Ann Martin - Dawn's Big Date

Dawn's Big Date

Ann M. Martin

Chapter 1.

"Oh, no!" cried Mary Anne Spier. "Please tell me you're not going to make that." She was staring down at the health food cookbook I held in my lap. Her eyes were wide with horror. "Dawn, I really don't think anyone will want to eat tofu apple nut loaf at this party," she added.

"Okay," I said, flipping through the pages. "We could try this one. Soybean pie."

Mary Anne sighed deeply. "Soybeans in a pie? I bet there's not even a teaspoon of sugar in it, either."

"Nope. Honey."

"You and I have totally different taste buds," said Mary Anne, as she plopped down into the chair next to mine. "Let me look at this book. Maybe I can find something in here that isn't completely gross."

It was the day before New Year's Eve, and we were in our kitchen, deciding what to serve

at our New Year's Eve sleepover party. I'm using the word our because Mary Anne and I live together (along with our parents, of course). We're stepsisters. But before we became stepsisters, we were best friends.

Maybe I'd better start at the beginning. First let me introduce myself. My name is Dawn Schafer. I'm originally fromCalifornia . Awhile ago I moved here toStoneybrook,Connecticut , with my mother and my younger brother, Jeff.

Mom came back to Stoneybrook after she and my dad got divorced. Stoneybrook is where she grew up. Pop-pop and Granny (Mom's parents) still live here. I guess that made Mom feel a little more secure, since the divorce was hard on her at first.

Unfortunately, Mom was the only one who was happy about the move. Jeff and I missedCalifornia like crazy. I missed my friends and the warm weather, and everything Cali-fornian.

There was only one thing I liked about Stoneybrook right from the start. Our house. It was built in 1795. Can you imagine? The doorways are low, the stairways are narrow, and the rooms are small and dark. It is the total opposite of the sunny ranch-style house we left back inCalifornia . But for some reason

I loved our new (old) house right away.

And here's the best part. Our house has a secret passage that leads from the barn in the backyard right into my bedroom! It was probably once part of the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves from the South escape to freedom in the North. How's that for total coolness!

Anyway, even though the house was great, I wasn't too sure about the rest of Stoney-brook. Then I met Mary Anne. It didn't take long for us to become best friends.

At first glance, Mary Anne sure didn't look like somebody who would become my best friend. Her brown hair was in pigtails, and she always wore these awful little-kid jumpers. Since she's on the short side, she appeared much younger than a seventh-grader. Which is what she was. (So was I. Now we're both in eighth grade.)

Mary Anne and I must have made a pretty odd couple. There she was, short and kind of kidlike. And there I was, tall, with long (waist-length) white-blonde hair, and my own style of dressing. (My friends call itCalifornia casual.)

Still, despite looks, there was a lot to like about Mary Anne. She's extremely sensitive and a great listener. Talking to her felt very

natural and easy. And as we got to know each other better, two things happened that I would never have expected.

The first thing was that Mary Anne introduced me to the members of the BSC (Babysitters Club). They were Mary Anne's friends (she was mad at them when we first met, but that didn't last long) and now they're my friends, too. They asked me to join the BSC almost right away, and I've been a member ever since. The BSC has become one of the most important things in my life. It's the reason I eventually came to like Stoneybrook. I'll tell you more about it later.

The second unexpected thing was that Mary Anne and I discovered our parents had dated when they were in high school. More than dated — they were in love! We could tell by the romantic stuff they wrote to each other in their yearbooks. (We found my mother's yearbook first. It was still packed in a box, even though we'd been in Stoneybrook awhile. My mother is not exactly the most efficient, organized person in the world, to put it mildly.)

Things didn't work out between my mom and Mary Anne's dad back then. That was mostly because my grandparents didn't think Richard (Mary Anne's father) would ever be successful, since he was from a poor family. (Their words.) They did everything to break

them up, including sending Mom to college in California. Their plan worked — almost. Mom met my dad in California. And Richard also married someone else, who became Mary Anne's mom.

But now, as you know, Mom was single again. And Mary Anne's mother died when Mary Anne was little, so Richard was also single. With a small push from Mary Anne and me, they started dating again. (And dating, and dating, and dating. It seemed as if they dated for ages.) Finally, though, they got married. Now we all live in the old farmhouse together. That's how Mary Anne and I became best friends and stepsisters.

It sounds perfect, doesn't it? Mostly it is. It would be totally perfect if my brother, Jeff, were still here. But he never adjusted to Ston-eybrook the way I did. One day he asked to go back and live with my father inCalifornia . It was very hard on all of us to let him go, but we knew it was for the best. And even though I sometimes go toCalifornia to visit, I still miss Jeff.

On that particular day, though, Jeff was here visiting for winter vacation. He'd been a total pest since the second he got off the plane. The only reason we had quiet at that moment was because he'd gone off to visit his friends the Pike triplets. (Truthfully, I didn't mind his pes-

tiness. It felt as if he'd never left.)

Besides Jeff's going toCalifornia , we had a few other problems with the divorce and the remarriage. Mom had to get used to Tigger, Mary Anne's kitten. Mary Anne and I had to get used to sharing a room (which didn't work out, and now we have our own rooms). And then there was the big food issue. That's what we were faced with as we tried to plan our party.

Mom and I eat healthy things like raw vegetables, tofu, and brown rice. The thought of eating red meat makes me want to barf.

Mary Anne and Richard are completely opposite. It seems that they'll eat any old food. (Like hot dogs! Ew, ew. Yick!) When it comes to eating, Mary Anne and Richard don't worry about their health much at all.

"These peanut butter log things might be okay," said Mary Anne doubtfully, as she pointed to a recipe in the book. "Only I wish we could use some normal peanut butter instead of that natural stuff."

"Look," I said, starting to get just a little annoyed. "Why don't you make some snacks your way, and I'll make some my way. Then we'll see whose food gets eaten first."

"Good idea," said Mary Anne with a smile. "I want to have those little hot dogs wrapped

in biscuit dough. And I saw this recipe for individual pepperoni pizzas that you make on English muffins."

"Yuck," I groaned, as I covered my mouth and puffed up my cheeks.

Mary Anne shook her head. "How can you say that? I love those little hot dogs. They're so adorable. What's that cute name they call them? Oh, yeah, pigs-in-a-blanket." She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost three. "We better start writing our shopping lists," she reminded me. "Your mom told us to be ready at three-thirty to go food shopping."

Mom had gone to pick up Jeff at the Pikes'. (It was a Friday, but Mom's company had given them the day off for a long weekend.) "She'll probably be late," I said. "You know how much she likes to chat with Mrs. Pike."

Mary Anne looked worried. "I hope she's not too late. We have to get to our meeting later."

"Ohmigosh!" I cried. The vacation had put me so off schedule that I had almost forgotten it was Friday. We always have BSC meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from5:30 until6:00 .