I arrived at Claudia Kishis's house at exactly 5:29. Even though I still had one minute to spare, Kristy Thomas gave me a stern look from under her visor. I took my usual seat on the deskchair, sitting backwards so my chin rested on the top rung.
"This meeting of the Baby-Sitters Club is now in session," Kristy announced in her authoritative voice as the clock changed from 5:29 to 5:30.
Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey stopped the hand clapping game they had been playing on the floor and turned their attention to Kristy.
"Any club business?" asked Kristy.
"I think we should discuss our trip to New York," I said.
"I can't wait!" exclaimed Mary Anne Spier. "I'm so excited! I've bought all the latest books on New York."
"You're going to have enough for your own private library," Jessi said and everyone laughed.
I better stop and introduce myself. My name is Stacey McGill. I'm thirteen years old and I'm the treasurer of a wonderful club called the Baby-Sitters Club (BSC). Actually, it's more of a business than a club. Parents can call us from 5:30-6:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and reach seven experienced sitters! How convenient is that? My friends and I were going to the Big Apple for two weeks because of me! NYC is my birthplace. I lived there until I was 12 when I moved to Stoneybrook, Connecticut. I actually moved back to the city when I was thirteen when Dad got transferred, but now I'm back in Stoneybrook because my parents got divorced. I live with my mom, but I visit my dad often. I love Stoneybrook because all my friends are here, but I'm a real city girl at heart. I get told I look like a real sophisticated city girl with my wavy blonde hair, large blue eyes, and slender figure. I once tried modeling, but quit when I started missing important events such as when the kids we sit for put on a production of "Snow White," with Charlotte Johansson, my favorite charge, as the title character. As Kristy had told me, "Anyone cane be a model, but not everyone can be a member of the BSC." Right on! Anyway, my friends have all visited New York before, twice actually! (And in the same year). Originally it was just going to be Claud and I who would be going. I was going to visit my dad for two weeks, like I usually do in the summer, and he told me I could invite anyone I wanted. Naturally, I invited Claud since she's my best friend. Well, it turned out that Kristy's family was also planning a trip to New York at that exact same time and Watson, Kristy's REALLY RICH stepfather (he's a millionaire!) told Kristy she could invite the other members of the BSC so nobody would be left out! We'd all be leaving for the Big Apple in two days!
"Want some pretzels, Stace?" Claudia was sitting on her bed between Mary Anne and Dawn Scahfer. She took a bag of mini pretzels and I caught them. "Thanks."
"Sure." Claudia took a large bite from a Mars Bars.
Claudia Kishi is Vice President since she has her own private phone line. She loves junk food and keeps it hidden all over her room, but she also keeps healthy food around for Dawn and me. (Dawn hates junk food, but I can't eat it because I have a disease called diabetes which means I can't eat sugar. (If I do, I might die!)) With her love of junk food, you might think she's fat and pimply, but you'd be wrong! Claudia is gorgeous with long, dark silky hair, a creamy complexion, and almond shaped eyes. She's Japanese-American, so she has an exotic look. Claudia isn't the best student, though. Spelling is her worst subject. Being a horrible student isn't fun when you live in a house with a real genius! Claud's older sister, Janine, is just that! She's only in high school and she's taking college courses. Claudia is a fantastic artist though. Someday, after she is long gone, I know her artwork will be hanging up at the Met! One of the main reasons Claud and I are best friends is because we're both sophisticated for our age. We both loves clothes, boys, and makeup, but not necessarily in that order! While I dress in a sophisticated, trendy way, Claudia is very creative with her outfits. She has an incredible sense of style. For example, today she was wearing a denim skirt over purple leggings and a black bodysuit. On her legs were yellow and black leg warmers. Her hair was styled in a side ponytail with different color ribbons and her earrings were really cool. One was a large outline of a star, and the other was just a gold stud. That's Claudia for you! Anyone else probably couldn't pull this outfit off, but Claud sure could!
"I hope Logan and Shannon will be able to handle all the baby-sitting jobs while we're gone," Kristy muttered. (Logan Bruno and Shannon Kilbourne are associate members of the club, which means they don't attend meetings, but help us out when we need sitters). "I don't want to send the message to any of our customers that we're unreliable."
Kristy Thomas is the President of the BSC because it was her idea! Kristy gets lots of great ideas. I bet she will be the first woman POTUS someday! (POTUS stands for President of the United States). She can be a bit bossy and brash sometimes, but we still love her. Kristy doesn't care about her looks, but I think she could be quite pretty if she put some more effort in her appearance. She has brown eyes and brown hair she usually pulls back in a ponytail. Her "uniform" consists of jeans and a t-shirt, or a sweatshirt, depending on the weather. She's one of the shortest people in our grade (8th), but don't let that fool you! Kristy is one tough chica! She loves sports - she even coaches a softball team for some of the kids we sit for - the youngest player is two years old! I already mentioned that Kristy's step dad is a millionaire and she lives in a mansion! When she was younger, her dad walked out on her family, but Kristy's mom ended up marrying Watson last year. Kristy has a huge family - it could rival the Tanners from "Full House!" Here's who lives in the mansion: Kristy, her mother, Watson, Kristy's older brothers, Sam (17) and Charlie (15), her younger brother, David Michael, (8) her adopted sister Emily Michelle (2 ½), her grandmother (aka Nannie), and on the weekends, Watson's children from his previous marriage, Karen (7) and Andrew (5) live with them. Everyone would be going on the trip except for Nannie and Emily Michelle. (Emily Michelle is too young, so Nannie would stay home with her).
Kristy's best friend is Mary Anne Spier, who's the secretary. While Kristy is a loudmoud, Mary Anne is shy and sensitive. She'll cry over the smallest things! Believe it or not, Mary Anne is the only one of us who has a steady boyfriend! His name is Logan Bruno. (Yes, one of our associate members). He's from Kentucky and looks exactly like Cam Geary, Mary Anne's favorite actor! Mary Anne used to be a little shy crybaby when her dad was strict with her. Her mom died when she was a baby, so her dad thought he had to be extra strict when he raised her, making her wear her hair in braids, not allowing her to fix up her room the way she wanted, basically making her dress like a second grader, that kind of stuff. But Mary Anne's dad stopped being such a prick when he was reunited with his high school sweetheart and married her. And guess what! Mary Anne happened to gain a stepsister who's not only her other best friend but another member of the BSC!
Dawn Schafer grew up in California. She's such a California girl! She's gorgeous with long, silky, almost white hair and blue eyes. She always has the best tans when she comes home from visiting her home state. She visits Cali a lot because her dad and younger brother, Jeff, live out there. See, when Dawn's parents divorced, her mom moved out here with Dawn and Jeff because she grew up here. Jeff was unhappy in Connecticut and decided to move back. Dawn misses him a lot, but she's glad he's happy. Dawn's a real individual. She doesn't care what anyone things about her. She's also into helping the environment and saving anything that needs to be saved. As I mentioned before, Dawn HATES junk food with a passion. She'll only eat healthy stuff. Dawn is the alternate officer, which means if somebody can't make a meeting, she'll fill in for that person's job.
And last but not least are Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey. They're junior officers because they're only eleven and in the sixth grade and can't sit during nights. They're best friends and can relate to each other because they're both the oldest of their families and feel their parents treat them like babies. But they're also very different. Mallory comes from a large family. She has seven younger brothers and sisters! Can you imagine? I'm glad I'm an only child! Mallory has red frizzy hair and glasses and wear braces. She wants to get her hair straightened and contacts (understandably), but her parents say no. Mal loves to write and draw and hopes to write and draw children's books one day. Jessi has a smaller family, only a younger sister and brother. She loves to dance, she's a wonderful ballerina! She's had the lead in a lot of productions! Oh, one more thing you should know is that Mallory is white and Jessi is black. That doesn't bother me because I'm from New York, so I'm used to being around a lot of black people, but here in Stoneybrook, the Ramseys are one of the few black families. But now everyone is cool with it.
"I can't believe we'll be staying at the Plaza!" Mary Anne said excitedly. "Did you know it was declared "the best hotel in the world" when it was completed in 1907?"
"Fascinating," Claudia said. She gave me a look that said she was glad we would be staying at my dad's apartment. I reciprocated it.
"New York better watch out because the BSC is coming!" Mallory said with giddy excitement.