"Summer!" Claudia cried out dramatically and flopped backwards onto her bed.
Kristy smiled at that and had another one-word exclamation: "Order!"
Stacey rolled her eyes. "Kristy, there hasn't been a club for three years."
Kristy looked hurt. "I know, Stace. But we're all together in Claudia's room... it just felt appropriate."
"I don't think I could deal with the added work of the Club during the school year. We're all so busy," I reminded her, hoping to stop a Great Idea in its tracks.
"That may be true, Mary Anne, but think of how great the Club would have looked on college applications!" Kristy cried out mournfully.
"Don't even mention college. I'm still having trouble with high school," Claudia moaned.
"We start applying in the fall, guys. Isn't that exciting?" Stacey asked. Stacey had been ready for college as soon as we had finished freshmen year. "Older, more attractive guys, challenging courses, getting to choose where in the country you want to live..." She trailed off.
"Except for the challenging courses part, it sounds okay, I guess," Claudia said.
Stacey gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You'll be fine, Claud."
Kristy interrupted this touching moment with her typical "Any new business?"
"Kristy..." Stacey said warningly.
"Oh, let her have her fun," Claudia said laughingly.
"I have some business, actually," I interjected.
"What is it, Mary Anne?" Kristy asked, leaning forward excitedly in her director's chair. The pencil over her ear fell off and as she leaned over to retrieve it from Claudia's messy floor, the chair topped over. Her attempt at a professional demeanour at a meeting for a club that no longer existed was now officially a failure.
"Well," I said, laughing a little but trying to cover it up so Kristy wouldn't feel bad, "Dawn is coming in from California next week. I'd like to throw a little 'Welcome Home' get-together, with all of her friends from Stoneybrook."
Claudia and Stacey stopped their hysterics long enough to give me their vote of approval. Kristy, on the other hand, had forgotten her humiliating moment and was now in Idea mode, eyes shining.
"We can invite all the old kids--like the Barretts, and the Newtons, and--"
"Don't forget the Stones," I interrupted. "Dawn loved to take kids to their farm."
"Where can we hold it?" Kristy wondered. "We can't use the barn, obviously." The barn had been converted into my family's home when our first home, the farmhouse on the same property, burned down in a terrible fire. It was a traumatic event; it's been nearly four years and I'm only now starting to feel really healed. Having a beautiful new barn-house, however, helped a lot.
"Sure we can," I said brightly. "We can make it a house party."
Stacey and Claudia weren't really listening to us. They were listening to Claud's radio which was tuned, as always, to WSTO. "Listen to this song, guys," Stacey said. "Doesn't it make you nostalgic?"
It was U4Me's hit from when we were in eighth grade, "I Don't Want to Say Goodbye."
"We should have pop culture things from four years ago at the party," Kristy said. "Make Dawn feel like she never left."
Claudia wrinkled her nose. "Some things are better left in the past, Kristy."
"Come on," Kristy said. "We're all here, starting a club project, listening to U4Me... doesn't it feel just like before?"
Kristy smiled at that and had another one-word exclamation: "Order!"
Stacey rolled her eyes. "Kristy, there hasn't been a club for three years."
Kristy looked hurt. "I know, Stace. But we're all together in Claudia's room... it just felt appropriate."
"I don't think I could deal with the added work of the Club during the school year. We're all so busy," I reminded her, hoping to stop a Great Idea in its tracks.
"That may be true, Mary Anne, but think of how great the Club would have looked on college applications!" Kristy cried out mournfully.
"Don't even mention college. I'm still having trouble with high school," Claudia moaned.
"We start applying in the fall, guys. Isn't that exciting?" Stacey asked. Stacey had been ready for college as soon as we had finished freshmen year. "Older, more attractive guys, challenging courses, getting to choose where in the country you want to live..." She trailed off.
"Except for the challenging courses part, it sounds okay, I guess," Claudia said.
Stacey gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You'll be fine, Claud."
Kristy interrupted this touching moment with her typical "Any new business?"
"Kristy..." Stacey said warningly.
"Oh, let her have her fun," Claudia said laughingly.
"I have some business, actually," I interjected.
"What is it, Mary Anne?" Kristy asked, leaning forward excitedly in her director's chair. The pencil over her ear fell off and as she leaned over to retrieve it from Claudia's messy floor, the chair topped over. Her attempt at a professional demeanour at a meeting for a club that no longer existed was now officially a failure.
"Well," I said, laughing a little but trying to cover it up so Kristy wouldn't feel bad, "Dawn is coming in from California next week. I'd like to throw a little 'Welcome Home' get-together, with all of her friends from Stoneybrook."
Claudia and Stacey stopped their hysterics long enough to give me their vote of approval. Kristy, on the other hand, had forgotten her humiliating moment and was now in Idea mode, eyes shining.
"We can invite all the old kids--like the Barretts, and the Newtons, and--"
"Don't forget the Stones," I interrupted. "Dawn loved to take kids to their farm."
"Where can we hold it?" Kristy wondered. "We can't use the barn, obviously." The barn had been converted into my family's home when our first home, the farmhouse on the same property, burned down in a terrible fire. It was a traumatic event; it's been nearly four years and I'm only now starting to feel really healed. Having a beautiful new barn-house, however, helped a lot.
"Sure we can," I said brightly. "We can make it a house party."
Stacey and Claudia weren't really listening to us. They were listening to Claud's radio which was tuned, as always, to WSTO. "Listen to this song, guys," Stacey said. "Doesn't it make you nostalgic?"
It was U4Me's hit from when we were in eighth grade, "I Don't Want to Say Goodbye."
"We should have pop culture things from four years ago at the party," Kristy said. "Make Dawn feel like she never left."
Claudia wrinkled her nose. "Some things are better left in the past, Kristy."
"Come on," Kristy said. "We're all here, starting a club project, listening to U4Me... doesn't it feel just like before?"
