Ann Martin - Mystery At Claudia's House

BSCM06 - Mystery at Claudia's House - Martin, Ann M.

Chapter 1.

"Oh, Lament, you shouldn't have!" squealed Becca. "These flowers are so gorgeous. But I don't know where I can possibly fit them! My entire house is already full of the beautiful flowers you've brought me."

"Well, actually," said Charlotte, putting on a deep voice, "these aren't for you. They're for Charlotte, and they're from Derek!"

Charlotte and Becca broke into hysterical giggles. Charlotte stuck the bouquet of flowers (actually a crumpled sheet of newspaper) behind a chair and turned to me. "Isn't it awesome? Derek Masters is coming back to town!"

"It's great," I agreed, hiding a smile. And to tell the truth, it was kind of exciting. Not every little town has a real live TV star. I could understand why the girls were so wild about the news.

"The girls" were Charlotte Johanssen and Becca Ramsey. I was baby-sitting for Charlotte,

and Becca, who is Charlotte's best friend, was visiting. Who am I? I'm Claudia Kishi. I'm thirteen years old and I'm in eighth grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. Stoneybrook, Connecticut, that is. That's the name of the town I live in. And the town Derek Masters would soon be returning to!

Derek Masters, in case you're wondering, is an actual, genuine TV star. He's on this really popular show called P.S. 262, about a class in an inner-city elementary school. The character he plays is called Waldo, and he (the character, not Derek) is kind of a geek. But he's a funny geek, and the other kids in the class like him. He's not the most popular kid, though. That would be Lament, who's smart, and funny, and really cute. Lament is the one Becca has a giant crush on.

Anyway, Derek Masters lived in Stoneybrook long ago before he even dreamed of becoming a star. He used to do a little modeling and stuff like that, and then he was discovered and hit the big time. So now he lives out in L. A. most of the .time, since that's where his work is. But whenever he has a chunk of time off, he and his family come back to Stoneybrook, where they still have a house.

"How long is Derek staying this time?" I asked Charlotte. She seemed to have all the inside information on Derek and his plans.

"Well, his show's on hiatus," she said knowingly. "So I guess he'll be here for a couple of months."

"His show is on what?" I said.

"On hiatus. It's just a break," said Becca. "Like, they've already made all the shows for this season, so now they have some time off until they start again."

"How do you know so much about this stuff?" I asked. I was amazed at how sophisticated they sounded, for eight-year-olds.

"Derek told Nicky all about it," said Charlotte. "And Nicky told us."

Nicky is Nicky Pike, who is Derek's best friend in Stoneybrook. "So, did Nicky tell you when Derek will be here?" I asked.

"Today!" cried Charlotte. "He's coming today!" She sounded like an eight-year-old again.

"But we probably won't see him for a few days," added Becca. "He might not start school until Monday."

"I don't know if I can stand it," said Charlotte, dramatically. "It's only Wednesday. How can I wait five whole days to see him?"

"Well, you've already waited for about five months," pointed out Becca. "I think you'll make it." She sounded very mature. Then she started to giggle. "But I don't know if I will! I can't wait to see him. Maybe this time he got Lament's autograph for me!"

The girls started to talk excitedly about what they would wear to school on Monday, and what they would say to Derek when they saw him. I listened for a bit, and then I tuned out. Poor Derek. When he's in Stoneybrook, what he wants most of all is to be treated like a regular kid, not like a star. He likes to do all the things other eight-year-old boys do. He's a good big brother to his little brother, Todd. And, while he sometimes has trouble readjusting to "normal" life, he's basically just a smart, friendly guy. I hoped the other kids would give him room to be himself, instead of treating him like someone famous. I can understand why he hates that.

I understand a lot about kids. I kind of pride myself on that. It's not necessarily because I have a natural talent for it, though — it's just because I'm around kids a lot. I baby-sit all the time, and it's something I love to do. In fact, I'm in this club — the Baby-sitters Club or BSC. It's a group of girls — and one boy — who love to baby-sit and who have gotten together and made kind of a business of it. I'll explain more about the club later.

Understanding kids may not be one of my natural talents, but I do have some of those. Mainly what I'm talented at is art. I love all kinds of art, and without being egotistical about it, I have to say I'm a pretty good artist.

Not that I love everything I do. I've drawn plenty of pictures only to rip them up, and started and never finished a bunch of sculptures. But I've also done some things I'm proud of, and things other people seem to like a lot.

I'm always working on some project. Sometimes it's handmade jewelry, which I love to wear or give as gifts. Sometimes it's a sculpture or a collage. Other times it's a series of paintings, like the ones I did of junk food. Yes, junk food. That's one of my other loves. I could eat Twinkies and Doritos all day long. I think my paintings really showed how much I love the stuff, too, because the objects in the paintings — a Chunky bar, a pack of Lifesavers—look beautiful. They're kind of like portraits. Portraits of loved ones.

Pretty silly, right? Oh well, maybe you have to see them to understand. Anyway, I do love art. And junk food. What else? Well, I love to read mysteries — especially Nancy Drew stories. My parents don't approve because they think those books'll rot my brain. (They don't approve of junk food, because they think it'll rot my teeth!) But I keep on reading — and eating — what I like. I just keep the books and food hidden, and figure what my parents don't know won't hurt them.

Except for their lack of taste in food and

reading material, my parents are basically great people. They are Japanese-American like me. And although they can be strict, they are also fair. They do their best to treat me and my older sister equally, even though sometimes I think Janine (that's my sister) gets more attention than I do. The fact is, she earns attention by doing exceptional things, like getting all A pluses, for example, or by being invited to join this program in which she attends college classes even though she's still in high school.

Janine's a genius. I mean it. She's not just smart or intelligent. She's a super-brain. Sometimes I wonder how we're even in the same family. I mean, I'm not dumb, but I don't do well in school. I never have, and I probably never will. And you know what? I don't really care. I mean, sure I wish I were a better student, but being a good artist means more to me. I know my parents think I should "apply" myself, since my teachers say that that's all I need to do to get better grades. But I guess things like spelling and math just aren't that important to me.

Janine sometimes teases me and tells me I'm "shallow" because I'm interested in hairstyles and cool clothes. I'll admit that I love to wear trendy stuff — in fact, sometimes I'm even the one to invent trends in my school. And I do

love to try all kinds of wild things with my hair, which is long and black and straight. I even love to experiment with makeup. I like to try accentuating certain features. But I don't think that makes me shallow. These things are part of my artistic nature. I see my body as a blank canvas, and I can put anything I want onto that canvas, depending on my mood. Does that make any sense?