Ann Martin: Jessi And The Jewel Thieves

Jessi And The Jewel Thieves

Ann M. Martin

Chapter 1.

"New York,New York," I sang, really belting out the words. "These little-town blues, are melting away," I went on as I opened my closet. I glanced inside, trying to decide which of my clothes might possibly pass for cool in the big city. After a minute, I shrugged. My clothes don't even pass for cool in my little town. There was no way any New Yorkers were going to mistake me for a fashion model.

I couldn't believe I was actually going to spend another weekend in the Big Apple. Me, Jessi Ramsey, an eleven-year-old in the sixth grade atStoneybrookMiddle School. I was going to be on my own in the most exciting city in the world!

Well, not on my own, exactly. I'd be staying with my friend Stacey McGill, who was going to be visiting her father in hisManhattanapartment. Stacey's parents are divorced, and she lives with her mother here in Stoneybrook,

Connecticut, which is the little town I was just referring to. But Stace’s dad still lives inNew York, where Stacey grew up. She visits him fairly often, and this time I was going along.

But I wasn't going to be spending all my time with Stacey. The reason I was going was so that I could attend a ballet at Juilliard. What's Juilliard? Only one of the best music and dance schools in the world, that’s all. And why was I going to a performance there? Well, because this boy I know named Quint Walter was going to be dancing in it, and he'd invited me to come and see him perform.

Ballet is my passion in life. I go to a special ballet school inStamford, which is a city near Stoneybrook. I have been studying ballet for years now, and while I may not be at the Juilliard level, I'd have to say that I'm pretty good. I mean, I don't want to sound self-centered, but I have worked really hard at my dancing, and the work has paid off. I have actually danced the lead role in several big performances.

Still, ballet isn't the only thing in my life. I like to do a lot of things, for example: I like to be with my family, which consists of my baby brother Squirt, my eight-year-old sister Becca, my parents, and Aunt Cecelia. Oh, and a hamster named Misty. I also love to read, especially horse stories, and I like to spend

time with my best friend Mallory Pike, who also loves horse stories. Another of my favorite activities is baby-sitting. I sit for my brother and sister, of course, but I also sit for a lot of kids who live nearby. In fact, I belong to a group called the Baby-sitters Club, and the other members of that club are my good friends. Stacey is a member, and so is Mallory.

I have been toNew Yorkbefore, along with the other members of the BSC (that’s what we call our club). In fact, I met Quint during one of those trips. I had gone toLincolnCenterto see the New York City Ballet danceSwanLake, and the performance was totally amazing. And then, to top it off, I found myself sitting next to this incredibly cute boy. He turned out to be a dancer, too, and we hit it off right away. In fact, Quint was the first boy I ever kissed! (Not that I kissed him that day. I got to know him a little better, first.)

I was feeling kind of nervous about seeing Quint this time around. We have had what you might call a long-distance romance, and it has been fun, but lately I've been wondering if it might be better for us to just be friends. It isn't easy having a relationship with someone you see only once in a while. For example, I'm never sure how "true" to Quint I'm supposed to be. I have gone to two dances with

this seventh-grade boy named Curtis Shaller, who I really like. Does that make me a two-timer? Does Quint also go out with other girls down there inNew York? These things have never been clear to me.

"I'm going to have to talk to him about this," I said to myself as I poked through my sweater drawer. "After all, I'm only eleven, and maybe I shouldn't really have a steady boyfriend, much less one who lives so far — "

"Who are you talking to?"

I stopped in mid-sentence and whirled around to see Becca standing in the doorway, giggling at me.

"I'm talking to me, myself, and I," I said, smiling. "That's whom."

"I thought only crazy people did that," she said.

"Well, I guess I'm crazy, then," I said. "What are you up to?"

"I heard you singing before," she said. "That song about Yew Nork."

"I laughed. You meanNew York," I said. "New York,New York!" I sang out. "That one?"

"Right," she said. "Will you teach it to me?"

"Sure. Come on, I'll show you the dance that goes with it, too." I grabbed her and we faced the mirror. We sang and high-kicked our

way through three verses, looking like chorus girls in a Broadway show.

Afterward, we flopped on the bed. "Whew," I said. "That was fun."

"Yeah," said Becca. But she didn't sound too happy.

J glanced over at her. She was chewing on her thumbnail and looking as if she were about to cry. Kids can change their moods so fast!

"What's the matter?" I asked her.

"Nothing," she said, but she was still frowning.

"Come on, Becca, you can tell me," I said. "What's wrong?"

She sighed. "I'm being abandoned by my own family, that's what's wrong," she replied. A tear began to glisten in the corner of her eye. "You're going toNew Yorkthis weekend, and Mom and Dad and Squirt and Aunt Cecelia are all going to that wedding. And I'm going to be left behind, all by myself!" Her lip quivered, and the tear fell. "Nobody loves me," she said, giving a little sniff.

"Oh, Becca, of course we love you," I said, reaching over to give her a hug. "And nobody's abandoning you, or leaving you alone. You're going to be staying with the Pikes." I smiled at her. "You'll have fun there." "Will not," she said, sniffing again.

I could understand why Becca was feeling a little left out. It was true that everyone else in the family was going away that weekend. See, my parents and Aunt Cecelia had been invited to this big family wedding inMassachusetts. But it was the kind of wedding that kids aren't invited to. (Squirt, our baby brother, wasn't invited either, but he was too young for my parents to leave behind. He would spend the day of the wedding at the hotel with a baby-sitter.)

For me, the wedding came at the perfect time. I had been nervous about asking my parents if I could go toNew York, and I had been shocked when they agreed immediately. But the fact was that they were probably just relieved to know that I had somewhere to go that weekend, so that they wouldn't have to figure out what to do with me. Anyway, once I had a place to go, the rest was easy. Mallory's parents had invited Becca to stay at their house. I guess it doesn't make much difference to them if another kid is in the house, since Mallory has seven brothers and sisters!

"But why do I have to stay with the Pikes?" asked Becca, sounding a little whiny. "If I have to be abandoned, I want to stay with Charlotte." Charlotte Johanssen is Becca's best friend.

"Becca," I said, trying to be patient. "Charlotte and her parents are going away this weekend, too. You know that."

"Everybody's going away," she wailed. "Everybody but me. Even Squirt gets to go! It's not fair." She buried her face in my pillow.

"Squirt is only going because he's too little to be away from Mom and Dad," I said, rubbing her back. "And he's not going to the wedding. He's going to stay with a sitter, at the hotel."

Squirt's real name, in case you're wondering, is John Philip Ramsey, Jr. A big name for a baby, right? That's what the nurses thought when he was born. He was the smallest baby in the hospital's nursery, so they nicknamed him Squirt, and the name has stuck. Now he's not such a squirt anymore. He's learning to walk and talk and feed himself, and he's incredibly cute.

Squirt was born in Oakley, New Jersey, which was where Becca and I were also born. We lived there until the beginning of this school year, when my father's company transferred him to a branch office in Stamford. Sometimes I miss Oakley — or at least I miss certain things about it. For one thing, back in Oakley we lived on the same street as my grandparents, two of my uncles, three aunts, and tons of cousins. One of my cousins,