best features." I thought for a moment. "Have you ever considered getting contacts?"

"Oh, I don't think so," she said quickly. "I'm used to my glasses. I would hate to have to fuss with contact lenses."

"Okay," I said, sensing that it would be better not to push the issue. "So we'll stick with the glasses. I think the first thing we should do is get some of that hair out of your face." I picked up a can of mousse and spritzed some onto my hands.

"What are you — " Janine began, but before she could stop me, I'd slathered the mousse all over her hair. "Oh, no," she said.

"Calm down," I replied, giggling. "I promise I won't hurt you." I played around with different hairstyles: first I swept all her hair over to one side, then I slicked it all back, then I made a little ponytail high on top of her head. None of them seemed right, and Janine was beginning to look horrified. Finally, I just pushed her bangs over to one side, added a couple of colorful barrettes, and stepped back. "That's it!" I said. "It looks great."

Janine gazed into the mirror and turned her head from side to side. "It looks okay, I guess," she said. "But what was that stuff you used? Do I have to get some? Where do I buy it?"

I cracked up. Janine is so smart about some things, but in other ways she's like a child. "It's just mousse," I said. "It's in all the drugstores. You might want to get some gel, too."

Janine shook her head. "I'll never learn to

use all this stuff," she said. She checked her reflection again and touched her hair. "Hey, it's stiff!"

"Use your fingers to comb it out a little," I said. "It'll soften up. Look, there's really nothing to it. I'll help you again next time, but you'll be able to do it yourself before you know it." I realized I ought to keep Janine's new beauty routine very, very simple. She wasn't used to spending time on her appearance. While Janine played with her hair, I looked through my makeup and picked out some mascara, some blush, and a pinkish lip gloss that wasn't too dramatic.