Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 037

It's funny, because in some ways, Kristy seems a little younger than thirteen. She has zero interest in clothes and makeup and practically lives in her favorite outfit: a turtleneck, faded jeans, and running shoes. But in other ways, she seems very mature and is exactly the kind of person you would want to have around in an emergency. Kristy has an interesting family. She has three brothers - Sam and Charlie, who are in high school, and David Michael, who's only seven. For a long time, Mrs. Thomas supported the family all by herself, because her husband had walked out one day and never come back. It was very hard on everyone, but Mrs. Thomas managed to get a good job and keep the family together. Then (and this is the wonderful part) she met a millionaire named Watson Brewer and they married and the Thomases moved across town into his mansion! It sounds like something out of a movie, doesn't it? Watson Brewer has two children, Karen, who has just turned seven, and Andrew, who's four, so Kristy found herself with a new brother and sister. (They only live with their father every other weekend and for two weeks during the summer, though.) Things got even more interesting after that because the Brewers adopted an adorable little Vietnamese girl whom they named Emily. By now Kristy's family was beginning to look like the Brady Bunch, so Nannie, Kristy's grandmother, moved in to help. Kristy loves her new family, and since she's terrific with kids, she's a big help with her younger brothers and sisters.

Okay, now I need to tell you about the two junior officers of the BSC, Mallory Pike and Jessica Ramsey. While the rest of us are eighth-graders at Stoneybrook Middle School, they are eleven and in sixth grade at SMS. They are very different, but they are best friends.

Actually, Mal and Jessi have a couple of things in common. They are both the oldest in their families (that can have some good points and some bad points). And they share some interests.

Let's start with Mal. Mal comes from an enormous family. She has seven brothers and sisters, including a set of identical triplets (boys). Mallory is very creative and loves to read and write and draw. Her dream in life is to write and illustrate children's books, and I think she would do a wonderful job.

Jessi has an eight-year-old sister named Becca (short for Rebecca) and a baby brother named Squirt. Squirt? That's right. His real name is John Philip Ramsey, Jr., but he was so tiny when he was born that the nurses in the hospital nicknamed him Squirt.

Jessi also likes to read (she and Mal both love horse stories), but her real talent is quite different from Mallory's. Jessi wants to be a professional dancer and has studied ballet for years. It takes a lot of skill and hard work to get roles in major ballets and to perform in front of hundreds of people, but Jessi has what it takes. She doesn't even get stage fright. (I know I would faint dead away if I had to do something like that.) One other difference between Jessi and Mal - Jessi is black and Mal is white.

I have a lot more things I want to tell you about my friends (especially about my stepsister, Mary Anne, and the really romantic way our parents got together), but I will have to save that for later. Stay tuned! Chapter 2.

At eleven o'clock the following morning, Mary Anne tapped me on the shoulder.

"Dawn, wake up," she said urgently. "It's practically lunchtime!" I snuggled deeper into my sleeping bag and buried my face in the pillow. "Uh-huh," I mumbled. What was Mary Anne getting all steamed up about? Nobody bounces out of bed the morning after a sleepover, and besides, we hadn't turned out the lights till three A.M. No wonder I felt like a zombie.

But Mary Anne wouldn't give up. She sat down next to me. "I think we should all get up right this minute," she said firmly. "We've already wasted half the day!" "Quit talking," Stacey muttered from her sleeping bag. "Some people are trying to sleep." "I know you are," Mary Anne apologized.

"But I think the Brewers expect us to show up for breakfast. We shouldn't be lounging around in bed all morning when they're trying to feed sixteen in the kitchen." I hated to admit it, but I decided Mary Anne was probably right. I also thought that my stepsister was the only person in the whole world who would worry about something like that.

"Mmm, I think I smell bacon cooking," Mal said. She wriggled off her air mattress and stretched. "I agree with Mary Anne. We should all go downstairs." Jessi gave a gigantic yawn. "I've decided to have breakfast in bed," she said sleepily. "Just leave a tray outside the door for me." "Ha! Fat chance!" Claudia yelled, tossing a pillow at her. "If we get up, you get up." Mary Anne yanked open the drapes, and the room was flooded with harsh yellow sunlight. Everybody really woke up after that, including Kristy, who had burrowed like a mole under her fluffy pink quilt.

"Hey, Kristy," Stacey asked, "do we have to get dressed to go down to breakfast?" "On a Saturday morning? Are you kidding?" Kristy grinned and jammed her feet into a pair of fat down slippers. "That's the great part about weekends. You can wear whatever you want, and Mom and Watson won't care. Honest." Claudia glanced in the mirror. Her hair was a mass of tangles and her mascara had smudged over her cheekbones in two dark shadows. She looked like someone straight out of Night of the Living Dead.

"Claudia, you look awful," Kristy said cheerfully.

"You don't look so terrific yourself," Claudia retorted. She wasn't in the least bit offended because the truth is we all looked awful.

"I know. Isn't it fun?" Kristy grabbed her favorite baseball cap (the one with the collie on it) and plunked it on her head. "But who's going to see us at breakfast except for Karen and Nannie and Mom and everyone?" A few minutes later we had our answer. Who was going to see us? Only the cutest guy in the whole world! Talk about having a panic attack. All seven of us had trooped downstairs, looking our absolute worst, when we realized there were boys sitting around the kitchen table! Two of them were Kristy's older brothers, Charlie and Sam, and the other looked like a movie star. Sandy brown hair, deep blue eyes, and a smile that I knew I would never forget. Claudia was in front of me, and she skidded to a stop just like the Road Runner in that Saturday morning cartoon show. Naturally, I bumped into her, and she lurched against the back of Sam's chair.

"Oh, Claudia. Hi there." He glanced at Kristy. "I figured you were going to sleep all day." Sam took a quick peek at the rest of us, and his jaw dropped open. Why hadn't we .taken a few extra minutes to brush our hair and put on a little makeup? (Or at least take off the old makeup?) I know I looked terrible. I have very light skin and, as I've said, my hair is so blonde it's practically white. Can you imagine what I look like first thing in the morning, especially with mascara smudges under my eyes?

I tried to duck behind Stacey, who immediately caught on and started inching her way back toward the hallway.

"Hey, don't run away," Charlie teased her. "Kristy, I want you and your friends to meet someone." He waved a hand at the fantastic-looking boy at the table. "Travis, meet my sister and the rest of the Baby-sitters Club. Travis just moved to Stoneybrook," he went on.

Travis half rose out of his chair and smiled at everyone. (He could afford to be cheerful. He looked terrific, and the rest of us were wrecks.) The other kids in the family were at the table with him. Emily was spooning up cornflakes with David Michael, Karen, and Andrew, but I barely looked at them. I couldn't take my eyes off Travis (and I couldn't stop wishing I were invisible)! Why did I have to look my absolute worst?

Travis was too polite to look shocked, though, and I thought I would drop through the floor when he reached across the table and shook my hand! No one my age shakes hands (do they?), but somehow it seemed just right when Travis did it.

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