Ann Martin: Baby-Sitters Club 123

Kristy also invented Kid-Kits. Those are cardboard boxes filled with books, hand-me-down toys, and other supplies we sometimes take with us on jobs. We each decorate our own and customize the contents. Mine, for example, has a lot of art materials in it. Kid-Kits are very useful on rainy days, with new clients, and when something new or different is going on in a family.

The one thing that Kristy seldom has a new idea about is her clothes. Just as she sits in the same place at every BSC meeting, she wears a variation of the same outfit just about every day. Kristy's closets and drawers are full of jeans, T-shirts, turtlenecks, and running shoes.

Kristy used to live across the street from me on Bradford Court. She'd lived there forever with her mother and her three brothers, Char-15 lie, Sam, and David Michael. Charlie and Sam are in high school, and David Michael is a second-grader. Mr. Thomas left the family when David Michael was just a baby. Kristy hears from him every now and then. Not long ago, the Thomases made a big move - to a mansion across town. Why? Her family suddenly needed more room. Mrs. Thomas married a really nice guy named Watson Brewer, who happens to be a millionaire with a house big enough for all of them. "All of them" means the extra people who came along with Watson: Karen and Andrew, Watson's children from his first marriage, live with them in alternate months. And after Watson and Kristy's mom were married, the Brewers adopted Emily Michelle, a two-and-a-half-year-old who was born in Vietnam. Then Kristy's grandmother, Nannie, moved in to help. Plenty of pets share the house too - maybe enough to fill a small kennel.

Food! I needed food. I found a bag of M&M's in my desk drawer, ripped it open, and poured out a handful. Yum! Chocolate helped. I passed the bag to Kristy, who was talking quietly with Mary Anne. One of my duties as vice-president of the BSC is to make sure everyone is fed. And that's no problem because I keep a "healthy" supply of junk food (and other food).

When Kristy came up with the idea for the BSC, she asked Mary Anne and me to join it. Back then, Mary Anne also lived on Bradford Court, next door to Kristy. They've been best friends practically since they were born. Mary Anne's mother died when Mary Anne was a baby, so for a long time her family was just her and her dad. Mr. Spier was pretty strict. He made rules for Mary Anne about how she had to dress, how she could wear her hair, and how late she could stay out. It wasn't easy for Mary Anne - she's one of the shyest, most sensitive people I know - but she stood up to her dad and he loosened up a little. Mary Anne cut her brown hair, bought some new clothes, and was given the same curfew the rest of us had.

Then even bigger changes took place in her family. Mary Anne made a new friend, Dawn Schafer, who had moved to Stoneybrook from California. Together they found out that their parents, Mary Anne's widowed father and Dawn's divorced mother, had dated in high school. They did some matchmaking and before long Mary Anne had a new stepmother, Sharon; a new stepsister (and best friend), Dawn; and a new stepbrother, Jeff. Mary Anne, Mr. Spier, and Tigger (Mary Anne's kitten) moved into the Schafers' old farmhouse, and began life as a blended family. After awhile, Dawn decided to return to California and live with her dad. (Jeff had already made that move.) That means Mary Anne and Dawn are long-distance sisters now, but they're still close. They talk on the phone and visit whenever they can, but they miss each other a lot. When Dawn lived here, she was a BSC member too. She's our honorary member now. When she visits, it's as if she's never been gone.

Mary Anne is the BSC secretary. She's in charge of the club record book, where we keep track of all our schedules, clients' names and addresses, ages of the kids for whom we babysit, rates we charge, and any other special information about the children. She's the perfect person for the job because she's very organized (and she knows how to spell).

Mary Anne used to be the only one of us with a steady boyfriend. His name is Logan Bruno. Now I'm seeing Josh, and Stacey McGill, another BSC member who's also my best friend, has an "older" boyfriend from New York City, Ethan Carroll. The following night the six of us were going on our first triple date, and I couldn't wait.

"Did you buy anything this afternoon?" Stacey asked, as she moved my books aside and sat down on the bed next to me. Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey had come in with her. They sat on the floor, looking at a book Jessi held on her lap.

"Not one single thing," I answered. I hadn't even had time to try on the paintbrush earrings. I dug around in my desk a little more, pulled out some pretzels, and handed them to Stacey. I keep a special stash of healthier snacks for Stacey because she can't eat sugary junk food. Stacey has diabetes, a condition that interferes with the way her body processes sugar. If she eats certain things, she can become very sick. As long as Stacey is very careful about her diet, monitors her blood sugar level, and gives herself daily injections of insulin, she's fine. But it's something she'll have to deal with her whole life.

Stacey moved to Stoneybrook from New York City when we were in seventh grade, and we invited her to join the BSC not long after she arrived. Stacey is tall, thin, blonde, and beautiful. Like me, she loves fashion, but her look is more grown-up and sophisticated than mine - or anyone else's in the BSC. It's the New York influence. Stacey moved back to New York after she'd lived here awhile. Then her parents divorced, and she and her mother moved back to Stoneybrook. Stacey's dad still lives in New York City, and she visits there often. That's how she met Ethan.

Math is one of Stacey's strong points, so naturally she's our BSC treasurer. She collects dues from us every Monday. We use the money to pay Charlie for driving Kristy and (usually) Abby Stevenson to our meetings, to pay for part of my phone bill, to buy supplies for our Kid-Kits, and to fund special events for our charges. Sometimes, when we have a little extra money in the treasury, we spend it on a pizza party.

Kristy looked at my digital clock. It read 5:29. Just then, Abby burst into the room.

"I'm not late, am I?" Abby said, breathing hard.

Kristy stared at Abby for a moment. "Nope." When the clock clicked over to 5:30, she said, "The meeting will come to order." Abby sank to the floor, then stretched her legs out in front of her. She leaned forward, touching her face to her knees. I'd seen Jessi do that lots of time, but never Abby. "What?" she asked as she straightened up and found all of us staring at her. "I need to cool down. I ran today, but I'm a little off. I should have made it here with more time to spare." She continued to stretch.

Abby is our newest BSC member. She recently moved to Stoneybrook from Long Island with her mother and her sister, Anna. They live on Kristy's street. Abby and Anna are identical twins. They have totally different interests, though. Abby loves sports and outdoor activities, while Anna is a serious musician. We invited both Abby and Anna to join the BSC, but Anna decided she wouldn't have time to babysit and practice the violin as much as she likes. Abby is our alternate officer, which means she takes over the duties of any club officer who might be absent. She has asthma and is allergic to a long list of foods and other stuff, but she doesn't let any of that slow her down for a moment. Abby's dad died in a car accident when she was nine. She doesn't talk much about it, but it must be hard. Losing people you love is always difficult. I know because my grandmother, Mimi, died not long ago. She lived with us, and we were very close. I still miss her.

The phone rang almost as soon as Kristy called the meeting to order. Stacey answered, and the BSC was open for business.