Ann Martin: Kristy And The Snobs

Louie followed David Michael and me down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Mom," I said, "Louie's limping," but already his limp seemed less noticeable.

"I guess so," Mom said slowly, watching him. "It's hard to tell. We'll keep our eyes on him."

As soon as breakfast was over, things became hectic. Charlie and Sam got in the station wagon and left for the high school. Mom and Watson drove off, in separate cars, to their jobs. And David Michael and I waited at the end of the drive for our school buses. It was only7:45 , but I felt like I'd been up forever.

David Michael's bus was right on time. He climbed on and waved good-bye to me from a window in the very back. He loves to sit in the backseat. My bus should have been just behind David Michael's, but it wasn't. By7:55 ,

it was later than it had ever been. It better hurry, I thought. Homeroom starts at8:30 . Sharp.

For awhile I worried about what to do if the bus didn't come at all. Call Stacey's house? Stacey's mom was one of the few I knew who didn't work and might be at home. Then I wondered how long I should wait before I called anybody.

Before I reached any decisions, something interesting happened. The front door of a house across the street opened and a girl about my age stepped out. She was carrying a knapsack, and wearing a blue plaid jumper over a white short-sleeved blouse. She walked down her driveway and stood across the street from me. She must have been waiting for a bus, too, but not mine. I was the only girl in this neighborhood who got picked up by the bus toStoneybrookMiddle School .

The girl and I eyed each other, but didn't say anything.

A few minutes later, three other girls joined the first one. They were all wearing the exact same outfit - a private-school uniform. They were slender, three of them had blonde hair, and they were wearing makeup and stockings. They looked sleek, sophisticated, and self-con-

fident. They stood in a huddle, whispering and giggling. Every now and then one of them would glance over at me.

Where, oh, where was my bus?

I tried not to look at the girls. I pretended the cover of my notebook was absolutely fascinating.

But the girls would not allow me to ignore them. One of the blondes, who wore her hair in a cascade of thick curls, called to me, "You're Mr. Brewer's new kid, aren't you?"

"I'm one of them," I replied warily.

"Are you the one who's been sending those fliers around? For some baby-sitting club?"

"Yeah," I said. (Every now and then our club tries to find new people to baby-sit for, so we send around advertisements. We'd put one in every box in my new neighborhood not long ago.)

"What does your little club do?" asked another blonde.

"What do you think?" I replied testily. "We baby-sit."

"How cute," said the blonde with the curls.

The others giggled.

"Nice outfit," called the one non-blonde, putting her hands on her hips.

I blushed. Too bad I'd chosen the jeans with the hole in the knee that day.

10 .

But if there's one thing to be said about me, it's that I have a big mouth. I always have. I'm better about controlling it than I used to be, but I'm not afraid to use it. So I put my hands on my hips and said, "Your outfits are nice, too. You look like clones. Snob clones."

Lucidly, just at that moment, my bus finally pulled up. I chose a seat on the side of the bus facing the girls. I lowered my window. "Good-bye, snobs," I shouted.

" 'Bye, jerk-face," the curly-haired blonde replied.

I stuck my tongue out at her, and then the bus turned a corner and they were gone from sight.

Chapter 2.

"Thanks, Charlie! See you later! 'Bye!" I slammed the car door.

Charlie backed down the Kishis' driveway as I ran to their front door and rang the bell. It was time for our Monday afternoon meeting of the Baby-sitters Club.

Janine Kishi, Claudia's older sister, answered the door. Janine has never been one of my favorite people, but lately she's seemed a little better than usual. The thing about Janine is that she's so smart. She's always correcting everybody.

But that day, all she said was, "Come on in. Claudia's upstairs. Dawn and Mary Anne are there, too."

"Thank you," I replied politely. But I didn't go straight upstairs. I stopped in the kitchen to say hello to Mimi, Claudia's grandmother. Mimi had a stroke over the summer, but she's

getting much better. She can't use her right hand, so she's learning to do things one-handed. When I looked in on her, she was stirring something at the stove.

"Hi, Mimi," I greeted her.

"Kristy. Hello. How nice to see." Mimi's native language is Japanese, and her speech was affected by the stroke, so she has a little trouble speaking. "How things in your new neighborhood?"

"Okay, I guess. I don't know that many people." For some reason, I was embarrassed to tell her what had happened at the bus stop that morning.

"You will get to know new people," Mimi told me confidently. "That I am sure."

"Thanks," I said and ran upstairs. On the way I heard the doorbell ring. It must have been Stacey. Good. She was right on time. The five of us could begin our meeting.

"Hi, you guys!" I called as I entered Claudia's room.

"Hi!" Claudia, Dawn, and Mary Anne were lying on the floor, looking through our club notebook. When Stacey came in behind me, the five of us scrambled for places to sit. Claudia dove for the bed, followed by Stacey. Dawn and Mary Anne remained on the floor, and I

settled myself in the director's chair, put on my visor, and stuck a pencil behind one ear. I always get the director's chair.

I am the president.

I looked at the other members of the Babysitters Club: Claudia Kishi, Mary Anne Spier, Stacey McGill, and Dawn Schafer. All present. I guess I should introduce them. But first I should tell you how our club works. We hold meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from five-thirty until six, and our clients know they can reach us at Claudia's house then. They call when they need sitters, and one of us signs up for the job. Simple. Our clients like the fact that they're pretty much guaranteed a sitter when they call, and we like all the jobs we get. Of course, we have an awful lot of clients now (we've been in business for a year), and sometimes we're so busy that none of us is able to take on a job. Then we call Logan Bruno.Logan is our associate member, sort of our safety. He doesn't come to meetings, but he likes to baby-sit. He's also Mary Anne's boyfriend.

The club officers are our vice-president, Claudia; our secretary, Mary Anne; our treasurer, Stacey; and our alternate officer, Dawn. Claudia was chosen as vice-president since she has her own personal telephone and phone

number. Because of that, we decided to hold our meetings in her room. Claudia works hard for the club, since she has to take a lot of job calls that come in while we're not having meetings. Here are the essentials about Claudia: Likes - art, mysteries, baby-sitting, boys. Dislikes - school. Looks - beautiful, Japanese, exotic. Dress - very trendy and cool, often outrageous. Personality - outgoing, sometimes feels inferior to Janine. (Who wouldn't?)

Mary Anne, our secretary, is my best friend. Before I moved to Watson's we lived next door to each other for years and years. We were babies, kids, and almost teenagers together. Right now, Mary Anne is changing. I think she's growing up a little faster than I am. And she has another best friend (Dawn). We're alike in a lot of ways and different in a lot of ways. For instance, my likes - sports, baby-sitting, TV. Mary Anne's likes - baby-sitting, movie stars, animals. My dislikes - you already know them. Mary Anne's dislikes - crowds of people, being the center of attention. Looks - we're both small for our age, and we both have brown eyes and medium-length brown hair. Dress - I couldn't care less. Mary Anne is just beginning to care, but she needs a lot of help from Claudia and Stacey. My personality -