Welcome Back, Stacey! (10 page)

I was the first to arrive at the Kishis', so I settled myself in my usual spot on Claudia's bed and watched her conduct a search for junk food. She was a little low that day and found only a roll of Lifesavers, a pack of those Twin-kies with that disgusting fruit-and-creme mixture inside of them, and a bag of taco chips.
Then I got to watch the other members arrive. Kristy thundered up the stairs in her jeans, sneakers, a sweater, and a turtleneck. Mary Anne entered Claud's room quietly, wearing a new flared green dress. Dawn bounced into the room in a pair of jeans with zippers up the legs, her long hair flowing down her back like a blonde waterfall. Jessi ran in breathlessly, straight from a dance class, her leotard still on under her clothes. And Mal arrived last, wearing a totally new outfit - a sequined sweat shirt, a short skirt, and pink leggings. None of us had seen her dressed like that before. Apparently, her mother and father hadn't, either.
"Can you believe it?" exclaimed Mal, without even saying hi to us. "My parents practically had nervous breakdowns over these clothes. I bought them with my own money, which I'm allowed to do, but they say this outfit's too grown up. I'm eleven, for heaven's sake." This is an old Mallory problem. We've heard the story before, but it doesn't mean we don't sympathize with Mal, so we listened patiently while she went on. (Luckily for Mal, it was only 5:25, so she had five minutes to talk before Kristy would get antsy.) "What do they want?" wailed Mal. "I've stopped asking to get contact lenses. And I got the stupid braces they're making me wear for two years. Sheesh." "Mal," I began, but she didn't hear me.
"I wish," she said at last, "that I could do something really great to prove to Mom and Dad that I'm not just a kid anymore." Kristy, Dawn, Mary Anne, Claudia, and I looked at each other. Sometimes Mal seems so young. But we made a few suggestions to her, and then Kristy began itching to bring the meeting to order. So she did.
"Any club business?" she asked.
The rest of us shook our heads. I was glad it was a Friday. If it had been a Monday, I would have had to collect our club dues, and nobody likes to part with her money.
Yes, that's right. Dawn had gratefully given me my old job of treasurer back. She's not as good at math as I am, and she'd liked being an alternate officer.
"More variety," she'd said. "I get to try all the offices. I just wish you guys would be absent more often so I could fill in for you. Kristy, I don't think you've ever missed a meeting. I'm dying to be president for a day." "Not a chance," said Kristy, grinning.
The phone rang then. Kristy and Dawn dove for it, but Dawn reached it first. "Hello, Babysitters Club," she said. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Perkins. . . . Tuesday afternoon? We'll check and get right back to you." Dawn hung up and announced that Mrs. Perkins needed a sitter for Myriah, Gabbie, and Laura on the following Tuesday. Kristy got the job, and Dawn called Mrs. Perkins to tell her so.
By six o'clock, the meeting ended, we'd lined up five jobs and eaten the whole bag of taco chips.
Mal and I rode our bikes home together.
"Are you glad you're back?" Mal asked as we approached my turn-off.
"Yes," I told her. But deep down I knew that I would never - ever - stop missing Dad or wishing that my parents were still together. But those were my private thoughts and I knew I was lucky. Lucky that my parents would let me go back and forth between them as long as it didn't affect my schoolwork, lucky that I didn't have to listen to fights anymore, lucky that since my mom insisted on moving she'd at least decided to return to Stoneybrook, where I could be with my old BSC friends.
"Yes," I said again to Mallory. "I'm glad I'm back." Mal smiled. "I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe I could come over now that we're neighbors." "Definitely." I returned Mal's smile.
Then I rode down the street to Mom and my new home.
About the Author ANN M. MARTIN did a lot of baby-sitting when she was growing up in Princeton, New Jersey. Now her favorite baby-sitting charge is her cat, Mouse, who lives with her in her Manhattan apartment.
Ann Martin's Apple Paperbacks are Bummer Summer, Inside Out, Stage Fright, Me and Katie (the Pest), and all the other books in the Babysitters Club series.
She is a former editor of books for children, and was graduated from Smith College. She likes ice cream, the beach, and I Love Lucy; and she hates to cook.