Ann Martin - Hello, Mallory

I must have looked awful, because Mary Anne changed the subject then. "Guess what," she said brightly. "A family moved into Sta-cey's old house."

"Really?" asked Claudia with interest.

Mary Anne nodded. "I passed by when the moving van was unloading."

"I can't imagine anybody but Stacey living in that house," said Claudia.

"I can't, either," said Mary Anne. "I didn't see them, only the moving men, but my dad told me it's a black family."

A black family! Maybe it was Jessica Ram-sey's. That would be interesting. But I was too nervous to feel excited about it. All 1 could think of was the test. A baby-sitting test. Would I pass it? Or would I blow my chances with the club forever?

Chapter 4.

The only good thing about taking the Babysitters Club test the next afternoon was that I didn't have to worry about what to wear to it. I threw on a pair of jeans, a sweat shirt that said I'D RATHER BE WRITING MY NOVEL, and a pair of sneakers. I figured I wouldn't look any better or worse than Kristy, and she was the president.

All day I was nervous, nervous, nervous. What kind of test would they give me? A real-life test like when you have to jump into a swimming pool and pull someone to the side? A written test? Or would they just sit there and ask me questions? I might do well on a written test, but I wasn't sure about the other kinds. I thought I'd be awfully scared. And who was going to give me the test? Kristy had said to go to club headquarters, which was Claudia's room. Would just Kristy and Claudia

be there? Would everybody be there? Ooh, I am such a worry wart.

I felt like a baby.

I was so keyed up that I left my house forty-five minutes before test-time, and it only takes ten minutes to walk to the Kishis'. Halfway there, I realized what I could do with the extra thirty-five minutes. I could walk by Stacey McGill's old house and look for the new family.

So I did.

And guess what. Sitting right on Stacey's front stoop was Jessica Ramsey with a younger girl and a baby boy!

Jessica saw me at the same time I saw her. We smiled. Then we waved. I hesitated. At last I walked across the lawn to the stoop.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Mallory Pike. . . . You probably know that. I mean, but I wasn't sure. You must have met an awful lot of kids yesterday and today."

"1 have. But I remember your name."

"I remember yours, too. Jessica. Jessica Ramsey."

"Right." Jessica grinned. "Call me Jessi, though."

"Okay. Hi, Jessi."

We laughed.

"I'm Becca," spoke up the other girl. Becca

looked like she was eight or nine years old. She was a younger version of Jessi, with those long legs and long eyelashes. "My real name is Rebecca, though," she told me. "See? Mama took the 'ca' off the end of Jessica's name and the 'Re' off the beginning of my name, and that's where our nicknames came from."

"Oh," I said. "I like that. I don't have a nickname. Not a real one, anyway. But sometimes people call me 'Mal.' " I looked at the little boy in Jessi's lap. He was chewing on a red plastic ring. "Who's that?" I asked.

Jessi turned the baby around so he was facing me. "This," she said fondly, "is Squirt. He's our brother."

"Squirt!" I couldn't help exclaiming.

"Well, his real name is John Philip Ramsey, Junior, but that seemed much too long for a kid. Besides, he was only five pounds, eight ounces when he was born."

"Oh," I said, understanding. "I get it. A little squirt."

"Right/' agreed Becca. "You're smart."

"How old is Squirt?" I asked.

Squirt looked up at me with gigantic brown eyes and drooled down his shirt.

"Fourteen months," Becca replied, even though I'd asked Jessi.

Jessi wiped Squirt's chin.

"And I'm eight and a half," Becca went on. "How old are you?"

"Eleven," I said. "Same as your sister." I checked my watch. Plenty of time before 1 had to take that dumb baby-sitting test.

Jessi moved over and I sat next to her and Squirt on the stoop, while Becca found a hula hoop and began whirling it around her waist and knees.

"When did you move in?" I asked Jessi.

"Saturday," she replied. "Three days ago. Feels like three years. The house is a huge mess." She paused. "Do you like jokes?"

"Sure," I replied.

"Okay. Listen to this one. A farmer is driving down a highway and he sees a truck by the side of the road. It's got a flat tire, and the driver, who is holding a penguin, looks really upset, so the farmer pulls up and says 'Can I help you?' And the driver says, 'Oh, yes, please. I'm taking this penguin to the zoo. It's right down the road. Could you take him there for me while I wait for the tow truck?' The farmer says, 'Sure/ takes the penguin, and drives off. The next day the driver is going down a street and he sees the farmer with the penguin. 'What are you doing?' he cries. 'You were supposed to take that penguin to the

zoo!' The farmer smiles. 'I did,' he answers, 'and he had so much fun that today I'm taking him to the circus!' "

I burst out laughing and so did Squirt.

"He didn't understand that, did he?" I asked, amazed.

"Nah," replied Jessi. "He just laughs when other people do. By the way, I think he likes you/Squirt was reaching out to me with chubby hands.

"Can I hold him?" I asked.

" 'Course." Jessi plopped Squirt in my lap, and he smiled and proudly blew spit bubbles. When he started to get wiggly, I set him on the lawn and Becca held his hands while he walked unsteadily around the yard.

"He's so close," said Jessi, watching her brother. "He'll be walking alone any day now."

Jessi's smile faded and she sat thoughtfully for awhile.

"So," I said. "Where'd you move from?"

"New Jersey. Oakley, New Jersey. My dad was offered a really great job here in Connecticut. That's how come we moved. I wish we were still in Oakley, though."

I nodded. "It must be hard to have to make new friends."

"Plus, we left all our relatives behind."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah. Right on our street lived my grandma and grandpa, three aunts, two uncles, and my cousins Kara, Keisha, Sandy, Molly, Raun, Bill, and Isaac. Keisha was my cousin and my best friend. We even have the same birthday. September thirteenth. Hey, do you know how many stupids it takes to change a lightbulb?"

"No. How many?"

"Three. One to hold the lightbulb and two to turn his legs."

I burst out laughing again, and Squirt and Becca joined me.

"That is my most favorite joke," Becca informed me. "Jessi knows more jokes than anyone in the world."

"Well, not that many," said Jessi modestly.

"Do you want to be a comedienne or something when you grow up?" I asked.

"Oh, no way!" cried Jessi. "I'm going to be a ballet dancer."

I knew it. Those long legs of hers were a dead giveaway.

"I just went on toe," Jessi added proudly. "I've been dancing since I was four. You want to see my toe shoes?"

"Sure," I replied. I hesitated. "What are toe shoes?"

Jessi stood up. "Come on inside. I'll show

you. You can meet my mother, too. She'll be really happy to see you."

"She will?"

"Well, yeah. The neighbors haven't exactly dropped by to introduce themselves. We haven't met anybody around here yet."

"Oh. ..." I wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Be warned," added Jessi as she opened the front door. "The house really is a mess. It looks like the movers threw everything in the windows and then left in a hurry."

I giggled. I like people who can make me laugh.

"Mama?" Jessi called.

I followed her inside. I'd only been in Sta-cey's house a few times. Still, it was weird to see someone else's furniture in it. And Jessi wasn't kidding. The place did look like the movers had thrown everything in the windows and left in a hurry.

"I'm in the dining room," a voice answered Jessi.