Disclaimer: I don't own the BSC (that's all Ann M. Martin).
Losing Control
Prologue
"This meeting of the BSC is officially called to order!" Kristy Thomas called out as the clock switched from 5:29 to 5:30. She adjusted her official vision and placed a pencil behind her ear, ready for the day's meeting. She was sure that she would come up with a bunch of great ideas as the meeting went on.
Though she was just beginning her sophomore year of high school, she was still as enthusiastic as ever about the BSC. Though high school was harder than she had anticipated, she still had a good balance of homework, babysitting, and coaching the Krushers. She couldn't imagine her life working in any other way.
The rest of the Babysitter's Club didn't feel quite the same way. Mary Anne Spier dutifully opened her notebook and couldn't believe how few jobs that they had booked for the upcoming weeks. Her Friday night was still open, which never happened. She guessed that she could stop by Logan's game.
Claudia Kishi didn't even try to seem interested in the meeting. The only reason the meeting was still held at her house was because she had her own number; the truth, in fact, was that Claudia could barely tolerate most of the members of the BSC, especially Kristy, Mary Anne, Mallory, and Jessi. She couldn't wait to get out of high school and get a place of her own – at least that would break up the club.
In the past two years, a lot of changes had been made. After fluctuating back and forth from two coasts, Dawn decided to permanently live in Stoneybrook. However, instead of taking her old position of alternate officer back, she was promoted to treasurer. Dawn's move happened just as Stacey McGill decided to permanently move to New York to be closer to her dad. Even though she was no longer an official member, she often took the train in on weekends and picked up extra jobs for extra cash. After all, being that close to Bloomingdale's all the time was putting Stacey in some severe credit card debt.
Jessi Ramsey and Mallory Pike were both absent from the meeting; Jessi had branched out into modern dance and had extra practices, and Mallory was finally getting her braces off. The age difference between the BSC never seemed to matter much in middle school, but now the group was split between two locations. While Jessi and Mallory still occasionally pretended that they were horses, the rest of the BSC considered themselves much more dibble than that.
5:35
As Claudia fidgeted with her dark braid, she thought about the possible outfits that she might wear the next day. Possibly a long fisherman's vest with leggings, and maybe she could wear lures in her ears? But would that be painful? She decided to ask Janine that night but figured she would probably do it anyway for the sake of fashion. After all, she had to keep up her label of being sophisticated.
5:38
Kristy was silently willing the phone to ring. Though she had to keep telling herself that the Club often had "off" days, she couldn't believe that they only had two jobs booked for the weekend. She'd tried to branch out the business a few times over the years (once even suggesting that the BSC could do housekeeping and pet sitting), but they'd never been in this big of a slump. Plus, she couldn't even account for two of her members. This was getting ridiculous. She used to be so in control….
5:46
Dawn was silently counting down the minutes in her head. She couldn't wait to get home to call her best friend, Sunny Winslow, back in California. She already was regretting moving back to Stoneybrook, especially when she was missing so much out in California. Her friend Ducky had finally come out to his friends and family, and Dawn wasn't even around to support him during the time. She slowly calculated how much a plane ticket for the weekend would cost and the realized it was impossible – she had dues to pay. Maybe she could transfer at the semester.
5:56
Kristy sighed audibly and decided that they could end a bit early. Since it was Claudia's room, she could answer the phone if a call came in. Claudia rolled her eyes and stuffed a Mallomar in her mouth, which immediately made Kristy defensive.
"Claud, we have a business to run. And you're the Vice President!"
"The only reason I'm Vice President is because I have a phone line," Claudia mumbled, mouth still full of chocolate and marshmallow.
"This is ridiculous - I'm not discussing club politics with you. Can't you just pick up the phone and answer it if it rings?"
"Sure, but it's not like the phone is ringing off the hook with jobs. We've barely booked anything in weeks. And if you haven't noticed, no one's excited to be here."
Kristy panned the room, where no one would catch her eye. "Mary Anne? Dawn? Is that true? No one is committed to the BSC anymore?"
Still looking down, Mary Anne replied softly, "Well, Kristy, it is difficult with high school and all. And we never get jobs…and we can never have any other after-school activities because we're here all the time?"
"So this is how all of you really feel! That's it, I'm done. This meeting of the BSC is officially over…for good."
And with that, Kristy stormed out the door. Claudia almost laughed as she watched the clock tick from 5:59 to 6:00.
Kristy let herself into her house as fast as she could. She didn't want anyone to see her cry, which she rarely did. In fact, the last time she could remember crying was when her dog Louie died. She locked herself into her private bathroom and cried so hard that she dry heaved. When she finally caught her breath, she looked at the one thing that could finally make her feel better.
The razor in the soap dish was a lot girlier than anything Kristy would usually like. Still, she found the pink plastic handle comforting as she grasped it in her hand. She rolled up the sleeves on her turtleneck and picked a spot she hadn't yet marked. Immediately, her head cleared and she felt relieved. At least her pain was something she could control.