Ann Martin: Kristy's Mystery Admirer

I looked at Bart seriously. "Well, let's see. Mallory's really happy because she's going out with a guy for the first time. Claudia's doing better in school. But I'm a little worried about Stacey."

"Stacey," repeated Bart. "She's the one with diabetes, right?"

I nodded. "She's never really sick. She just doesn't seem well sometimes, if you know what I mean."

Bart nodded.

"How about you?" I asked. "How's everything?"

"Not bad. Kyle gets on my nerves, but I can handle him." (Kyle is Bart's little brother.) "My parents bug me, though. They hate it when my band practices in the basement."

"You have a band?" I said in amazement.

"Yup."

"What do you play?"

"Guitar. Electric, acoustic, any kind."

"I didn't know that. So have you had any . . . what are they called?"

"Gigs," supplied Bart. "Yeah, a couple. We

could get a lot more, though, if we could find a place to practice. No one wants us in their basement."

"What about a garage?"

"The neighbors complain."

"Oh."

Bart and I talked about his band and music and school until, before I knew it, we had reached my house.

Emily, my adopted sister, was sitting on the front steps with Nannie, my grandmother. She came flying out to meet me and gave me a tight hug around the knees.

"Hi, Emily," I said, picking her up. Then I called, "Hi, Nannie!"

Nannie waved to me.

"Well," said Bart, "I better get going. I told Mom I'd come home right after the game. But, urn, I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Next game," I said.

"Maybe before that," Bart replied, and he walked off, whistling. I stared after him.

Chapter 2.

"Hello, Emily-Boo," I said to my little sister.

I carried her back to Nannie.

"I heard about the game today," said Nannie immediately. "David Michael was so excited, he could hardly stand it."

"Yeah, the Krushers played pretty well today." I turned to Emily. "Maybe someday you'll be a Krusher, too. Do you want to play softball?"

"Yes," replied Emily. (I knew she hadn't understood the question.)

Emily and Nannie and I went inside. Our house is sort of big. Actually, it's a mansion. My stepfather, Watson, is a millionaire. But thank goodness for the big house. When Mom married Watson we moved from our tiny house into his and needed room not just for Watson, my mother, my three brothers, and me, but for Karen and Andrew, and now Emily and Nannie. (Nannie is Mom's mother, my

special grandmother who doesn't act like a grandmother at all. She goes bowling, wears pants, and has tons of friends.)

Anyway, Nannie began making dinner, so I watched Emily. When the phone rang, I shouted, "I'll get it!"

I picked up the phone in the den. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's me, Shannon."

"Hi!"Shannon lives across the street and she's the first friend I made when I moved into this ritzy neighborhood. (Well, we became friends after we stopped hating each other.) We don't see each other much, though, since she goes to Bart's school. She is a member of the Baby-sitters Club (BSC), but she doesn't come to meetings. (More about that later.)

"How'd the game go?"Shannon wanted to know.

I told her every last detail, and she was almost as excited as I was.

"Maybe I'll come to the next game," she said.

When we got off the phone, I felt happy — and lucky. I have an awfully nice group of friends in the BSC.

Emily came into the den then to watchSesame Street . (She can't tell time, but somehow she always knows when the show is on.) I let Bert and Ernie and Big Bird and Cookie Mon-

ster fade into the background as I thought about my friends.

My best friend is Mary Anne Spier, the secretary of the club. (I am the president.) I used to live next door to her until Mom married Watson. Before I moved to Watson's, Mary Anne and I had grown up together. I lived with my mom and my brothers and my father — until he moved out. But Mary Anne lived with just her father, since her mother died when Mary Anne was really little.

Mr. Spier was very strict, raising Mary Anne on his own. He made up all these rules for her, but as Mary Anne has grown up, he's relaxed a lot. Maybe because her father was so strict, or maybe just because it's her nature, Mary Anne is shy and sensitive and cries easily. (She's just the opposite of me. I'm outgoing and have a big mouth, and it takes a lot to make me cry.) Mary Anne is also romantic and, although she's shy, she's the only one of us to have a steady boyfriend. His name is Logan Bruno, and he's funny and understanding, but I think he and Mary Anne have been having some problems lately.

Believe it or not, Mary Anne and I sort of look alike. We're both short (I'm the shortest in my class), and we both have brown hair and brown eyes. Mary Anne used to dress like

a baby, since she had to do whatever her father said, but now that he's loosened up, Mary Anne's clothes have changed from little-girl to, well, not exactly sophisticated, but maybe almost trendy.

In the last few months Mary Anne has gone through some BIG changes, which I'll fill you in on, but first I have to tell you about Dawn Schafer. Dawn is what we call the club's alternate officer, and she is Mary Anne's other best friend. Dawn, her younger brother, Jeff, and her mom moved to Stoneybrook last year when we were in the middle of seventh grade. They moved because her parents had gotten a divorce, and Mrs. Schafer wanted to come back to the town where she'd been raised. This was fine for her, but not so easy for Dawn and Jeff, who had grown up inCalifornia . Dawn missesCalifornia but likes Stoneybrook okay. With Jeff, the story was different. He never adjusted to his new home, so after several months he moved back toCalifornia to live with his father. Dawn misses that half of her family terribly and visits them as often as she can. However, she now has a new father and a stepsister. And guess who her stepsister is — Mary Anne!

It turned out that Mary Anne's dad and Dawn's mom had been high-school sweet-

hearts, only they'd gone their separate ways after they graduated. Then Mrs. Schafer moved back to Stoneybrook, she and Mr. Spier began seeing each other again, and after a long time, they got married! So now Dawn has a stepfather, Mary Anne has a stepmother, and it's one big, usually happy family. They all (including Tigger, Mary Anne's kitten) live in the colonial farmhouse that Dawn's mom bought when the Schafers moved toConnecticut .

Here are a few more things about Dawn. She's an individualist who stands up for what she believes in, even if no one else believes in it. She's organized (thank goodness, because her mom is exactly the opposite). She and her mom (and Jeff and her dad) love health food and don't eat meat. Dawn is gorgeous. She has LONG silky blonde hair. Honest, it's so blonde it's nearly white. She has sparkling blue eyes and she dresses like the individual she is. She wears what she wants to wear. My other friends and I think of it as "Californiacasual." Dawn has two holes pierced in each ear. (Mary Anne and I will never get our ears pierced.)

The vice-president of the club is Claudia Kishi. When Mary Anne and I were still in our old neighborhood onBradford Court , we

lived across the street irom Claudia. So she grew up with us, too. Claudia lives with her parents and her older sister,_ Janine, who is a genius. It's true. Janine is only in high school, but she gets to take courses at the local college. This is a tragedy where Claudia is concerned. See, the thing about Claud is that she's smart, but she doesn't apply herself, as her teachers are always pointing out. Claud would much rather read a good Nancy Drew book (she's hooked) or work on her art. Usually her art takes priority. (That means that it's more important.) And no wonder. Claudia is a fantastic artist. Her work is incredibly distant. (That's a word my friends and I made up to mean supercool.) Claud can sculpt, paint, draw, make collages, you name it. She even makes her own jewelry.