Ann Martin - Mallory On Strike

"It looks intense," Vanessa said. "When do you have time for fun?"

I looked back at my graph and realized I hadn't drawn in any time for talking on the phone with Jessi, or going to the mall, or even stopping for a Coke. "I don't think I have time for fun," I decided. "This is too important."

Vanessa pointed to the first day on the schedule. "According to this, you're supposed to be doing your homework right now."

I looked at my watch. "You're right. Thanks, Vanessa. Tell the rest of the family not to bother me while I'm working, will you?"

"I think you can tell them yourself."

Vanessa pointed to Claire, who was standing in the doorway. She was holding her finger, which was wrapped in a dinosaur Band-Aid. Behind her stood the triplets with devilish grins on their faces.

"They say all the dinosaurs died," Claire said in a tiny voice. "That's not true, is it?"

A talk with Claire always means trying to find answers to endless questions. It takes a

lot of time and patience — two things I was short of at that moment. But her chin was quivering and her eyes were so full of tears that I couldn't tell her to go away.

"Come here and sit on my lap," I said, patting my knee, "and I'll tell you about the dinosaurs that lived in the past, and the ones that live in our minds now."

Claire smiled triumphantly at her brothers and then marched over to my side.

"Oh, Mal," my mother called from down the hall. A moment later her head appeared in the doorway. "I'm glad I caught you. Would you mind making the dessert for dinner tonight, honey? I have a thousand calls to make for the library board meeting, and I'll never get to it in time." She brushed a strand of hair off her forehead and smiled at me gratefully. "I'd really appreciate it if you did."

Right then I felt the way Claire had looked when she came to my door. All quivery inside. It was clear that I wasn't going to get to my homework before dinner, and I would have to do it during the time slot I had reserved to work on my story. It just wasn't fair. I felt like screaming, "No! I can't! And I won't! Get someone else!"

But I didn't.

"Sure, Mom. What do you want me to make?"

"Chocolate chip cookies!" Claire squealed, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"All right," I murmured forlornly. "Chocolate chip cookies."

Chapter 6.

Peace and quiet. At last!

It was Friday afternoon. I had spent most of the week trying to stick to my writing schedule and not being able to do it. After I said good-bye to Jessi, I went straight home and shut myself in my room.

Nobody — not Vanessa, not Mom and Dad, not even Claire — interrupted me while I worked on my story. Can you believe it? And, boy, did I work! I focused all of my attention on writing, and everything around me seemed to disappear. All the sounds in the house and all my worries about school and family just melted away.

I was on a roll. Five pages straight! I hope this doesn't sound conceited, but they were good pages, too. My story was really starting to come together, and just as I was thinking that I could probably write another five pages, I glanced at the clock. It was 5:30 on the dot.

"Yikes!" I leaped out of my chair. "The BSC. I forgot all about it!"

As I told you, we meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at exactly 5:30. And if anyone is late (as I was about to be), Kristy gets miffed.

As I was putting away my notebook, a funny feeling came over me. My story was very important to me, and if I could just keep working on it, I might be able to finish it in the next couple of days. I really resented having to drop everything to go to the BSC meeting. But I had made a commitment (as my mother always says) to the BSC. And if I didn't go, I would be letting my friends down. But what about my story?

I looked at the clock again. Five thirty-one. The meeting had already started. Right now Kristy and the others were probably wondering what had happened to me. In a minute, Jessi would probably call to see if I was okay and then I'd have to stop writing anyway. I raced down the stairs, grabbed my bike, and pedaled as fast as I could to Claud's house.

"You're ten minutes late!" Kristy declared as I walked into the room. She didn't even ask why. Instead she made a big deal of looking at Claud's digital clock and shaking her head in disgust.

I had intended to apologize to the club, but

Kristy made me angry. So I just kept my mouth shut and slumped down on the floor beside Jessi. She was leaning against Claud's bed with her knees pulled up under her chin.

Jessi gave me one of her "What's going on?" looks, but I still didn't say anything. I was angry at myself for being late, and angry at the BSC for taking me away from my writing. I needed time to sort things out.

Luckily for me, the phone rang and broke the silence in the room. Dawn got to it first.

"Baby-sitters Club. Oh, hello, Mrs. Arnold." We listened as Dawn jotted down the details of the job and then said, "I'll call you right back." She hung up the phone and announced, "Mrs. Arnold needs a sitter for the twins tomorrow morning."

Kristy adjusted her visor and asked, "Who's available?"

Mary Anne tapped her pencil against her chin in thought. "Let's see. Dawn already has that job with the Rodowskys."

Kristy looked at me and said pointedly, "We assigned her the job at the start of the meeting." She didn't add, "Which you missed," but I know that's what she meant.

"And Jessi and Stacey are already committed," Mary Anne continued. "How about Mal?" She smiled at me sympathetically. "You get along really well with the twins."

I didn't even have to hesitate. Saturday morning was out. I had scheduled the whole morning to work on my story.

"Sorry," I said. "I can't."

Jessi cocked her head in surprise. Usually I would have explained why, but I was still feeling crabby about the way Kristy had treated me.

"Okay," Mary Anne said, after a sideways glance at Kristy. "Then how about you, Claud?"

Claudia was trying to open a bag of M&M's with her teeth, without much success. "That'd be fine," she mumbled.

The phone rang two more times, and Mary Anne and Dawn accepted jobs for Saturday night with the Sobaks and the Addisons. I didn't feel bad about that since, as a junior member, I can't really baby-sit at night anyway. Then Mrs. Perkins called, and Jessi took a job on Sunday afternoon.

It wasn't a very fun meeting. Basically, we sat quietly between calls, watching Claud try to open the M&M's. At any other meeting, everybody would have cracked jokes about her being such a junk food addict, but not today. I knew it was my fault, but I couldn't seem to get out of my rotten mood.

Claud finally found a nail file in one of her drawers and gouged a hole in the side of the

bag of candies. "Voila!" she cried. "Treats. Something to cheer us up."

She passed the bag around the room, and everyone except Dawn and Stacey took some. I guess we needed cheering up.

The phone rang again and this time Stacey answered it. "It's the Perkinses. They need a sitter for Monday afternoon."

Mary Anne scanned the list again. "Well, Mal is the only one who hasn't taken a job today," she said. "I think she should have it."

I shook my head once more. "Sorry. I can't."

Kristy threw her hands up in exasperation. "What's going on, Mal? You've just turned down two perfectly good jobs. Don't you want to baby-sit?"

Everyone in the room was staring at me, and I knew it was now or never. I would have to tell them everything.

"Of course I do," I blurted out. "But I just can't take any jobs right now. I don't have time. I've got my homework and all my chores at home, plus my family is starting to drive me crazy."

It was really weird. Once I finally let loose, the words just poured out.