Graduation Day.
Mary-Anne.
The day we had all been waiting for since our school careers had first began was finally here, our High School Graduation. I stood staring at myself in the mirror wearing my cap and gown. I couldn't believe I was actually graduating from High School. I had my long brown hair down so that it hung over my shoulders. I smiled at myself, surprised I wasn't crying yet. I knew I would be at some point during that day, so I hadn't bothered with make-up. As I stared at myself in the mirror, I thought back to the first day of High School.
It had been such a scary experience for me and my former best friends. All the kids seemed so much older then we were. We had been the oldest for so long in Junior High that it seemed strange to be back at the bottom again. I hadn't thought about my old friends for so long now, and the good times we had. Sure we still got along great if we ran into each other, but we were all apart of different crowds. I thought back to our old BSC days. BSC stood for the Baby-Sitters Club.
Back in the seventh grade, my best friend for life Kristy Thomas, had come with an idea to form a club where parents could reach several sitters at once. She had gotten the idea when she watched her mother make several phone calls trying to find a sitter for her little brother David Michael who had been six at the time. Neither she or her brothers had been available. She told me and our other best friend Claudia Kishi her idea and we were all in favour for it. Claudia invited a new girl she met who moved from New York named Stacy McGill and the four of us formed the club.
Over time the club grew, I met a new girl named Dawn from California (who happens to be my step sister now) and we became quick friends. I was fighting with Kristy, Claudia and Stacy at the time, so they didn't meet her right away. But when we all made up, we asked Dawn to join as well. It turned out our parents had dated back in High School but Dawn's grandparents (who are mine now as well) hadn't improved of my father and had sent Dawn's mother to live in California after they graduated High School.
My mother died when I was a baby and Dawn's parents divorced (which is why they came back to Stoneybrook Connecticut where we live) and it wasn't long before our parents started to date. They got married when we were in the eighth grade. Dawn and her younger brother Jeff who was ten at the time couldn't adjust to Stoneybrook and eventually moved back, though Dawn stayed longer then Jeff did. Dawn comes back often to visit, but we aren't as close we were when we were younger. But no one is.
When we were in the eighth grade we invited two more members to join the club, Jessica Ramsey (known as Jessi) and Mallory Pike. They were in the sixth grade at the time and couldn't sit late as us older members could, but they were a lot of help. The seven of us ended up growing close even if we were all different. Then as we grew close we all parted.
We had another friend who joined our group later, Abby Stevenson, she is another I haven't talked to for a very long time. She came when Dawn eventually left for California for good, shortly afterward, Mallory left for boarding school. Jessi who was a ballet dancer ended up leaving because of her ballet. She used to write us a lot in the beginning but she hasn't in years. I do still get the occasional letter from Mallory, but it isn't the same.
There is one important person who was in my life in the eighth grade whom I haven't mentioned yet. Logan Bruno. He was my boyfriend for the entire eighth grade, but we too parted. He is one person I still talk to a lot but he has a girlfriend I believe he is in love with. I've been over him for years, so it doesn't hurt as much as it did in the beginning, even if it was me who ended it. I am glad we've remained friends over the years though. He was my first boyfriend, one I don't think I can forget. Do we ever forget our first love though? I've had several boyfriends since Logan but none can measure up to him.
By the end of the eighth grade, it was just Kristy, Claudia, Stacy and me again. The original four club members. We four went to High School together holding hands. When I think back to it now I realize we all drifted apart the same way we let our hands drop. Kristy was holding my hand, while I held Claudia's and Stacy held Claudia's other hand. Stacy was the first one to drop hands. She had noticed a very good-looking boy who was in the senior year and pointed him out to us. She was the first one to leave our group in the ninth grade.
Stacy became very popular, quickly and she found a new group of friends who she thought was cooler then us. I shouldn't have been surprised, it had happened before in the eighth grade. She had come back though, and we had thought maybe she would again. I let go of Kristy and Claudia's hands next. Everyone who knew me would be surprised to know I was the next one to leave the group. I also found a new group of friends who didn't talk only about sports or art. I tried to be friends with Kristy and Claudia still too, I didn't want to be like Stacy who had ditched us completely. It was hard though, Kristy made it too hard by making me guilty for having other friends. Claudia ended up ditching me for Art students, which wasn't a surprise, she was and is a very talented artist. Kristy was the only one left who wanted to hang onto the past, but none of the rest of us did. Eventually she started hanging around a group who was interested in sports, and sports alone.
Thinking back to middle school and my old friends did bring tears to my eyes. I was brought back to the present quickly though when my bedroom door was flung open. Standing in the doorway was Dawn, my step sister. She had grown so beautiful over the years. She had her pale long blond hair down. It reached all the way down her back. She was wearing a long blue skirt with sea shells on it and a white tank top.
"Oh Mary-Anne!" She shrieked. "It's so wonderful to see you, and you're so beautiful in your cap and gown!"
She ran over to give me a tight hug. It was as if we hadn't seen each other in years, but it was only a week ago since I had seen her graduate from her High School. Before that, it had been at least a year. I hugged her back enthusiastically. Even if we weren't as close as we had been, I loved seeing her and her younger brother Jeff. Jeff had followed her in the bedroom and was leaning up against the wall smirking at us. At fifteen he was tall and a very good-looking boy for his age. I was sure he had a lot of girlfriends back in California.
"Girls." He said. "You're dad wants you downstairs Mary-Anne."
He turned and left, he only ever called my father Mr. Spier even though my father had always told him he could call him Richard. Jeff had never been comfortable with that though. Dawn grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room.
AN: This story is going to go back to the ninth grade and work it's way up to Graduation Day and so on. I'm doing Kristy, Claudia and Stacy's moment before Graduation as well first. The BSC time line is a little strange since they started eighth grade over and over again. So in this story Mary-Anne broke up with Logan at the end of eighth grade, Mallory and Dawn left at the end of the eighth grade. I want it to stay in order (there are a few books I have to re-read) because the BSC time line doesn't make sense. Mary-Anne and Logan break up around the time they got together but yet they were together all through eighth grade. So in this story, they get together at the beginning of eighth grade around Halloween and they break up good at the end of it. Hope that makes sense. Let me know if there is anything missing I should know. It may take time for me to get chapters up because I am also re-reading the books at the moment too.
This story will be told from Mary-Anne's, Claudia's, Kristy's, Stacy's and Logans. Not a lot from Logan though, but there will be chapters from him. Sometimes I will be putting in Mallory as well as some other random characters as they grow older. I like the Pike kids a lot, so there will be some chapters with a Pike kid and sometimes other people. Mostly it will be Mary Anne, Claudia, Kristy and Stacy though. I don't know Abby enough, so I will include her in but she might not have her own chapter until I've read her books. Oh and the chapters will be longer after the Graduation ones.
RR