She grinned. “I came to help out,” she said.
“But what about the play?” I was thrilled to have her there, and I was hoping it meant she’d finally “heard” Tiffany and Maria’s message, but I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.
She shrugged. “I quit. I didn’t really like the director — she was kind of a space cadet — and the part they gave me wasn’t very interesting. I figured I had better things to do with my time.”
“Well, we can sure use your help,” said Jessi. “We have a lot to do, and the kids will be here in” — she glanced at her watch — “oh, no! Twenty minutes!”
At that, all eight of us charged inside, ready to set up tables, pour punch, and put out cookies. I didn’t have another second to talk to Shannon all night, but she told me later how much fun she’d had.
“You should have seen the look on Tiffany’s face when she saw me,” she reported. “She did this huge double take. Then she grabbed Maria by the hand and the two of them came flying across the gym to me.”
“What are you doing here?” demanded Maria, echoing the question I’d asked earlier. “I thought you had a play rehearsal.”
“I did,” Shannon said. “But I decided the dance was more important. I wanted to be here with you guys.”
Maria looked unsure. “Did you quit the play?” she asked.
Shannon nodded.
“But —” Tiffany began, “we didn’t want you to —”
“Don’t worry,” said Shannon. She explained why she’d quit, giving the same reasons she’d given us and adding a couple more. “I realized I just had too much on my plate,” she told her sisters. “Something had to give. I needed to remember to have fun — and fun definitely includes spending time with you two. I remembered that when I read your letter last night.” She gathered her sisters into a big group hug.
Shannon took a step back and looked at Tiffany and Maria. “Hey, you two look great,” she said. “Tiffany, I like the way you did your hair. And Maria, your outfit is awesome.”
“Do you think Jordan will like it?” asked Maria.
“I think he’d be crazy not to. But remember,” she warned, “ten-year-old boys are not always all that interested in dancing.”
“He’ll dance with me,” said Tiffany confidently. “I’m an older woman.”
Shannon cracked up. “We’ll see. In any case, I know I want to dance with both of you. And it looks as if the music is just about to start.”
By that time, the gym was starting to fill up with kids. The noise level was rising. Then, suddenly, the overheard lights were turned down and some colored ones came on, making green and blue patterns all over the gym. “Yikes! We’d better move it!” said Tiffany. Before Shannon could ask where they were going, her sisters had taken off toward a low platform that had been set up near one end of the gym. Already standing on the platform were Melody and Bill, Linny and Hannie, Karen, the Pike triplets, Charlotte, and Becca: the original planning committee for the All-Kids Dance.
“Welcome, everybody,” said Tiffany, speaking into a microphone. “We hope you’ll have an awesome time at the first annual Stoneybrook All-Kids Dance!”
Bill took the mike next. “There are refreshments on the tables back there,” he pointed out, “and plenty of punch.”
“We want you all to enjoy yourselves, so don’t be shy about asking a friend to dance!” put in Karen.
“And now,” said Maria, taking her turn at the mike, “let the dance begin!”
Shannon felt her eyes fill up. She was proud of her little sisters.
Then Linny bent down and fiddled with some knobs on the sound system, and suddenly the gym was filled with music. A spotlight came on, focusing on a mirrored ball hanging from the middle of the ceiling. The ball began to spin, sending fragments of light around the gym.
“All right!” Shannon yelled, pumping an arm in the air. The dance was under way.
Or was it?
Something was wrong. Nobody was dancing. The kids were lined up along the walls, the excitement on their faces replaced by anxious looks. Shannon saw her sisters glancing nervously at the Pike boys.
“Oh, no,” said Shannon to herself. (All over the gym, other BSC members were saying the same thing.) Now that she saw it happening, she wondered why she hadn’t predicted it. It was dance gridlock. Everybody wanted to dance, but nobody wanted to be first. What was going to break the ice?
Suddenly, a man appeared on the platform. He bowed low in front of Maria and Tiffany. “May I have this dance?” he asked, shouting to be heard over the booming beat.
“Daddy!” yelled Maria.
“Yay!” shouted Tiffany.
The three of them jumped off the platform and began to move to the beat, there in the middle of the floor.
Shannon watched, surprised and happy. And as she did, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to see her mom beaming at her. “Hi, honey,” she said.
“Mom!” Shannon threw her arms around her mother. “I’m so glad to see you guys. But what are you doing here?”
They walked out into the hallway so they could talk without shouting and still watch through the doors. Mr. Kilbourne was leading his daughters across the floor and slowly but surely the space around them was filling up with other dancers.
“Surprised?” Mrs. Kilbourne asked Shannon.
“Very. And happy.”
“Me too. Dad and I were talking late last night and we realized that we’ve both become way too busy. Maria and Tiffany need us. They made that clear in their letter. Also, we made some decisions. It took a lot of thought to figure it all out, but Dad decided to quit Rotary, which will free him up quite a bit. And I decided that I’ll only sign up for two classes next semester, and I’ll make sure they’re at times when the girls are in school.”
“That sounds great,” said Shannon.
Mrs. Kilbourne nodded. “Our goal is for the family to have dinner together every night. I know that won’t happen right away, but we’ll work toward it.”
Shannon smiled. She knew the Kilbourne family would always be busy because that was the Kilbourne way. But she felt sure that Tiffany and Maria would begin to get the attention they deserved. And, hopefully, they’d never start another Sister War! She glanced through the door and saw that the first song was ending. Mr. Kilbourne was hugging his two youngest daughters, both of whom were smiling from ear to ear.
“Let’s dance!” said Shannon, pulling her mom back into the gym. Another song had just come on, and the floor was filling up with kids. Shannon and her mom headed to the spot where Mr. Kilbourne was dancing with Maria and Tiffany, and their family danced together.
The All-Kids Dance was a huge success, and not just for the Kilbourne family. Once the kids got over their shyness, they danced the night away — in groups, in pairs, and even by themselves. Nicky Pike actually danced with a few girls, Melody included. And Linny and Charlotte danced at least four dances together.
As for the competition between Tiffany and Maria over Jordan Pike — well, even that had a happy ending. At one point, Shannon looked around and saw Maria dancing with Adam. Then she turned the other way and saw Tiffany dancing with Byron!
It turned out to be a case of mistaken identities. Neither of the girls had a crush on Jordan. Maria found out that Adam was the boy for her, and Tiffany discovered that Byron was the boy for her. And Jordan? He was just as happy to dance all night with Becca Ramsey.
The punch and cookies were laid out on the tables. The lights were down and the music was loud. The mirrored ball was spinning, sending those tiny fragments of light around the gym. The dance had begun.
It was Saturday night, and so far it looked like a replay of the night before. “I think I’m having déjà vu,” I told Claudia.
“Major who?” Claud yelled into my ear.
“Never mind,” I said, shaking my head. It was too hard to talk over the thumping beat of the music. Instead, I turned to the person on my left — Shannon
— and grinned. She grinned back and nodded her head to show she agreed.
Agreed with what?
With the fact that the middle-school kids in Stoneybrook are not a whole lot more mature than the elementary school ones. (There are even some, like Alan Gray, who are less mature.)
In other words, nobody was dancing. The girls were lined up on one side of the gym, and the boys were on the other. On both sides, kids were jostling each other, whispering (or yelling, more likely) into each other’s ears, and shooting shy glances across the room. Even the kids who had come in pairs had separated when they walked into the gym, as if there were some unspoken word about girls having to stick with girls and boys with boys.
Ugh.
I, for one, was there to have a good time. I didn’t intend to stand around all night waiting for someone to ask me to dance. I turned to Shannon again. “How about it?” I yelled, pointing at the dance floor.
She shrugged. “Why not?” And so, the two of us took those first, courageous steps into the middle of the floor. (Hey, I’m a born leader. What can I say?)
For about two seconds, I felt aware of the fact that everyone was watching us. Then I forgot about that, just as I had a few nights ago, and let myself feel the beat. Soon I wasn’t thinking about anything.
“I knew we’d have a great time together!” Shannon yelled.
“Me too!” I shouted back.
Earlier that evening, just as I’d stepped out of my predance shower, the phone had rung. “Kristy!” Watson had yelled from downstairs. “It’s for you.”
I picked up the extension. “Hello?” I asked.
“Hey, it’s Shannon. I have some bad news and good news. Which do you want first?”
“Bad news, I guess,” I said. “What’s up?”
“My date’s temperature,” she answered. “He has a fever. And chills. His mom just called and said he has the flu.”
“That is bad news,” I said.
“Yeah, but here’s the good news. Now you and I can go together!”
“Cool,” I said. I didn’t mind going to the dance dateless, but it’s always nice to have a friend to arrive with.
So that’s how Shannon and I ended up dancing together and having a terrific time. I couldn’t believe how happy she looked. I hadn’t seen her so relaxed in a long, long time.
Anyway, my plan worked just as well as it had the other night. By the time the song was half over, the dance floor was filled with kids — and after that, it was never empty again.
After that first dance, Shannon and I strolled around for a while to see what our friends were up to. We had to shout to make ourselves heard over the music as we gossiped about everyone at the dance.
“Claudia looks happy,” said Shannon, pointing out a laughing Claud (dressed in a rented tux that looked outstanding on her) dancing with five seventh-grade boys at once. It’s funny; Claudia was excited about going to a dance with her eighth-grade friends, but she ended up hanging out more with her seventh-grade friends. I was secretly glad to see that she didn’t dance with Mark all night. He spent most of the evening hanging out with a bunch of guys near the refreshment table. On the other hand, Claudia’s friend Josh paid plenty of attention to her.
“I think Claudia is kind of like a queen to those seventh-grade boys,” I hollered to Shannon.
“Never underestimate the power of an older woman!” she yelled back, laughing. “And check out Mary Anne and Logan. They seem to be having a good time together.”
I nodded. “Logan even talked her into dancing,” I observed.
“Look at Cokie Mason. She looks like an ad for Jungle World,” said Shannon, eyeing her carefully.
I cracked up. You’d have to have seen Cokie’s outfit to believe it. She was dressed entirely in animal prints, from her dalmatian go-go boots to her leopard-skin miniskirt to her zebra top. All fake furs, of course. I noticed a couple of boys from Kelsey Middle School following her around. “I guess those Kelsey guys don’t know that C-O-K-I-E spells trouble,” I yelled to Shannon. “That’s the problem with being from another school.”
“Speaking of Kelsey boys, check out those two cute sixth-graders Jessi and Mal are with,” said Shannon.
I looked. She was right — they were cute. One was an excellent dancer. He and Jessi made a striking pair. The other one was grinning at Mal.
“I think Alan’s met his match too,” I yelled, pointing to Alan Gray, who was dancing with a girl I didn’t recognize. “Do you know her?” I asked Shannon.
She nodded, cracking up. “She goes to SDS,” she said. “Her name’s Sophie, and she’s always pulling practical jokes and causing trouble.”
“She seems like the female equivalent of Alan,” I said, watching them as they started a conga line that demanded ridiculous dance steps. Then they made fun of other dancers behind their backs and had contests to see which one could catch a cookie — with no hands (I’ll leave the details to your imagination). Talk about soul mates. “Personally, I’m happy for Alan,” I told Shannon. “Mainly because he’s out of my hair.”
Next, Shannon pointed out that Stacey had caught the eye of a boy from SDS. He kept bringing her glasses of punch. She’d have floated away if she’d drunk it all. “Look,” I said to Shannon, nudging her as I spied Stacey hiding a glass behind the bleachers. We both laughed.
And Abby? “Nobody ever said Abby doesn’t know how to have a good time,” said Shannon, pointing out our newest BSC member, who danced all night to every song. She danced with boys from every one of the schools. She danced with friends. She even danced by herself — and had a great time doing it.
“Even our chaperones are having fun,” I said, nodding toward the dance floor where Watson and my mom were jitterbugging.
“And look who’s getting romantic,” I pointed out. By then a slow number had started, and Mr. and Mrs. Kilbourne were dancing with their arms around each other. I saw Shannon smile at them.
“I think my family’s going to be a lot closer from now on,” Shannon confided to me. “And Tiffany and Maria are going to be happier. I’ll make sure of that.”
I had a feeling Shannon would be happier too. Cutting back on activities and spending more time with her sisters was going to do more than just end the Sister War.
Shannon and I had a great time that night, between dancing and people watching. But my favorite part of the dance came near the end. That’s when the DJ put on that song “I Feel Like Dancing.” I looked around and caught the eye of each of the other BSC members. “Come on, guys!” I shouted, waving my arms to motion them onto the floor. Then we formed a circle and, with our hands on each other’s shoulders, danced together as a club. I smiled around at my friends, and they all grinned back. That’s my club. The BSC, together forever.
* * *
Dear Reader,
The idea for Kristy and the Sister War came first as a title — we liked the title so much that we decided to write a story to match! Kids often ask me where I get the ideas for my books and the answer is that they come from many different sources. Sometimes an idea is sparked by watching the news or reading the paper or a magazine. I read lots of magazines, everything from The New Yorker to People. The idea for BSC #84, Dawn and the School Spirit War, came from an article I read in a magazine.
Kids frequently send me plot ideas in their letters. I don’t use those specific ideas, but the letters are still helpful, because by reading them, I find out what issues are of concern to kids, or simply what they would like to read about in future BSC books. This was how the idea for BSC #93, Mary Anne and the Memory Garden, came about. Lots of books have been based on things that actually happened to me or to people I know. Some baby-sitting episodes are about things that happened to me when I was a sitter. My own baby-sitting memories gave me the idea for BSC #2, Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls. For me, the best story ideas come from real life. This is why when kids ask for writing tips, I always recommend that they keep a journal — not so much for writing practi
ce, but as a source of ideas.
Happy writing,
* * *
The author gratefully acknowledges
Ellen Miles
for her help in
preparing this manuscript.
About the Author
ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.
There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.) In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.
Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.
Copyright © 1997 by Ann M. Martin
Cover art by Hodges Soileau
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