Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 123

"I'm supposed to baby-sit for Bill, Melody, and Skylar on Sunday afternoon," Mary Anne put in.

"Maybe what they need is something that forces them to work together," Jessi suggested.

The rest of us nodded in agreement. But what? I wondered.

"We have until Sunday to come up with something. We'll all work on it and call you if we have any suggestions," Stacey said to Mary Anne.

"Great," she replied, sounding relieved.

I looked around at my friends, then cleared my throat. "How would you guys like to come to a party?" I asked.

"A party? Where?" asked Stacey.

"For what?" asked Jessi.

"What kind of party?" said Abby.

"Who'll be there?" Mal wanted to know. Everyone but her had sat up a little straighter and looked a little brighter when I asked the question.

"Right here, Saturday night, starting at seven and lasting until nine-thirty or so. Remember when I was trying to think of a way that you guys could get to know my seventh-grade friends a little better? That's what it's for." "Sounds like fun," said Stacey.

"I've already talked to Shira, Joanna, and Jeannie. And Josh," I added. "They've all said they'll be here. I was waiting for the meeting to invite you guys. Do you think you'll be able to come?" "Logan and I were planning to watch a video on Saturday night at my house," said Mary Anne. "Could he come too? I mean, you don't want Josh to be the only boy." "That's a good idea. Do you want to call him or should I?" "I'll talk to him tonight," said Mary Anne.

"Have you told Shannon about the party?" asked Kristy.

"I'll call her." I picked up the list I'd been working on ever since Janine had said yes, and I added call Shannon after rent a video and order pizza.

"What about Anna?" Abby asked.

"Sure. Ask her," I said. "I'm leaving the asking up to you guys." This would bring the total number of people to what? Ten or eleven? That was still a small group.

At six, everyone except Mary Anne and Stacey left. "Your parents agreed to let you have a party when they're out of town?" Stacey asked.

"They didn't say I couldn't, and Janine said it was okay," I replied.

"Janine said what was okay?" My sister stuck her head inside the doorway.

"That I could have a party tomorrow night," I said.

"I thought it sounded like fun." Janine stepped inside the room and sat down in the director's chair. "Don't you guys?" Mary Anne and Stacey nodded.

"I'm thinking about the food. What do you like to eat? I know Claudia will say chocolate, but what about everybody else?" Janine asked.

"I thought we'd have pizza," I reminded her.

"We can have pizza too, but what about dessert?" Janine said.

"You seem to have things pretty much under control," Stacey said, slipping her arms into her denim jacket and grabbing her backpack.

Mary Anne stood up too.

"But I could use help planning games. I wouldn't usually have games, but since the whole idea is for people to get acquainted, I thought games would be a way to break the ice," I said. I didn't want Stacey and Mary Anne to leave. They kept glancing at Janine, as if waiting for her to leave first. But Janine seemed to be glued to the chair.

"Games?" she mused. "I could develop a trivia game, perhaps. Something challenging but not too challenging." "I think I may have enough games after all," I said quickly.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Stacey said to me. "Casual?" "Definitely." "And I'll invite Logan," said Mary Anne.

"Thanks. See you later." As Mary Anne and Stacey walked out of the room, the telephone rang. Janine and I reached for it at the same time, but she pulled back.

"Hi, Claudia. It's Peaches," my aunt said. "How are things going?" "Good." "Are you eating dinner?" "Not yet. The BSC meeting just ended." "BSC meeting? Even with your parents gone? Oh, well. I'm sure they thought of that before they left. Janine was home, wasn't she?" "Yes, Janine was home." I looked at my sister and rolled my eyes. What had happened to my fun-loving aunt Peaches?

"Russ and I thought the two of you might like to join us tomorrow evening for dinner," Peaches continued.

"Dinner? Tomorrow? Saturday?" I stammered. "Urn..." "Claudia, ask Janine how she feels about coming over," Peaches said.

"It sounds like fun, but," I paused, "Janine and I were planning something . . . special. A sister thing." Janine's head snapped up and she smiled at me, nodding and giving me a thumbs-up.

"You and Janine? A special sister thing?" I could hear the disbelief in her voice. Peaches and Mom are as different as Janine and I are.

"That's right. Me and Janine." "That will be nice," said Peaches, sounding doubtful. "Have a good time. And be sure to..." "... call if we need anything," I said, finishing her sentence for her.

"All right. 'Bye." I hung up the phone. "That was Peaches," I told Janine. "She wanted us to come over tomorrow night. I didn't think she needed to know about the party." "I think you're correct. And the special sister thing sounded nice." Janine's eyes gleamed. "I'm feeling very excited about both your party and the special sister thing. What did you have in mind? Perhaps a sister slumber party?" "Maybe," I said, not wanting to commit myself yet. "But Janine, let's concentrate on the party." "Yes, first things first." She sailed out of the room.

I decided not to worry about what she might expect on the sister front. I had a party to plan. I needed to come up with some games. I wanted people to talk to one another, get acquainted. I could see how easy it would be for Josh, Shira, Joanna, and Jeannie to end up on one side of the room and the BSC members on the other - like boys and girls at sixth-grade dances. So how could I make sure everyone mixed?

I had some stickers in my desk. What if everyone received a sticker when he or she arrived and had to match it to a group of others? I found hearts, a page of animal stickers, and some stars. Three groups would be enough. All the hearts could be one team, the animals the second, and the stars the third. But what would each team do? If Janine really wanted to make some special food, she could create a giant cookie for each team to decorate.

Also, I could make up a list of facts about everybody at the party and people could try to match each fact to a person. That would be a start.

I started writing down facts: I talk in my sleep. (Mal) I live in a haunted house. (Mary Anne) Carolyn Keene is my favorite author. (Me) I love those Mets. (Logan) This could be addictive, I thought as I wrote faster. By the time I finished, I had enough facts to keep everyone talking for days.

At dinner, Janine agreed to be in charge of the giant cookies. She suggested that we use some of the grocery money to buy decorations. She also said she'd type the facts (without the answers) on her computer and make copies for everyone the next day.

By the time I finally turned off my light and crawled into bed, I was so tired I thought I'd fall asleep immediately. But I couldn't. I was too excited. I looked at my clock. Only nineteen or so more hours until party time.

Chapter 10.

"Claudia! You're not dressed yet." Janine came into my room wearing a pleated skirt, loafers, and a sweater. She moved toward the bed, then changed direction and lifted a pile of clothes off my desk chair, tossing them onto the bed.

"I'm still deciding," I said. "But at least I'm changing clothes." "I changed," Janine replied, sounding hurt.

It was hard to tell with Janine. She had plenty of clothes, but most of them looked the same to me. Maybe she'd had on a navy skirt earlier and changed to black for this evening. Her sweater had a little bit of red trim and the one she had on earlier in the day had been a solid color. It wasn't a big change. On the other hand, I'd taken out several outfits, tried them on, and decided they weren't quite right for a hostess. I wished I had more time. I could have put together something special. All I had time to do now was choose from what was in the closet. .. and in the dresser ... and on the bed ... plus the few things on the floor.