Ann Martin - Jessi's Gold Medal

Dawn is our alternate officer, which means she takes over whenever anyone else is absent. For a while Stacey McGill moved to New York City, and Dawn took over Stacey's job as treasurer. So the club was minus one member, but calls were pouring in. So guess who got to join? Mallory and I! (We weren't in the original group.) Then Stacey ended up returning to Stoneybrook, and Dawn gave her back her job (gladly), but Mal and I remained members.

Stacey is originally from New York City, by the way, and she knows her way around there

like the back of her hand. (Isn't that a weird saying? Do people really know the backs of their hands?) Now her dad lives there, while her mom lives in Stoneybrook (they're divorced). I think NYC is the coolest place in the world. Once, when Stacey went there to visit her dad, a bunch of us went along. I saw some incredible dancers there — including a guy I like, named Quint. If I do decide to become a pro, that's where I'm going to live.

Like Dawn, Stacey has long, blonde hair. Like Claudia, she really knows how to dress. But Stace is definitely her own person — sophisticated, smart, outgoing, funny, and pretty wild about boys. She's also a diabetic, which means her body can't control the level of sugar in her blood. What does that mean? All I know is that she can't eat sugar, and she has to give herself injections of something called insulin. Can you imagine? I'd probably pass out if I had to do that.

One other thing about Stace. She's a math genius. That's how she became treasurer. I think that's the worst job. Every Monday she has to collect dues from us. (Actually, paying the dues is the worst part.) She puts the money In our treasury. Then she pays Charlie Thomas for driving Kristy, and Claudia for part of her phone bill. And she figures out if we have any more expenses, like replacing

Kid-Kit things when they get used up. If anything is left over, we sometimes use it for a pizza party or some other fun thing.

I mentioned before that there are two associate BSC members. One of them is Logan Bruno (yes, Mary Anne's boyfriend), and the other is Shannon Kilbourne. But there's another regular member of the BSC, and I saved her for last.

She's Mallory Pike, my best friend. Mal is really sweet and smart, and she loves kids. (If she didn't love kids, she'd be in trouble, because she has seven younger brothers and sisters!) On the outside, we're very different. She's white and she has red hair, glasses, and braces. Otherwise, we have a lot in common. We're both junior officers of the BSC, since we're two years younger than the other members. (That means we get to do everything except late-night sitting jobs.) We're both the oldest in our families, but even so, sometimes our parents treat us like babies. For instance, Mama and Daddy wouldn't dream of letting me dress in wild clothes like Claudia does, or double-pierce my ears like Dawn. They let me pierce my ears (single), but I practically had to beg for years. Same with Mal and her parents, only it's worse. Her parents won't let her get contacts, and she hates wearing glasses.

Let's see, what else . . . oh, we both love

reading, especially horse stories. And we're both good at something creative. With me if s dancing, with Mal it's writing and drawing. You should read her stories. I think they're better than some real books. I know she's going to be a famous children's book author and illustrator someday.

Back to the meeting. We were stuffing ourselves with malt balls (except for Dawn and Stacey, who were eating rice cakes). The phone wasn't ringing, so all you could hear was crunching.

And the scratching of Claudia's charcoal pencil. She was drawing this wild design with five circles in the middle. The circles were arranged just like the Olympics symbol.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I'm trying to come up with a logo for the SMS Sports Festival," Claudia replied. "Mrs. Rosenaur asked me to do it." (Mrs. Rosenaur is one of the gym teachers.)

SMS, by the way, stands for Stoneybrook Middle School (our school). The Sports Festival is an annual event that includes mostly track and swimming. There had been an announcement about it at school that day.

"Ew," Mary Anne mumbled.

"Thanks a lot," Claudia said, putting her hands on her hips.

Mary Anne actually blushed. "Oh, I didn't

mean the design/' Mary Anne said with a giggle. "I meant Mrs. Rosenaur. I hate gym."

"But you're going to sign up for the festival, aren't you?" Dawn said.

"No way," Mary Anne replied. "That's even worse than gym class. It's a competition, and I'm terrible at sports."

"Yeah, but the festival is just for fun," Kristy said. "I mean, there are prizes, but I think the idea is just to participate and have a good time."

Claudia looked up from her pad. "I might enter an event, if it's not too embarrassing."

"Well, I'm definitely going to enter one of the track events," Kristy said. "I'm not sure which yet."

"I'm going to do something different," Dawn said. "Like shot put or pole vault or something."

Stacey nodded. "I'm going to enter one of the swimming events."

"Sounds like fun," I said, thinking about the Community Center and my upcoming summer at the pool. "Maybe I'll enter a swimming event, too."

Mal just kind of sat there, looking glum. Sports have never been her strong point. I could see the festival was about the last thing in the world she wanted to talk about.

"Ooooh!" Kristy suddenly blurted out. "I

forgot to tell you guys what happened after lunch today!"

"What?" we asked.

Kristy was practically jumping out of her seat. "After the announcement, Alan Gray and his friends were talking about the Sports Festival. Then Alan started to act jerky, as usual — and then he just, like, announced that he could beat me in a race anytime!"

(I should explain that Alan Gray is the most immature guy in the whole school. He's in eighth grade but acts like his brain has been on hold since second grade. He also, unfortunately, has a crush on Kristy.)

"So what did you do?" Stacey asked.

Kristy smiled proudly. "I took up the challenge — and you guys are going to be there!"

"All rightl" Dawn said.

That was when the phone rang for the first time.

"Hello, Baby-sitters Club," Claudia said.

The "club" part of the meeting had officially ended, and the "baby-sitter" part had begun.

Chapter 3.

Isn't it funny how when you start thinking about something completely new, all of a sudden it comes up everywhere?

Take swimming, for instance. I'd never really thought much about it before. I mean, I knew how to swim, more or less. Daddy and Mama had taught me the breast stroke and the dog paddle at the Jersey shore when I was about eight. But that was it.

Then I had my brainstorm about buying a pool, and suddenly swimming started to take over my life. My family was joining the Community Center, I was thinking of taking lessons, and I was getting all psyched about swimming events in the SMS Sports Festival.

And then there was gym class.

It was Thursday, and the hot weather hadn't let up a bit. Mal and I were sitting on the gymnasium bleachers, chatting. Mal's sort of like Mary Anne, not into gym at all. It's not

that she's a bad athlete. She just feels very self-conscious. I think she's most comfortable when she's at a desk with a pad and pencils.

Anyway, there we were, when Ms. Walden bounced out of her office with her clipboard and called out, "Okay, who's not here?"

"I'm not!" Maya Condos answered. That was about the hundredth time someone had made that joke this year, but we laughed anyway.

Ms. Walden chuckled and took attendance. Then she looked up and said, "Well, I have a surprise for you girls. Today is your last regular gym class."

We all shrieked so loudly, the sound echoed off the ceiling.