Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 027

That morning I would've liked to have had a long time at the barre, but I did have to get to the party early, and that left time pretty scrunched up. Mama had promised to pick me up after the party and get me to the audition early so I could do a real warm-up there. (Thank you, Mama.) That morning I had just enough time to throw my toe shoes, leg warmers, and leotard into my dance bag and gather up all the party supplies I had promised to bring. I called Becca (of course, she was invited to the party, too) and hoisted my bags into my arms. Mr. Spier pulled into the driveway with Mary Anne to give us a ride to the party. I hurried out to the car and dropped my bags onto the backseat.

"Did you remember to bring your - ?" Mary Anne didn't even have to finish the sentence.

"Oh, no!" I cried. "Just a minute, okay?" I raced back into the house, up to my room, and grabbed my bathrobe off its hook.

That's right. My bathrobe. This was a goofy idea Kristy had had, and it seemed so silly, we all thought it was great. Her idea was that since it was a breakfast party, all the members of the club should wear bathrobes over their clothes. Since we'd be keeping our eye on so many kids, and since we didn't know a lot of them to begin with, the bathrobes would be kind of like a uniform, and the kids would at least know who was in charge. Kristy had wanted us to go even further with the joke and have us all wear curlers in our hair, too, but Mary Anne and Claudia vetoed that idea right away. I think neither of them wanted to be seen in curlers in public, and the truth was, neither did I.

"Bathrobes are funny enough," Claudia had said.

"How about if we just wear curler caps, then?" Kristy had suggested.

Maybe the party plans had started to get to her.

"Kristy," Claudia said firmly, "this is a good-bye party, not a Halloween party." "Right," Kristy had said.

By the time Mary Anne, Becca, and I arrived at Kristy's house that morning, all the other club members were there. They were throwing paper tablecloths over the picnic tables and setting the places with plates, bowls, and cups.

Mallory was busy farther back in the yard, setting up the one game we had planned. To fit in with the "Good Morning" theme, we had come up with a funny idea for a relay race. The teams of kids would line up and, to start the race, we were going to set off an alarm clock. Each runner had to put on a pair of pants, drink a cup of imaginary juice (we thought it might be dangerous to use real juice since someone might choke), run a comb through his or her hair, grab a book bag, and run to pass the book bag to a teammate across the yard.

Not to sound conceited, but the whole idea for the relay was mine. That's exactly how I feel every morning, like getting ready for school is a relay race. But I can't take all the credit. Mallory was the one who had the idea for the prizes. She had spent the whole morn- ing fishing those little prize packages out of all our cereal boxes. Every kid on the winning team would get one.

Soon the kids began arriving. Of course, we had told them to get there ahead of time so that when Derek arrived, everyone would be gathered for the surprise. The yard started filling up. We club members scattered ourselves around to talk to the kids and keep some kind of general order. The back door opened and Kristy's sister Karen came out to join us. Oh no. She was wearing her "Getting to Be Stars" costume - high heels, gloves, hat, and all. Kristy rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"You're going to wear that for the relay race?" she asked.

"I have to wear it so Derek'll notice me," Karen answered. "It shows I'm a star." She started across the yard to the picnic tables, her heels sinking into the sod with each step.

I'll tell you, maybe Claudia was wrong. Between Karen in her getup and all of us babysitters in our bathrobes, that party might as well have been for Halloween.

Inside, the kitchen phone rang. Kristy's mom answered it and came to the door to call me.

"Jessi," she said, "it's Mrs. Masters." Everyone in the yard let out a little gasp. We were all getting excited. The surprise is always the most fun part.

Mrs. Masters was ready to bring Derek and Todd over and was calling to warn us. She and her husband had told the boys that they were going shopping to buy clothes before the move back to California.

"Coast clear?" Mrs. Masters asked.

"Bring them over," I said. "We're ready and waiting." The time between the phone call and their arrival seemed like ten years. The kids started to get really giddy. To tell the truth, so did I. Finally, we heard a car pull into the front drive. Everyone started shushing everyone else. The back door opened again. I heard Mrs. Masters talking to Kristy's mom. Then Mrs. Masters called Derek and Todd.

"Come on, boys," she said. "I promise, we'll head out for the mall in a minute. But before we go I just want to show you something." Derek stepped out of the house and into the yard.

"Surprise!" we all yelled.

He stood there, frozen to the spot. But he didn't have time to be shocked for long, because in a few seconds we were all crowded around him, laughing and talking.

"Were you surprised?" "Your whole class is here." "Did you suspect anything?" "Okay, let's break out the cereal!" That last cry was from Kristy. She rounded up all the kids and herded them to the tables. The rest of us busied ourselves passing around food.

The kid next to me put three doughnuts on his plate and nothing else - no bagels, no Cheerios, and certainly no fruit slices.

"Hey, Claudia!" I yelled across the tables. "You've got a friend over here!" We were all laughing and joking and having a good time.

Derek was sitting at the table with me. Across from him were his mom, his dad, and Todd, and next to him were Nicky and some of the other boys. It was great for me to watch him just sitting and talking like a regular kid with his new friends. It was a happy ending, all right. Or, who knows, maybe some kind of beginning, too. I was still curious about John and what had happened with that, but I knew I'd have to wait until sometime when Derek and I were alone to ask him about it. It was clear I wasn't going to get him alone at this party.

After the kids finished eating, we let them hang out for awhile before we started the relay race. (We didn't want breakfast to come back up all over the lawn.) When it was time for the race, Karen had still not changed out of her "star" outfit, and she was hanging around Derek like a fly around honey. The funny thing was, after all her scheming, she was too afraid to open her mouth and actually say anything to him. Finally, Kristy took Karen's hand.

"Derek, did you meet my sister?" Kristy asked. "This is Karen. She's really been wanting to meet you." Derek had a funny look on his face, like he didn't quite know what to make of Karen's outfit, Karen pulled up her gloves and steadied her hat.

"Hi," she said.

Suddenly, Becca was right behind her.

"Derek!" Becca broke in. "Since you're going back to L.P., do you think you could get me Lamont's autograph?" Well, okay. So, even as he was leaving, Derek still had to deal with two stage-struck little girls. But two kids out of a whole yardful didn't seem so bad.

"Hey, Derek!" cried one of his classmates. "Come on! Join our team!" By this time Claudia had organized all the kids into groups for the relay. They were lined up and ready to run.

"On your mark . . . get set ... wake up!" she cried as the alarm clock sounded.

It was funny to watch the kids struggle with the pants and cheer each other on. All in all, it was a great party. Though Derek would be leaving in a week, we were sending him off with a very nice good-bye.

"Jessi." I spun around. Mama had arrived to pick me up and take me to the audition.