Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 030

Since it was a Monday, Stacey collected club dues. (Logan doesn't have to pay.) When she was finished, we just sat in our places. The phone did not ring. Dawn and I looked at each other. Now was our chance.

Dawn opened her mouth, and - Ring, ring! "I'll get it!" screeched Kristy, reaching for the phone.

It was Mrs. Perkins, across the street. Kristy and I arranged for Mallory to sit for the girls a week from Wednesday.

When the phone was quiet, Dawn and I looked at each other again.

Dawn opened her mouth.

Ring, ring! This time Stacey answered the phone and set up a job with the Rodowsky boys.

The phone grew quiet.

Dawn and I looked at each other.

We did not say a word.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Kristy.

"The phone," replied Dawn. "If I start to say something, it'll ring again." But it didn't ring for a full minute, so at last Dawn said, "Mary Anne? Should I give it a try?" I nodded.

Then Dawn looked across the room at Logan. She looked back at me. "You tell the news," she said unexpectedly.

I knew why she had decided to let me tell. She felt that Logan ought to hear such important news from me. Also, I'd known most of the other BSC members a lot longer than she had. I smiled gratefully at my future stepsister.

"Okay, here goes," I said, fully expecting the phone to ring again, but it didn't. "On Friday night, when we took Dawn's mom out for her birthday, it turned out that there was a surprise for Dawn and me, too. A big one." "There was?" said Claudia.

I nodded. "Dad's present to Mrs. Schafer was an engagement ring. They're going to get married. Dawn and I will be stepsisters!" Well, you have never heard such loud silence. Everyone in the room was stunned, but only for a moment. Then this incredible shrieking and cheering and yelling began. Logan jumped up, crossed the room in two strides (nearly stepping on Mallory), grabbed me off the bed, and whirled me around. As soon as he put me down, Claudia gave me a huge hug. Dawn and Stacey hugged. Everyone hugged - except Kristy. I mean, she did get into the spirit of things, but it took her a little while longer. I knew that deep down, she was hurt, and I'd been expecting that. How could she not feel hurt? Something had just happened over which she had absolutely no control and which was going to form a unique bond between Dawn and me forever. So I was prepared for Kristy's reaction. When she finally did hug me, I managed to slip a note into the back pocket of her jeans. It read: I hoped Kristy would find the note before she threw her jeans in the wash. As it happened, she did. She never said anything to me, but I could tell she'd read the note by the way she smiled at me in school the next day. I felt really good about that.) Anyway, the eight of us were making such a racket that Claudia's genius sister, Janine, actually dragged herself away from her computer and came down the hall to see what was going on.

"Is anything wrong?" she yelled from the doorway. "What's happening? You're making quite a bit of noise. Furthermore, your phone is ringing." "What?" shouted Kristy. "The phone?" Janine nodded.

"Hey! Everyone be quiet!" ordered Kristy, as Janine disappeared back into her room, which is like the Bermuda Triangle, since she hardly ever comes out of it.

We quieted down enough to set up another job. Then the questions began flying: "When will the wedding be?" "Was your mom surprised, Dawn?" "Does Jeff know yet?" And the exclamations, too: "I can't believe you won't be an only child anymore, Mary Anne!" "You're finally going to have a mother!" "You guys are going to be stepsisters. Awesome!" Dawn and I, bit by bit, told everyone the story of the birthday dinner. We answered their questions as well as we could, even though we didn't know much more than they did. Some of those nagging thoughts (like Mrs. Schafer not liking cats) came back to me as we talked things over, but I put them out of my mind.

The next job call was from Mrs. Arnold, which prompted Jessi to ask me how the twins were doing.

"You know, I think they're worse," I had to admit. I reminded my friends about the masking-tape incident, which they'd read about in the club notebook. "The girls are so different now it's unbelievable. They vie for their parents' attention, they're mean to each other, and this business of Carolyn having all these friends has really come between them." "In fami - " said Mal, at the same time Kristy said, "The twins - " We laughed. Then, "You go first," Kristy told Mallory.

"Well, I was just going to say," Mal began, "that in families, brothers and sisters don't always get along." "That's true," said Jessi. "Becca and I fight sometimes. Sometimes we even get mad at Squirt." "Yeah," agreed the rest of us, except for Stacey and me, since we had never had a brother or sister not to get along with.

"And kids in families always tease," Mal went on, "no matter how much they love each other. Sometimes the target of the worst teasing can change. In my family, it used to be Vanessa. I guess because she would make such a pest out of herself by always talking in rhyme. Now a lot of the teasing is directed at Nicky. And when I first got my braces, the triplets called me 'metal-mouth' for two weeks. Just wait until they get their braces." "But what about this business with their parents?" I asked. "That's new. And I don't like it." "Well, what I was going to say," said Kristy, "is that the twins are changing. We know that. And their mother and father are two different people, of course, so now I bet the girls are trying to do things that will please one or the other of their parents. Like, maybe Mrs. Arnold really appreciates kids who are social and have lots of friends. And maybe Mr. Arnold really appreciates artsy stuff like music or whatever." "That makes sense," I said.

"It can work in reverse, too," Kristy pointed out. "Sometimes parents bend over backwards trying to please their kids. I'll never forget when Mom and Watson first got married. Any time there was an argument or a problem, Mom sided with Karen and Andrew, and Watson sided with my brothers and me. They just wanted their stepkids to like them." I nodded.

"Plus," went on Kristy, "you know how friends can go off in different directions?" "Yeah," I said guiltily.

"Well, if friends can, then I guess twin sisters can, too. But I bet things will work out again after awhile." "I think they usually do," added Mal. "Between brothers and sisters, or parents and kids, or friends." The eight of us grew so quiet thinking these things over that I could hear Janine's computer clicking away in her room.

Then Claudia suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, my lord! I just can't believe you two are going to be stepsisters!" "And friends and club members," I pointed out.

That was all it took for the screaming and hugging to start again.

Logan couldn't take it any longer. "See y'all tomorrow," he said hastily, and escaped.

It didn't matter. It was almost six o'clock anyway.

As you can imagine, the rest of the "meeting" was just giggling and talking. Kristy didn't even seem to mind - much.

Chapter 10.

Why was Karen in a rotten mood? According to Kristy, it was because Emily had had the audacity that morning to tug at Kristy 's arm, hand her Andrew's battered copy of The Teddy Bears' Picnic, and say, "Read?" And then Kristy had had the audacity to reply, "Sure, Emily," and lead her into the den, sit down, pull her onto her lap, and read the story to her.

That was all it took. Apparently, Karen was already in a bad mood, but reading together is a special activity for Karen and Kristy, so on that particular day, Karen wasn't thrilled to see Emily and her big sister sharing a teddy-bear moment.

Kristy' s mom noticed and offered to read The Witch Next Door to Karen, which is her favorite book, but Karen would have none of it.