Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 061

When class ended, we applauded Mme Noelle and then went to the dressing room.

"That was nice of you to volunteer," Carrie Steinfeld said to me as we walked down the hall. "I would have but I can't afford the time away from lessons." Carrie is the oldest girl in class. I know she's nervous these days. She's about to graduate but she's never had a leading role in a production. Because of that it's going to be hard for her to get into a school for older students or to be invited to a professional dance company. It's a shame, because she's a good dancer. But in ballet, being good isn't always enough. You have to be great.

I didn't want Carrie to feel bad, so I made light of volunteering. "It's a good excuse to goof off a little," I joked. "And it sounded like fun." "No way," Katie Beth disagreed, wrinkling her nose. "You wouldn't catch me teaching a bunch of screaming brats." "I'm sure they're not all brats," said Mary. "I think it's generous of the school to offer the program. Helping out is the least I can do." I suddenly had the feeling I was going to like working with her.

In the dressing room everyone changed quickly. It's interesting to see how ten girls can go from looking all alike, with black leotards, pink tights, toe shoes, and hair pulled back off our faces, to looking very, very different once we're dressed. Katie Beth, for example wears tight leggings and big bold tops, while Lisa dresses in nothing but jeans and sweaters.

"I just can't get high enough on the pas de chat," I heard Mary complain as she sat on the bench and pulled off her toe shoes. She was talking to a tall, thin girl named Mindy Howard.

"I know what you mean," Mindy said, pulling on her long-sleeved T-shirt. "I had the same problem until I lost ten pounds. Then I was fine." Mary got up and examined herself in the full-length mirror. "I probably could drop some of this fat around my middle," she observed.

What fat? I thought. I couldn't see a smidge of fat anywhere on her. She didn't have two pounds to lose - forget about losing ten! "Losing the weight makes a big difference," Mindy told Mary. "You'll see." Personally, I didn't think Mindy jumped all that high even now. Which meant her weight loss theory didn't hold up. And losing weight wasn't the solution to Mary's problem, either. If she wanted to jump higher, she should simply practice jumping higher. That's what I would have told her. But she hadn't asked me, and I felt I would have been rude to butt into their conversation.

Mary turned her back to the mirror and then craned her neck around to see herself. "I have a fat rear end, too," she muttered.

She did not! "All that weighs you down," Mindy said as if she were an authority on the subject.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Really, it's not that unusual, though. There's a look in ballet - dancers are thin, square-shouldered, and have a more-or-less oval face. I've heard that it started because the great choreographer George Ballanchine wanted his corps de ballet (all the dancers who aren't the stars) to look alike. Since his death, this has started to change. That's what people say, anyway. It seems to be true.

A lot of girls go crazy worrying about what they'll look like once their bodies finish changing and developing. They might not wind up with the right kinds of bodies for ballet. That's rough when you consider that most dancers have been studying since they were four or so. All of a sudden they have to rethink their plans.

I don't worry about it too much. Luckily I seem to be naturally thin and so is everyone in my family. (Except Aunt Cecelia who lives with us and helps take care of Becca and Squirt while Mama works. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't take after her.) Of course, it's easy for me to not worry. I have a couple of years yet before my body will start seriously changing. Still, when the time comes, I sure hope I won't be as crazed about it as Mindy and Mary.

Chapter 2.

Fridays are always a challenge for me. I dart out of ballet class and hope my dad is right on time to pick me up. (He usually is.) Then I have to work very hard not to fidget if we're not going fast enough. The reason I'm in such a rush is that I have to be at my BSC meeting by five-thirty. Sharp! Kristy Thomas, our club president, is very big on punctuality. She gives you a Look if you're late. Those looks are so withering that I'd do just about anything to avoid getting one. Unfortunately, I've experienced the Look on several Fridays when I scooted in a couple of minutes late. Sometimes there's no way out of rush-hour traffic in downtown Stamford. But try telling that to Kristy.

That Friday I arrived at five-thirty on the dot. Whew! I practically flew into the room, and took my usual spot on the floor of Claudia Kishi's bedroom - our BSC meeting place.

"You made it in the nick of time once again," whispered my friend Mallory, who is also a BSC member. She knows how harried Fridays are for me.

I smiled as I put my hand over my pounding heart. "The green lights were with us," I replied, panting. "One yellow light and it would have been all over." (My dad always stops at the yellow lights instead of zooming through them the way I'd like him to. It drives me crazy when I'm in a hurry.) "The meeting will now begin," Kristy said from Claudia's director's chair. She always sits in that chair with a pencil stuck over her ear and a visor on her head.

Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn were seated on Claudia's bed. Stacey was propped on the edge of Claudia's desk, by the phone. Before I go any further, I should probably tell you a little about my BSC friends. After that, I'll explain how the club itself works.

Since Mal is my best friend, I'll start with her. She has curly, reddish-brown hair, freckles, and wears braces (the clear kind), and glasses. (She's dying for contacts but so far her parents say she's too young.) Mallory doesn't consider herself pretty. She hates her nose in particular. But I think someday she'll be prettier than anyone imagines, and there's so much goodness inside Mallory that after you know her awhile, she starts to look pretty.

Mallory comes from a huge family. She's the oldest of eight kids! There are the triplets, Byron, Adam, and Jordan, who are ten. Even though they're identical it's easy to tell them apart once you get to know them. And it helps that they don't dress alike. Next comes Vanessa. She's nine and shares a room with Mal. After Vanessa is Nicky who's eight, Mar go who's seven, and Claire who is five.

Mallory complains that there is nothing but "utter pandemonium," at her house, but I like visiting there. It's always lively and fun. I'm not sure I'd want to live at the Pike house, though. Mal doesn't get much privacy and that's hard on her.

Aside from all the usual reasons a person wants privacy, Mal has an extra need for it since she wants to be a writer. I should say she is a writer. One of her stories won the prize for "Best Overall Fiction" in the sixth grade during a Young Author's Day contest. Mallory dreams of someday writing and illustrating her own children's books. She's so creative that I'm sure she'll be great at it.

Mallory and I have a lot in common. We're both in the sixth grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. We both love to read, especially stories about horses. We also like mysteries, but hate horror stories. You couldn't ask for a better friend than Mallory.

The next person I'll tell you about is Kristy. As I said, she's the club president. She's president because the club was originally her idea and also because Kristy is naturally a presidential type person. She's always coming up with great ideas. She knows how to make them happen, too. Kristy is a doer not just a talker - although Kristy does talk a lot. You might even say she has a big mouth.

It might sound as if Kristy is a pain, but she's not. She has a great sense of humor and is really down-to-earth. And her "bossiness" is what keeps the club running so well.