Disclaimer: All characters and locations belong to Ann M. Martin. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 1
One day, me and my friends were sitting at the lunch table at school. We were talking about the soundtrack for the new movie that came out last Saturday. The piano music in it was so pretty. If only one of my friends could sing. We could all sing to the songs of the soundtrack together. But none of us really sings, and it would probably sound bad if we did. My friend Jessi is a ballet dancer and my friend Claudia is an artist. That is pretty much all the talent me and my friends have.
Before I go on, let me explain a little bit about myself and my friends. My name is Kristin Amanda Thomas, and I'm in the 8th grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. I live in a mansion with my mom, my stepfather Watson, my big brothers Sam and Charlie, and my little brother David Michael. My dad left my family when I was young. Charlie had to pretty much take over the family whenever Mom was at work. Watson's kids, my step brother and sister, Karen and Andrew, come to our house every other weekend, but other than that, they live with their mom and their stepfather Seth.
I cannot stand wearing dresses. I wear jeans and a turtleneck. I also have 6 other friends. Let me explain.
Mary Anne Spier is a shy girl who gets emotional easily. Her mother died when she was a baby, leaving her and her dad alone together. Her dad used to be very strict. Mary Anne used to not be allowed on the phone for more than 15 minutes at a time, and couldn't go anywhere she wanted whenever she wanted. This changed though when she finally stood up to him and told him that she was a big girl now, and that she needed to make her own choices. Mary Anne and I have known each other for years, since we were little kids. Mary Anne wears leggings with a long shirt over it.
Dawn Schafer moved to Stoneybrook from California, with her brother Jeff and her mom. Jeff however, didn't like Stoneybrook very much, and moved back to California to live with their dad. Dawn's mom married Mary Anne's dad, so now, Mary Anne and Dawn are stepsisters. Dawn likes healthy food, won't eat any junk food whatsoever. Dawn wears more jeans and shirts, with high top shoes.
Claudia Kishi lives with her parents and her sister Janine, who is a genius. Janine is only in high school, and she's already taking college classes. Claudia's grandmother Mimi died due to a stroke, which upset Mary Anne greatly, because Mimi always was a motherly figure to her. Claudia isn't like Janine at all. She doesn't like school, and enjoys art. Claudia takes art classes, and struggles with homework and grades. Her parents don't approve of Nancy Drew books, but she hides them in her bedroom and reads them whenever she can. She also hides candy and other junk in her bedroom, against her parents' wishes. No one except her and the BSC know about this. I will explain about the BSC later. Claudia wears more fashion clothes, and she wears makeup. If you expect her to wear the type of clothes that Mary Anne and I wear, you won't get that with Claudia. She looks much more grown-up than Mary Anne and I do.
Stacey McGill is Claudia's best friend. She moved to Stoneybrook from Near York City with her parents. When her dad was called back to New York, she moved back to New York for a while. Then her mom and dad got divorced, and she moved back with her mom. Stacey also has diabetes, so she can't have all the junk that Claudia has in her room. Instead, she has chips, crackers, etc. She has to take insulin every day, and she can't let her diabetes get out of control, or she'll land in the hospital. Stacey wears clothes like Claudia does.
Mallory Pike lives in a big family. She has 7 brothers and sisters named Claire, Margo, Nicky, Adam, Jordan, Byron, and Vanessa. Mallory wishes that she could get her ears pierced, but isn't allowed to. She can only baby sit after school and only until 10:00 at night. Mallory is in 6th grade at SMS. She wears purple jeans and a shirt most of the time. She's the oldest in her family, and I don't know how she can handle the madness every day of her life.
Jessi Ramsey is Mallory's best friend. She's also in the 6th grade, just like Mal. Jessi and her little sister Becca moved to Stoneybrook from New Jersey. Her family is black, so it was hard at first to get anyone to like her. The only person who accepted her for who she is was Mal. While everyone was teasing Jessi, Mal was right there with her. Jessi takes ballet classes, and sometimes comes either right on time, or a minute late to our BSC meetings. Okay, let me explain what the BSC is.
The BSC stands for Baby-Sitters Club. My friends and I are all in it. The club was my idea. It's not so much a club, but a business. Once, Mom couldn't find a baby sitter for David Michael, and because of that, she couldn't go do what she needed to do. That's when I got the idea to create the Baby-Sitters Club. I am the president, seeing as it was my idea in the first place. Claudia's the vice-president, because we have our meetings in her bedroom where she has a phone. Seeing as the rest of us don't have private phone lines in our rooms like Claudia does, that's why we use her room. Mary Anne is the secretary, and she writes down events and babysitting jobs in the BSC record book. When a client calls, we tell them to hold, and Mary Anne quickly looks through the record book to see who is available. With this club, a client can reach out to more than one baby sitter at once.
Stacey is the treasurer. Every Monday, we give her the money we earn by babysitting, and she puts it into an envelope. We use some of our money to pay for Charlie to drive me to the meetings, and we use the money to get more fun items for the Kid Kits. What's the Kid Kit? The Kid Kit is a box of fun toys and books for the child to play with on rainy days.
Dawn is the alternate officer. If one of the members aren't at the meeting, she takes their place for that day. Mallory and Jessi are junior officers, because they are in 6th grade while the rest of us are in 8th grade. We also have two officers who can be called if there are no sitters available. Shannon Killbourne lives on my street. We used to not get along, but now, she is a very good, experienced, baby sitter. Logan Bruno is Mary Anne's steady boyfriend. He is also a good, experienced baby sitter who can be called whenever needed.
BSC meetings start at 5:30 to 6 every Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays in Claudia's bedroom. During that time, we get calls from clients who need a baby sitter. Once we're done babysitting, we have to write in the BSC notebook. This will let all of us know what's going on with our clients. I think that's all you need to know about the BSC.
Anyway, we were talking about good piano players when I remembered a good piano player, who is also one of our clients.
"Hey guys! Do you guys remember the Felders? Their daughter Susan is a fantastic piano player!" I said.
"I know! I sat for her once!" Jessi said. "We haven't sat for the Felders in a while." Mary Anne commented. "I miss them."
If you don't know who we are talking about, here's a little background about the Felder family. They have an 8-year-old daughter. Her name is Susan, and she is autistic. She can remember what day it was all the way back to the 1960's, and she could play a song on the piano after only hearing it once. She is really talented.
Today was a Monday, and that meant that it was a BSC meeting. We all gathered in Claudia's room at 5:20. "I call this meeting to order!" I said. As president, it is my job to keep things rolling at our meetings. I have to make sure we are on task and get everything accomplished. Stacey collects dues, and we started talking about our availability for the next week. Then the phone rang, and I answered.
"Babysitters' club!" I said, picking up the phone. "Oh! Hello Mrs. Felder!" I said, making the room go quiet. "You need a sitter for Susan Saturday at 2? Okay, one moment and I'll check." Mary Anne, being the organized person, was already looking at the record book. "Kristy, you're free," She said. "Okay, Mrs. Felder. I will be there on Saturday at 2. Okay. Bye! See you then!" I said with excitement, putting down the phone.
"Well, we finally get to sit for the Felders again!" Jessi said. "I missed them!" But little did we know that sitting for the Felders was going to take a drastic turn.
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