Ann Martin - Kristy Power!

"That's great," murmured Mary Anne.

"Excellent." Claudia didn't look up from her beads.

Stacey was the only one of the three who really sounded psyched. I felt like smacking myself on the head. What a jerk! Of course the other two wouldn't be excited about a party. Mary Anne had just broken up with her boyfriend. And Claudia, well, for one thing, she and Stacey weren't exactly getting along. And Stacey would be sure to bring Jeremy to the party, which wouldn't help. I could see it all now. What was the point of a fabulous party if my friends weren't going to enjoy it?

I sighed.

Oh, well. I was going to go ahead with my plans anyway. My BSC friends weren't the only ones I was going to invite. And with luck, Claudia and Stacey would work out their issues before the party rolled around, and Mary Anne would be that much more used to not being a couple with Logan. The party could still be a success.

I checked Claudia's clock. Five fifty-three. Would the meeting ever end? This had to be one of the longest half hours of my life.

The phone rang two more times, once with a job request from Dr. Johanssen and once with a call from a girl in Claudia's math class who needed that day's homework assignment.

Finally, finally, the clock clicked to six. "Meeting adjourned!" I cried; jumping to my feet. I couldn't wait to leave.

Stacey seemed to feel the same way. " 'Bye!" she said, sprinting for the door.

Mary Anne and I said good-bye to Claudia. She seemed happy to be left with her beads. "Are you still coming over for dinner?" Mary Anne asked me as we left Claudia's house.

I'd almost forgotten that she'd invited nie. "Sure," I said. "I'm looking forward to it." I was, too. It would be nice to spend some time hanging out with Mary Anne. At least there was no awkwardness between us.

But I can't say it was like old times either. It was strange to have dinner at Mary Anne's temporary house, which is next door to Claudia's. For one thing, it's weird to be back on Bradford Court with her, on the street where we both grew up. Also, this house just felt unfamiliar. It's oddly empty, since Mary Anne's family lost so much in the fire. And there are all these boxes around, things they salvaged from the fire but haven't unpacked. The boxes will probably sit there until Mary Anne's family moves into the new house they're creating out of their old barn. The smell of smoke still clings to the boxes. At dinner, Mary Anne's stepmother, Sharon, looked tired and sad, and her dad seemed preoccupied.

After we ate, Mary Anne and I hung out in her room for a little while. We talked about school and about the situation with Stacey and Claudia, but I had a feeling there was something else on her mind. Finally, it came out.

"So, who's Logan's partner for that biography project?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Rachel," I answered.

Mary Anne nodded.

"Does that bother you?" "Why should it?" She raised her eyebrows. "He's a free agent now. He can hang out with anybody he chooses." "He didn't choose," I reminded her. "Ted did." "Oh, right. Anyway, I really don't mind. I know you probably think I'm having second thoughts about breaking up with Logan, but I'm not. It's just weird. Not to talk to him, I mean. We used to talk all the time. Now we probably wouldn't have anything to say to each other anyway. But it still feels weird. And it's strange knowing he'll be talking to somebody else." She didn't have to add that the "somebody else" was a girl we never really liked. I knew it must be hard for her. We talked a little longer and then Watson came by to pick me up.

"You had a phone call," my mom said as soon as I walked into the kitchen. She handed me a slip of paper. "Cary wants you to call him back." A phone number was written underneath his name.

This was not my favorite day.

I really didn't feel like calling him back, but curiosity got the better of me. What did he want, anyway? I dialed the number on the paper. The phone rang twice and then somebody picked up. But he or she didn't say anything. "Hello?" I said tentatively.

"Who's this?" I recognized Cary's voice. I should have known. Who else but Cary Retlin would answer the phone without answering it? "It's Kristy," I said.

"Yes?" "You called me" I said.

"Not this time." I wished I could reach through the phone line and smack him. "Come on, Cary, what do you want?" "A truce." "A what?" "A truce," he repeated. "Look. We don't need a repeat of that gym-class thing. We got in a huge amount of trouble over that. I think we should work together this time. I mean, I know you annoy me to no end, and for some reason I seem to annoy you too. But I think we can reach an agreement, can't we? Just to make Ted happy." I was still bristling from "you annoy me" - in what way could I possibly annoy binii - but I had to admit that Cary's idea was a pretty mature concept. What could I do but agree?

We made plans to interview each other and vari- ous family members. We even talked a little about other sources we could use. Our conversation was surprisingly .. . normal.

After we hung up, I pulled out the fiction list Ted had given us. I wanted to start thinking about which book I would read. The list looked interesting, and I marked several titles to check out further.

Little did I know how much trouble that list was about to cause.

Chapter 4.

Over the weekend, I spent some time at the library looking at books from Ted's list. By Monday morning, I'd narrowed my choices down to two. I was going to read either The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton (everybody I know has already read it and loved it), or The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck, which I've heard is really good but sad. I was hoping to have a moment to talk to Ted before class, to see if he could help me choose which one to read.

I had also made up a list of questions for my first "interview" with Cary. We'd decided to meet after school that afternoon, and I wanted to be ready. Most of my questions were pretty basic. I had realized that I really didn't know much about Cary Retlin. And in a weird way, I was starting to feel interested in learning more.

I was still thinking over my questions as I headed for English class. As I walked through the hall, I noticed clumps of kids talking excitedly and looking upset. I wondered what was up. Had somebody been suspended? Or was it news from outside the school, for instance, something about the space shuttle launch? I didn't have time to stop and find out, not if I was going to talk to Ted before class.

I hurried along and arrived a few minutes before the bell rang. But Ted wasn't sitting alone at his desk as I'd hoped. Instead, he sat on the edge of it, surrounded by a group of students. The kids looked as upset as the ones out in the hall - and Ted looked even worse. What was happening? I approached the group, but I couldn't tell what they were talking about. I heard, "It's not fair" and "How can they do that?" but nothing that told me what was going on.

Finally, Ted stood up. He looked tired and sad, and I couldn't begin to imagine what was wrong. "You kids had better head to your next class," he said. "Go on, now. We'll talk some more another time." The crowd broke up. One girl looked as if she were about to cry. "What is it?" I asked her. She just shook her head.

By then other kids from my class were drifting in. There was a buzz of conversation. Everybody knew something was wrong.

"Okay, folks," Ted's voice rose above the noise. "Let's all take a seat. I have a feeling there are lots of rumors floating around. Maybe I can clear things up a bit." "So it's true?" Jeremy asked.

Ted held up his hands. "Hold on," he said. "Let's just wait until everybody's here and seated. Then I'll try to explain." Just then, Cary came in the door and headed for Ted. He stuck out his hand for a shake. "I'm behind you, man," I heard him say.