In January of seventh grade, Dawn Schafer moved to town. Her mother had grown up in Stoneybrook, so after she and Dawn’s dad decided to get a divorce, she moved back here from California. And Mrs. Schafer and Mr. Spier began to see each other, and finally got married. Mary Anne and Dawn, who were already close friends, became stepsisters. The Spiers moved into the old farmhouse Mrs. Schafer had bought, and suddenly Mary Anne had a much bigger family — a father, a stepmother, a stepsister, and a stepbrother. (I’ll tell you about Jeff, her stepbrother, in a few minutes.) Oh, and Tigger, her kitten. This was quite a change, but Mary Anne likes her new family — most of the time.
You must be curious about Dawn by now, since she’s Mary Anne’s sister as well as one of her best friends. Let’s see. Dawn and her younger brother, Jeff, were born in California. They lived there until the divorce. Then they moved to Connecticut with their mom. As you can imagine, this was sort of a shock for them, moving clear across the country — and leaving mild California for a snowy Connecticut winter. They also left their father, of course, which turned out to be especially hard on Jeff. Long before his mother and Mary Anne’s father decided to get married, Jeff moved back to California. He simply couldn’t adjust to his new life. Now he lives happily with his dad. Tough as the past couple of years have been, Dawn has accepted things well. She seems happy with her new life and her family, maybe partly because she gets to visit California pretty often. But mostly, that’s just how Dawn is. She’s practical and calm, which is good for Mary Anne, and she’s also very much an individual. She dresses the way she likes, no matter what other people are wearing, and she eats the way she likes — which is healthy. Dawn does not eat meat or sweets. What she likes are fruits and vegetables and a few weird things such as tofu and bean sprouts.
Dawn and Mary Anne have gotten along well from the moment they first met each other. Mary Anne is as accepting as Dawn is. Dawn is quieter than Kristy, and she and Mary Anne share a love of reading and of certain movies. (Dawn especially likes ghost stories, which is interesting because in her house is a secret passage … which may be haunted.)
All right. On to Stacey and Claudia, the last pair of best friends. Boy, are they different from anyone else in the club. They are so sophisticated. It’s hard to believe they’re the same age as Kristy, Dawn, and Mary Anne, and only two years older than Mallory and me. Somehow, Stacey seems even more sophisticated than Claud. I guess that’s because she grew up in big, glamorous New York City. She lived there until the summer before seventh grade. Then she and her parents (Stacey is an only child) moved to Connecticut when, just like with my family, the company her dad works for transferred his job to Stamford. Stacey liked Connecticut, and right away, she and Claudia met and became friends. The McGills had been living in Stoneybrook for less than a year when guess what. Mr. McGill’s company transferred him back to New York. So Stacey and her parents left Stoneybrook. (Want to hear something weird? When the McGills sold their house, my family bought it! We live in Stacey’s former home. In fact, my bedroom used to be Stacey’s.) Anyway, while the McGills were in New York for the second time, something sad happened. Stacey’s parents decided to get a divorce. Almost as bad, Mr. McGill wanted to remain in New York City because of his job, while Mrs. McGill wanted to return to Stoneybrook, which she had liked very much — and Stacey was left with a dilemma. Where did she want to live (and with which parent)? The decision was hers to make, and it was a tough one. At last Stacey chose to move back to Connecticut with her mother, but she thinks she hurt her father’s feelings.
Life has not been easy for Stacey McGill. Apart from her family problems, she has a physical problem, a disease called diabetes. Diabetics do not process sugar properly, which can mess up their blood sugar level. Unfortunately, Stacey has a severe form of diabetes (she’s called a brittle diabetic), and not only has to stay on a strict, calorie-counting, no-sweets diet, but has to give herself injections of something called insulin every day. (Ew.)
Despite these things, Stacey has emerged as one of the coolest kids in all of SMS. She dresses in really chilly clothes — leggings, cowboy boots, hats, short skirts, a lot of black, etc. She has blonde hair, which her mother lets her perm every now and then, and, of course, her ears are pierced. (By the way, speaking of pierced ears, did I mention that Dawn has had each of her ears pierced twice?) Stacey’s are pierced the regular way, like Mal’s and mine.
Claudia’s aren’t. Claudia Kishi, whom I suppose is the funkiest dresser of all the BSC members, has had one of her ears pierced once and the other twice. Her clothes are similar to Stacey’s, but I suppose that if Claudia were to offer a fashion tip, it would be, “Accessorize to the max.” She certainly follows her own advice, wearing tons of hats, belts, boots, jewelry (she makes a lot of the jewelry), and hair ornaments. Claud has beautiful, long, black hair, which she wears in different styles. She’s really striking-looking. Her parents are Japanese, and Claud’s features are exotic. Plus — despite a passion for junk food — her complexion is gorgeous.
Claud is … I was about to say she’s a real character, but I guess what I mean is that she’s fascinating, at least to me. Her bedroom tells a lot about her. It’s full of hidden things — the junk food her parents disapprove of, and the Nancy Drew mysteries she loves to read but which her parents also disapprove of. And it is cluttered with art supplies. Claudia is a really talented artist. Not only does she make jewelry, but she paints, draws, sculpts, throws pots (that means she creates pottery), and more. Some of her work has been awarded prizes. This is good for Claud because she is not much of a student — but her older sister, Janine, is a genius. Luckily Claud is recognized for her artwork, since Janine sweeps up in the academic category.
Claud was born and raised in Stoneybrook, and she and Janine live with their parents (no pets). You can see that while Claud and Stacey are wild (even daring) and outgoing, their families and backgrounds are quite different, which only goes to back up my half-formed theory about best friends.
I realized that I’d been staring at the kitchen phone for about five minutes, while my mind wandered. I shook my head. Then I reached for the receiver. I was just about to call Mallory when …
“Who!” cried Squirt, and I looked at his feet and saw that one shoe was missing.
I had to go on a sneaker hunt before I could phone Mal.
I didn’t reach Mal until that evening. But I was glad I finally did. Mal is so practical. She said, “Why don’t you talk about the Kids Club at the next BSC meeting?”
What a simple, wonderful suggestion. Of course I should mention the Kids Club to my friends. They always have good ideas. Especially Kristy. She is the Queen of Good Ideas.
In fact, without Kristy, there wouldn’t be a Baby-sitters Club at all…. What is the Baby-sitters Club? Well, for those of you who don’t know, the BSC is a very successful sitting business that my friends and I run here in Stoneybrook. One reason the business is so successful is the official way in which we conduct ourselves. The BSC meets regularly, and each member has a special job or role.
The club began awhile ago — before Dawn and I even lived in Stoneybrook. And when Mal was young enough so she was still a baby-sittee, not yet a baby-sitter. Everything started with Kristy. Back when she, Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne were just beginning seventh grade (and when Stacey had just moved to Connecticut for the first time), Kristy, her mom, and her brothers were living in their old house across the street from Claudia and next door to Mary Anne. Mrs. Thomas had only been seeing Watson Brewer for a short time. And David Michael was just six years old. Charlie, Sam, and Kristy were supposed to take turns watching him after school (until Mrs. Thomas came home from her office), but they lead busy lives, so every now and then a day would come along when none of them was free to take care of their little brother. Then Mrs. Thomas would have to rush to line up a baby-sitter. One evening, Kristy was watching her mom make one call after another, trying to find an available sitter, when she got her best idea ever.
Her mother would save a lot of time if she could make just one phone call — and reach a whole bunch of sitters.
And that was the beginning of the Baby-sitters Club. As soon as she could, Kristy told Mary Anne and Claudia about her idea, and they decided to meet several times a week. If people who needed baby-sitters called them during meetings, they’d reach three capable sitters. Mary Anne and Claudia loved the idea but thought they needed a fourth member. Claud suggested Stacey, with whom she was just becoming friends. So Stacey met Kristy and Mary Anne and was made the fourth member of the BSC.
The club was a success from the beginning. I think this was for two reasons. One, Kristy knows how to advertise. Two, Kristy is the perfect club president, since she also knows how to run things. Why was advertising so important in the beginning? Because that’s how people learned about the BSC. The club members had decided to meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons from five-thirty until six. But how would anyone else know that? They made up fliers and distributed them in the neighborhood. They placed an ad in the local paper. And they told everyone they could think of about their new business.
What a success! By the middle of that school year, when Dawn moved to town, the girls were doing so much business that they needed a fifth club member. And later, when Stacey had moved back to New York, she was replaced by both Mal (who was finally old enough to sit) and me. Of course, after her parents’ divorce, when Stacey returned to Stoneybrook, she rejoined the club immediately. We have seven members now (plus two associate members whom I’ll describe later) and I think that’s enough!
Remember when I said that Kristy is the perfect president? This is why: Besides deciding that the club should meet three times a week and that we should advertise our services, she decided that everyone should have certain responsibilities, or hold a certain position in the club. So Kristy became the president. (After all, the BSC was her idea.) As president, she’s responsible for running things smoothly, and for continuing to come up with great ideas. Here are some of her ideas:
— To keep a club notebook. The notebook is more of a diary. Kristy insists that each of us write up every single job we go on, and that we read everyone’s entries once a week. I’ll tell you something. Most of us do not like writing in that diary. It’s boring. But — we all like reading the notebook. Now that’s interesting. We find out what happened when our friends were sitting, how they solved sticky sitting situations, and what’s going on with the families we sit for regularly. (It’s always helpful to know if a child has developed a new fear, has been sick, is having trouble in school, or if a child has a new interest, has done well at something, has a new friend, etc.)
— To keep a club record book containing information about the clients of the BSC. For instance, their names, addresses, and phone numbers, the ages of their kids, and the rates they pay. Also included in the record book are the appointment pages, where Mary Anne (the club secretary) schedules all of our jobs; and a section where Stacey (the club treasurer) records how much money we earn while sitting.
— To create Kid-Kits. Here is Kristy at her brilliant best! Kristy took a simple idea (that, for whatever reason, kids like playing with other people’s toys better than their own), and turned it into, well, another great idea. A Kid-Kit is a box (we each have one) that we fill with our own (old) games, books, and toys, as well as some new things that have to be replaced from time to time, such as crayons and other art materials, coloring books, sticker books, etc. We sometimes take the kits with us when we baby-sit. They’re great for rainy days, for entertaining new sitting charges, and sometimes for absolutely no special reason! The kids love Kid-Kits, so when their parents come home, they find happy faces, which makes them more likely to call the BSC the next time they need a sitter.
Whew! Sometimes Kristy’s brain is hard to keep up with.
Okay. On to the vice-president of the BSC. That’s Claudia. She gets to be vice-president because we hold our meetings in her bedroom. Her room was chosen because Claud has her own telephone and her own phone number. This is important (and lucky). During our meetings we spend a lot of time on the phone. It’s nice to know that when we use Claud’s phone, we aren’t tying up some adult’s line for a half an hour three times a week. Claud is very generous — with her room, her phone, and her junk food (club snacks). She deserves to be vice-president.
As I mentioned before, Mary Anne is our secretary. This is a fairly complicated task. In order to schedule sitting jobs, Mary Anne has to keep track of my ballet lessons, Claud’s art classes, Mal’s orthodontist appointments, Stacey’s weekends with her father, etc. Then she records our jobs on the appointment pages. That’s not easy. Plus, she’s in charge of keeping the information in the record book up-to-date.
In fact, Mary Anne is in charge of the entire record book — except for one section. That section is Stacey’s, where, as our treasurer, she makes a list of the money we earn. This is just for our information. Each of us gets to keep all the money from every job we take. (We don’t try to divide up the money or anything.) We do, however, have to contribute club dues at the Monday meetings. We all hate parting with our money, but dues are important. Stacey puts the money in our treasury (a manila envelope) and doles it out as needed. We spend dues money on lots of things. We use it to buy more items for the Kid-Kits. We use it to help pay Claud’s phone bill. We use it to pay Charlie Thomas to drive Kristy to and from meetings now that she no longer lives in the neighborhood. And sometimes we use it for something fun, such as food for a BSC sleepover. Stacey is a good treasurer because she’s an excellent math student. (She actually likes math.)
Dawn is called an alternate officer, which is like being an understudy in a play. She knows the duties and responsibilities of every club member, so she can fill in if someone has to miss a meeting. (When Stacey temporarily moved back to New York, Dawn became the treasurer. She gladly gave up that job when Stacey returned. She couldn’t stand our grumbling each time she collected dues. Besides, she hates math.)
Guess what Mallory and I are in charge of. Nothing. Well, I don’t really mean nothing. We’re good baby-sitters. It’s just that because we’re eleven, and the unfortunate product of overprotective parents, we’re not allowed to sit at night (unless we’re sitting for our own brothers and sisters). Mostly, we sit after school and on weekend days. Because of this, we are the club’s junior officers. Sometimes I feel a little unimportant since when Mal or I miss a meeting, Dawn doesn’t have to do anything to replace us. However, Kristy assures us that we’re necessary. Without Mal and me to take on so many daytime jobs, she says, she and the older club members would have to turn down some of the evening jobs.
I know that makes us sound busy, and we are. (Busy, I mean.) We’re busy enough so that we had to sign on those two associate members I told you about earlier. An associate member doesn’t come to club meetings but is a reliable sitter we can call on in case a job is offered to the club that none of us full-time members can take. You’d think that with seven people and seven schedules, that wouldn’t happen. But it does. Occasionally. And when it does, we offer the job to one of our associates. (That way, we don’t have to disappoint our clients.) Our associate members are Shannon Kilbourne, a friend of Kristy’s who lives in her new neighborhood, and Logan Bruno. Logan is Mary Anne’s boyfriend!
This is how a club meeting typically starts. My friends and I trickle into Claud’s room between five-fifteen and five-thirty. I usually arrive dangerously close to five-thirty. That’s because often I rush to a club meeting after I’ve had a ballet lesson in Stamford.
Kristy is always sitting in Claud’s director’s chair, wearing a visor, a pencil stuck over one ear. This is her Presidential Look. She keeps an eye on the digital alarm clock, which is our official club timepiece. As soon as those numbers turn from 5:29 to 5:30, Kristy is on the case. She sits up straight, trying to appear as tall as possible. Then she says, “Any club business?” This is the clue for Stacey to collect dues (if it’s Mon
day). It’s also the time for us to raise questions or to talk about problems. Usually these are baby-sitting questions or problems. But not always.
The day after Becca came home with her sad news about the Kids Club, I was still thinking about Mr. Katz and Ms. Simon. When Kristy said, “Any club business?” I cleared my throat.
“Yes, Jessi?” said Kristy.
“I’ve been thinking. You know the Kids Club?” I began. Everyone nodded, so I explained what was happening.
“That’s pretty rotten,” Kristy commented when I had finished talking.
“Yeah. Nicky and Vanessa are really upset,” added Mallory.
“So’s Becca,” I said. “And that’s what I was thinking about. There must be some way to keep the club going.”
“I can’t believe no one will volunteer to take Ms. Simon’s place,” said Dawn.
“Me, neither…. But I have this idea.”
“What?” asked Mary Anne.
“I could take Ms. Simon’s place.”
Silence.
“I want to help out,” I began.
“Jessi, what aren’t you telling us?” said Kristy.
“My idea. I haven’t told you the whole idea yet. This is — oh, all right. I’ll just say it. I thought that maybe, instead of baby-sitting for the next month or so, we could do some volunteer work. I’d really like to help with the Kids Club.”
I had absolutely no idea how the other members of the BSC were going to react to this. Mal and I don’t usually make major suggestions, us being junior members and all. It occurred to me that Kristy might kill me.