Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 040

"Do you have any idea why Shawna might have cheated?" asked Janine.

"That's the weird thing," I said. "She's usually a pretty good student. Something strange is going on here." "Yes, and you've got to try to get to the bottom of it," said Janine. "But where do you start?" Janine and I talked for a little bit longer, but we couldn't figure out any plan of action except one: study, study, study. I'd just have to be a math machine for awhile. I accepted Janine's offer of help, but I can't say I was looking forward to the rest of the year.

Later, after I'd gotten into my pajamas, I called Stacey and told her what had happened.

I gave her just the bare facts - I was too tired to go into it much more than that. She was incredibly nice about it all - that's why she's my best friend - but nothing she said could take away the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach.

As I went to bed that night, I thought about the day. The confrontation with Mr. Zorzi was one of the most terrible things I'd ever been through. Being accused of cheating was humiliating. I also felt really awful about having my wonderful A- taken away from me. And I felt guilty about taking up so much of Janine's time so that she could tutor me.

But you know what was the worst part of the whole thing? The feeling that my parents were not one hundred percent absolutely, positively, definitely convinced that I was telling the truth. That was what was making me feel so rotten.

Chapter 7.

I just can't believe that he would be so unfair!" said Jessi. She was sitting on the floor next to Mallory. They were both eating Fig Newtons.

"What gets me is the way he wouldn't listen to you." That was Stacey, who was sitting in my desk chair. It was clear that she'd already told everybody about my problem.

"Order!" Guess who said that? Right. Kristy. She was sitting in the director's chair, as usual, wearing her visor. And the clock next to my bed said 5:30. It was time for our club meeting to start.

"We definitely have a problem on our hands," Kristy said. "But we need to take care of club business before we get into it." We? I thought it was my problem. I should have known that my friends would want to help me out. And it felt good to know that everyone was in my corner. I passed around a box of Mallomars as Kristy went through the club business. When she was finished, she said, "Okay. Now, Claudia, why don't you tell us, in your own words, what happened yesterday." In my own words? Whose words did she think I'd use? Kristy's funny sometimes, even when she doesn't mean to be. "Well," I began, "it all started right as class was ending - " Just then the phone rang. Kristy answered it and quickly arranged a job for Stacey with Charlotte Johanssen. I smiled at Stacey. Charlotte is her favorite kid to sit for.

Then I continued. "Mr. Zorzi called me and Shawna up to his desk. I didn't know what was going on!" The phone rang again. Mrs. Braddock needed a sitter .for Matt and Haley. Mary Anne checked the record book to see who was free that afternoon, and Jessi got the job. She's the best of all of us at sign language, so as long as she's free, she's usually the first choice to sit for them. Matt's deaf, but he's a pro in sign language. We've all learned a little.

"So, where was I?" I asked after the job had been arranged. I continued with my story, embellishing it with all the details I remembered.

Even though I was interrupted three more times by phone calls, I finally got to the end of it.

"Why did Mr. Zorzi have to be so mean?" asked Mallory. She really looked upset.

Dawn looked upset, too. "He's just making assumptions, and that's not right," she said.

Then Mary Anne spoke up. Very softly, she said, "You know, Claud, if you did look at Shawna's paper, we'd stand right behind you anyway." I looked at her, amazed. I couldn't believe my ears. She went on. "If you did it, you should confess. You'll feel better, and we'll still be here for you." The room was completely quiet for about five seconds. Everybody looked stunned. Then Kristy spoke up.

"Mary Anne, how could you? Of course Claudia didn't do it. You must be crazy." Mary Anne looked around the room. We were all glaring at her. She burst into tears. (I told you she was sensitive.) I reached over and hugged her. "That's okay, Mary Anne. I know you were trying to be supportive. But I'd rather you just believe me," I said.

The tears were over almost as soon as they'd begun. "I do, Claud, I do!" she said. "I just wanted you to know that it wouldn't matter to any of us if - " "Okay, Mary Anne, enough of that," interrupted Kristy. "Now, look," she went on. "Let's go over the whole thing again. We've got to figure out how to prove that Claud is innocent." "Well, it's obvious that Shawna was the one who cheated," said Mallory. "So all we need to do is figure out how to prove it." "But why would Shawna cheat?" asked Stacey. "She always gets good grades. Why would she risk being caught?" "Forget about Shawna for a minute," said Kristy. "What about Mr. Zorzi? How can we convince him that it's wrong to consider Claudia guilty without proof?" "My parents wanted to go to school and talk to the principal," I admitted. "But I wouldn't let them." "No, I think it's best if we handle this ourselves," said Kristy. "Do you think Janine would have any ideas? She's such a genius - maybe she can figure this out." I shook my head, just as the phone rang again. Janine and I had been over all the angles already. If she hadn't thought of something last night . . .

Kristy put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "Claud," she said. "Do you want to sit for the Perkinses on Friday? They asked especially for you." That was nice of Kristy. Usually the jobs are given out very fairly, and we try not to let clients get too attached to any one sitter. I guess this time Kristy figured I might need the distraction of sitting for Myriah and Gabbie and their baby sister, Laura Elizabeth.

"Sure," I said. "Sounds great." Kristy finished with Mrs. Perkins and hung up.

"You don't sound all that excited about the job," said Kristy.

"It's just that ..." I started. I could hardly bring myself to say it. "I'm afraid that if I fail math, my parents will make me quit the club." A silence fell over the room.

"Okay, that's it," said Dawn. "We're going to get to the bottom of this. No way are we going to lose you!" "Think, Claud," said Jessi. "Isn't there any way we can prove that Shawna cheated?" "But that's just the thing," I said. "Maybe she didn't. Maybe Mr. Zorzi was wrong. Maybe it was just a coincidence that we got the same problems wrong - in the same way." Stacey was shaking her head. "No, Claud," she said. "He was right. It would have been one thing if you both just missed the same questions. But it's another thing entirely for you to have come up with the exact same wrong answers. There's hardly any chance of that happening by coincidence." "That's what Mr. Zorzi told us," I said sadly. Stacey's such a math whiz. If she said the same thing that Mr. Zorzi did, it must be true.

"You know," said Dawn, as if she were thinking out loud, "Shawna and some of her friends are in my homeroom. They've been acting kind of strange lately." "You're right!" said Mary Anne (She's in the same homeroom as Dawn.) "They've been passing notes a lot and acting like they know it all." "Boy, speaking of Shawna's friends, did you see Susan Taylor yesterday?" asked Dawn. "She got another perm, and this one's really wild." "I heard that her mother writes her a note to get out of classes when she has a hair appointment," said Kristy. "Can you imagine?" "I know," said Stacey. "I told my mom about that. She said if I thought she'd do that for me I had 'another think coming.' " "Okay, you guys," said Mary Anne. She doesn't like to gossip as much as the rest of us do. She thinks it's mean. "Let's get back to the problem. How are we going to prove that Shawna cheated and that Claudia is innocent?" Everybody was quiet for a few minutes. Then the phone rang. I almost jumped out of my skin! This time Stacey took the call and arranged an afternoon job for Mallory, sitting for Jamie Newton while Mrs. Newton took the baby (Lucy Jane) to the pediatrician.