Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 056

One last thing about me. I'm Japanese-American. This is what I look like: extra-long black hair, almond-shaped eyes, and a good complexion, especially considering the amount of junk food I eat.

Mary Anne Spier is the secretary of the club. Her duties are complicated - to schedule each and every job that is phoned in. To do that, she has to know when I have art lessons, when Mal has orthodontist appointments, when Jessi will be at her ballet classes, and so forth. She keeps track of our jobs on the appointment pages in the record book. As far as anyone knows, she has never made a mistake. Mary Anne is also in charge of keeping the entire record book up-to-date and in order.

When I tell you about the kind of person Mary Anne is, I think you'll be surprised to find out that she's Kristy's best friend. I'm still surprised - and I've known Mary Anne and Kristy all my life. Okay, remember that Kristy has a big mouth? Well, Mary Anne is quiet and softspoken, shy and sentimental. She cries easily. She is so sensitive. Not that Kristy is insensitive; but she's tough-skinned, and Mary Anne is not. Still, Mary Anne is a survivor. Her life hasn't been exactly easy. Her mom died when Mary Anne was little and, after that, Mary Anne was raised by her very strict father. Mr. Spier loves his daughter, that's for sure, but he overprotected her and treated her like a baby. Only recently was Mary Anne allowed to wear her hair long (instead of in braids) and to choose her own clothes (which are slowly becoming trendier and less little-girl-like). It's practically a miracle that she has a steady boyfriend, Logan Bruno. But she does. They've been going out for quite awhile now (except for the time when they were going through The Big Separation). Logan is a really great guy. He's sweet, and he's very understanding of Mary Anne. He's also an associate member of the BSC. Honest. He's a terrific baby-sitter, so we call on him at those times when a job comes in that the rest of us can't take. (Or we call on Shannon Kilbourne.

She's our other associate member; she lives across the street from Kristy.) You will never guess what happened to Mary Anne Spier earlier this year. Her dad finally remarried, so Mary Anne wound up with a stepmother, a stepbrother, and a stepsister. Here's the unbelievable part. Her stepsister is Dawn Schafer, Mary Anne's other best friend. Can you imagine having a best friend who becomes your stepsister?

This is the story. In the middle of seventh grade, Dawn moved to Stoneybrook with her mother and her brother Jeff after her parents got divorced. They moved clear across the country from California, where Dawn and Jeff had been born, since their mother had been born here in Stoneybrook. Dawn and Mary Anne became friends right away, and soon Dawn joined the Baby-sitters Club. Around the same time Mr. Spier began going out with Mrs. Schafer and poof! They got married. The next thing we knew, Mary Anne, her dad, and her kitten Tigger had moved into Dawn's house (it's bigger than the one Mary Anne had lived in), and Mary Anne and Dawn had become stepsisters. Whew. You never know what's around the corner.

Here's a theory of mine: Life is just one big surprise.

I guess I should tell you about Dawn next since I've sort of introduced you to her already. Our California girl is the alternate officer of the BSC. If anyone can't make a club meeting, Dawn steps in and takes over her duties. This means she has to know how to do everyone's jobs, which isn't easy. But Dawn is dependable. We can always count on her.

Dawn is also an individual. She tends to go her own way, and not worry much about what other people think. I don't mean she's uncaring. I just mean that she believes what she wants to believe, does the things she wants to do, dresses the way she wants to dress, and so on without being swayed by other people's opinions. If kids don't agree with Dawn, she doesn't care (much). She's a very strong person. I really admire her.

Dawn has lo-o-o-o-ong blonde hair. It's about the color of corn silk. Her eyes are blue. When she lived in California she sported a nice tan, but that has faded, thanks to our Connecticut winters. Remember I said that I'm a junk-food addict? Well, Dawn is a health-food addict. She lives on fruits, vegetables, and stuff like tofu and rice. No red meat or sugar for her. I could live without meat, I think, but it's the sugar thing I don't understand. How does Dawn live without Twinkies and Three Musketeers bars?

Okay, if s time for me to tell you about my best friend. She's Stacey McGill, the treasurer of the BSC. Stacey (who's an only child) lives in Stoneybrook (duh), but she's a New York City girl at heart. That's where she grew up. And her dad still lives there. Like Dawn, Stacey and her mom settled here after the McGills got a divorce. But Stace is much more like me than like Dawn. We're sophisticated and boy-crazy, although we don't have steady boyfriends. And we love fashion. Stacey is allowed to wear pretty much whatever she wants, and to have her blonde hair permed. Unlike me, Stacey is excellent at math, which is how she became the club treasurer. Stacey's in charge of keeping track of the money we earn, and of collecting our dues every Monday. Then she doles out the dues money as it's needed - to help pay my phone bills, to buy new items for the Kid-Kits, and so forth.

Also, unlike me, Stacey can't eat sweets. This is because she has a disease called diabetes. Her body doesn't process sugar the way it should, so Stacey has to help things along by sticking to a strict diet, and giving herself injections (yes, injections) of something called insulin. None of this is easy, but Stacey copes well. I guess she's a survivor, too. (Actually, in our own way, we're all survivors.) The two youngest officers of the Baby-sitters Club are our junior members, Jessi and Mal. "Junior member" means that they are too young to be allowed to sit at night, unless they're sitting for their own brothers and sisters and, believe me, they have plenty of brothers and sisters between them. Jessi has one younger sister and a baby brother, and Mal has seven brothers and sisters. She's the oldest of eight kids.

Jessi and Mal are another pair of best friends. And Jessi is another newcomer to Stoneybrook. Her family moved here at the beginning of the school year when her father's job changed. (Mal grew up in Stoneybrook.) Jessi is an extremely talented ballet dancer, and Mal likes to write and draw, and plans to create picture books when she's older.

Jessi and Mal don't look a thing alike. Jessi is African-American. Her skin is the color of cocoa, and (because of her dance classes) she often wears her hair up, or pulled back. Her legs are the long legs of a dancer and her eyelashes are so long she looks as if she's wearing mascara, even though she isn't allowed to use makeup.

Mal is white. Her hair is red and curly, and her face is covered with freckles. Plus, she wears glasses and braces. Her braces are the clear kind that don't show up much. Even so, Mallory doesn't feel particularly attractive. At least she and Jessi were allowed to have their ears pierced. Now if Mal could just get contact lenses, but her parents say no; not until she's older.

1 have a feeling that both Jessi and Mal spend quite a bit of time wishing they were older. They think eleven is the pits. They feel grown-up and want to be treated as adults, but their parents still see them as kids, even when they baby-sit. Oh, well. Everyone is eleven at one time. We all live through it.

"Thank you . . . thank you . . . thank you ..." The Monday afternoon meeting of the BSC was underway, and Stacey was collecting our dues. She was being very polite, considering none of us particularly likes to part with our money.

When she had finished, and had added our dues to the treasury (a manila envelope), the room grew quiet. We were waiting for the phone to ring. When it didn't, I decided to tell my friends about my afternoon with the Rodowsky boys.