With help by my little sister
Baby-Sitters Club
High School Years
Claudia and the Art Dilemma
I can not believe this is actually happening to me. I mean me; Claudia Lynn Kishi is actually going to be taking a Senior Art Class. I couldn't believe it when my art teacher. Mr. Solwinsky told me the news. I was ecstatic to the extreme. He said I had more potential then any one else in his classes, including the sophomores and juniors and even Ashley Wyeth. My parents were excited, including my genius sister Janine who's a senior this year, but is still taking college courses. At lunchtime I sat with my three best friends Stacey McGill, Kristy Thomas, and Mary Anne Spier. We were able to find a regular table since all grades are mixed during the four lunch periods that they have. "Claudia, that's great news. I mean working with hot senior guys." Stacey said.
"Yeah, but be careful too, I mean they may want you to do they're homework for them." Kristy joked as I shot her a look.
Everyone knew that my grades weren't exactly the best grades in the world, well the only grades I get good in is in art and well, art I guess. "Kristy, don't be so negative." Mary Anne said as she looked at me. "Don't worry Claud, you'll do fine. You're a great artist."
"But I still think you'll meet a lot of hot guys." Stacey said again.
I had to smile at her, she was my best friend, but sometimes she had boys on the mind a lot. "Did I hear someone say hot boys?" A voice from behind me asks.
"Not concerning you." Kristy said making a face as she picked at her lunch.
"Hey, Alan"
"Hey." He said giving me a kiss and pulled up a chair.
Yes this was the one and only Alan Gray. The disgusting boy who was the ultimate class clown, got suspened for setting off a cheery bomb in the boys bathroom, in fifth grade got a Yoo-Hoo poured down his shirt by Kristy, and well what else is there to say actually. But I saw a different side to Alan, his sensible side. I know what you're saying, but it's true. Alan Gray does have a different side from clowning around. "Claudia has good news." Mary Anne said.
"What is it?" He asked me.
"I got into the senior art class."
Alan gave me a hug. "That's great news."
"Thanks." I said smiling.
"Anytime." he said smiling back.
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I guess I better tell you about myself and my friends before I get too far ahead, shouldn't I? Well, my name is Claudia Lynn Kishi; I'm fourteen, and freshmen at Stoneybrook High School. I live with my mom who is the head librarian at our local library, my dad whom is partner in investment firm in Stanford, and my seventeen-year-old sister Janine whom is a real live genius. Serious though, her IQ is 196, which is considered an extreme genius too. I also live over on Bradford Court still, unlike all my other friends who have moved once or twice in they're life. I'm also Japanese-American. I have long jet-black hair, green almond eyes, and a total fashion taste. I can draw practically anything you would ask me too. I mean I can also make jewelry, and put together some real cool outfits too. I also love junk food and Nancy Drew mysteries, which I have hidden in my room since my parents disapprove of them. I'm also Vice President of the BSC, mostly since I have my own phone line and we hold meetings in my room.
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My best friend is Stacey McGill, her real name is Anastasia Elizabeth McGill, but she prefers Stacey. She's also fourteen and freshmen. She lives with her mom here in Stoneybrook, but she also visits her dad and his new wife Samantha in New York where she grew up. Her parents got a divorce when she was twelve. She also has Diabetes, which means she can't have any sweets or desserts, and also has a strict diet. She has to check her blood daily to see if she needs her insulin. She absolutely loves pigs too. She has a huge pig collection in her room. She has blonde hair, which is usually permed and bright blue eyes. Also like me she has great taste in fashion, but unlike me she loves math. Her boyfriend lives in New York and he's pretty cool. His name is Ethan, he sixteen, and gorgeous s Stacey would put it. Which is why she's the BSC treasurer.
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Then we have Mary Anne Spier. She lives with her dad and her stepmother. She's also the world's sappiest person in the world. Sorry, but it's true. I mean she cries so easily. You could whisper 'Old Yeller' in her ear and her eyes will bubble. She's also real sensitive and quiet too. Her mother died sometime after she was born. She also lives in her barn. I know what you're thinking. Why does she live in a barn? Well not long ago her house caught fire from bad electrical wiring, and they lost everything. She also has a gray and white kitten named Tigger. So she stayed in the house next to mine while the Goldmans were on vacation and they refurnished the barn into a house. She also has a stepbrother and a stepsister. Jeff is eleven who lives in California with his dad, his stepmother and his little sister. Her stepsister is Dawn (more about her later). She has short brown hair, and big brown eyes. Mary Anne unlike the rest of us doesn't have a boyfriend at this time. She had recently broken up with her long time boyfriend Logan Bruno over overlacking space, well that's how Kristy put it. She also has the world's best handwriting and is secretary of the BSC.
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Kristy Thomas is well bossy. As being President of the BSC and also coming from a huge family too. Her father left when her young brother was only a baby and he moved to California and got married. Kristy lives with her mom, her stepfather Watson whom is a millionaire, her two older brothers Charlie who is eighteen and Sam who is sixteen. Also her younger brother David Michael whom is nine. Also her stepsister Karen whom is eight and her stepbrother Andrew who is five. But that's not all to her family. Her grandmother lives there too along with her adopted sister from Vietnam, Emily Michelle who is now three. She also has a puppy named Shannon, a cat named BooBoo, two goldfish, a hermit crab named Bob, and a rat named Emily Junior. She has long brown hair, which is just usually pulled back into a ponytail, and brown eyes. She loves sports, especially baseball. She even coaches her own team called Kristy's Krushers. She has a sort of boyfriend named Bart Taylor. He goes to SHS now with us.
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Dawn Schaefer is Alternate Member of the BSC. She can come to meetings only when she's in Stoneybrook. She lives out in California with her dad, her step mom Carol, her brother Jeff, and her baby sister. She's also a member of the We Love Kids Club too. It's the California branch of baby-sitting, along with Maggie Blume, Sunny Winslow, and Jill Henderson. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes. Also she doesn't eat any sugar at all or meat.
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Well, that's the members of the BSC. The lunch bell rang and it was time for me to face my fear and go to art class. I wasn't afraid of art or anything or the teacher since it was still Mr. Solwinsky, but how good the other kids would be compared to me. He nodded at me and pointed to an empty desk. "All right kids, settle down. We have a new student to our class, Claudia Kishi." I felt all eyes turn towards me and I slightly blushed as he motioned for me to stand up. "Claudia is a freshmen here, but her work in art is very exquisite, so I thought it over and made the decision to let her try her skills with you older students."
I sat down as a girl walked over towards me. "Hi, I'm Adrienne."
"I'm Claudia." I said smiling.
Adrienne had on a pair of black jeans with butterflies on them and a matching butterfly shirt. She also had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. "So you think you can out do some of these guys?"
"I don't know."
"You'll have no problem." Adrienne chuckled. "Trust me on this, they think they know everything there is to know on art, but they don't. Most of them needed the extra class to graduate and for some reason I'm guessing they thought we'd be finger painting in here." She said giggling.
I giggled too. "You'll have no problems fitting in here Claudia. I can assure you that. I mean once your here for a week or even two days you'll be so popular with these guys they'll ask for your help on some suggestions on art projects and soon you'll be popular with all the seniors. Do you know any seniors? I mean besides me."
"Well, my sister is a senior."
"What's her name?"
"Janine Kishi."
"You're her sister?!"
"Yeah." I said not knowing if this was good or bad.
"Oh my god I have some classes at the college with her. She said she had a sister, I just never knew I'd meet her."
"Yeah." I said.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I won't compare you to your sister and neither will anyone else in this class."
"Thanks." I said smiling, I felt better already.
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Soon class had started as we were to draw still life. I was going to draw a bowl of fruit along with Adrienne and a guy named Damon. Adrienne whispered to Damon and he nodded. I started to get sort of suspicious. I mean she knows my sister is Janine, what if she wanted me to have her do they're homework for them or me for that matter. Then I could guarantee them a lower grade then they already have. Damon looked over at me and smiled. "Hi, I'm Damon."
"I"m Claudia."
"So Claudia are you sure you're a freshmen?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
"Oh, well you kind of look like a junior a bit."
"Thanks, I guess."
"I didn't mean that as a bad thing or anything like that, it's a good thing. I hope."
"It's a good thing." I said as he seemed to have sighed with relief.
"Damon is captain of the football team and the basketball team." Adrienne said smiling as he shot her a look. "But doesn't like to be known as a jock. His secret passion is art."
"Thanks so much for telling her something I could have."
"No problem." Adrienne said smiling. "He's also single."
Damon shot her a look to end all looks and Adrienne quickly turned back to her art. "You're single?"
"Yeah, I mean I was going to date this freshmen, but I found out she had a boyfriend."
"What was her name?"
"Stacey McGill?"
My mouth dropped open. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's just that Stacey is my best friend."
"Wow, I'm sorry." he said.
"What for?"
"I didn't mean to say I liked your best friend in front of you."
"It's okay."
"Hey, there's a football game tonight, you going?" Adrienne asked finally speaking up and ignoring any looks that Damon gave her.
"Um... actually yeah, a group of my friends and I are all going together. My friend's boyfriend is on the team. He's also a freshmen, but he made Varsity."
"Oh, you mean Bart Taylor?"
"Yeah."
"Cool, he's my neighbor."
"He is?" I asked shocked.
"Yeah, are you friends with his girlfriend Kristy Thomas?"
"Yeah, she's one of the friends I'm going with tonight."
"Awesome, her brother Sam and I are competing against each other for title of captain for softball team."
"Well, good luck."
"Thanks, well even if baseball isn't till Spring, but still it's a fierce thing between us."
"Hey when do you have lunch?" Adrienne asked me.
"I just had it before this class."
"Darn, I have it next, but you have lunch with Damon."
"Right that's when I first saw Stacey talking with Bart and some other people."
"What class do you have next?" Damon asked me at the end of class when we were cleaning everything up.
"Um..." I said looking at my schedule and made a face. "Science."
"What's so bad with science?" he asked.
"I almost failed cause of it, but I passed it in summer school."
"Hey, is your teacher Mr. Turner?"
I looked at my schedule again and nodded. "I'm his aide."
"Cool." I said.
Soon the bell rang and we all piled out of the class. "Bye Claudia, see you tonight." Adrienne said running to lunch.
"Is she always in a hurry?" I asked.
"Always, just like her parents."
"Oh." I said giggling as we reached class.
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We went in and I instantly saw Kristy, Stacey, Mary Anne, Abby and Anna Stevens, Logan Bruno, Pete Black, Cookie Mason, Bart, and Alan. Damon waved at Bart who waved back as he went up to Mr. Turner and I went to sit with my friends. I took the desk between Stacey and Alan. "Whose he?" Stacey asked me.
"His name is Damon, he's a Senior, captain of football and basketball team, arch rival to Sam Thomas for captain of baseball team in the Spring, but they're starting early, he used to have a crush on you until he found out you had a boyfriend and he's single, oh and he lives next to Bart Taylor." I said.
"What did you do ask him every question in the book?" Abby asked giggling, she was sitting in front of me.
"No, this girl name Adrienne told me."
"Oh."
Alex winked at me and I winked back. It was good to have him in my class. And hey maybe one day Kristy and he would actually get along. Fat chance.