September 8, 1990

Stoneybrook High School, Stoneybrook, Connecticut

2:58 PM

"We have to band together if we're going to defeat these vampires," the girl whispered, eyes sparkling with determination. "This city is depending on us. We'll just have to work together…"

"Ugg." Mallory Pike groans at her own cliché-saturated writing. She is currently slumped over a lab table in Chemistry class, protective goggles encasing her dorky glasses. Bored out of her mind, she is brainstorming ideas for a new story instead of focusing on the assignment at hand. Why did I sign up for Advanced Placement Chemistry anyways? Mal laments this academic decision; she is an intelligent girl but her true strengths lie in the liberal arts, not the sciences. She jots down some more exceedingly fleeting thoughts, outlining a basic plot involving a heroine and her companions battling occult threats.

-Vampires

-Werewolves

-Witches

-Warlocks

-Monsters

-Attacking the town

-Friends fight them off, save people and the town

-Keep adventures secret

Mallory examines her eclectic list and frowns. Vampires? Monsters? It all seems so outdated. Stoker and Shelley had done it well, but that was back in the day. Today, such topics constituted cheesy horror-gothic junk. Not material for a serious writer. Frustrated by her own lack of creativity, Mal brushes the paper aside, struggling to come up with a more mature tale.

"Mal…"

Maybe a book about a girl trying to write a book in science class…

"Mal! The Bunsen burner!"

No. Too boring.

"Mallory Pike! You're on fire!"

"Huh?" Mal looks up, with vague interest.

"YOUR HAIR IS ON FIRE!" Kristy screams, frantically pointing from across the room. Mallory blinks and dares to glance at her hair. Sure enough, several strands have been partially set alight by the flickering Bunsen burner set on the table before her. Breath stopping, palms prickling, a frozen Mal does nothing. Kristy, however, thinks on her feet. She snatches a large beaker of water off a nearby table, sprints over to her petrified friend, and splashes it over her head. Mal sputters, vision blurred by her drenched glasses lenses. She glances at the singed ends of her frizzy red hair in utter disbelief.

"GOT IT!" Kristy announces, brightly. She takes a hammy bow as the class applauds; snickering fills the room.

"Thank you, Miss Thomas. Miss Pike!" the Chemistry teacher snips, "I must ask you to be more careful in this class. We are handling dangerous equipment here and you must be paying attention at all times."

"S-sorry," the soaked girl manages. The bell rings. Thank God, thinks Mal as she dries off her glasses.

"Alright, that's all the time we have. Class dismissed."

"Thanks, Kristy," Mallory smiles, weakly.

"No problem, Mal!" The Junior grins broadly. "The flames were probably just attracted by your fiery locks." Kristy guffaws at her own lame ginger-joke. "Also, don't forget, Pike. Meeting today, usual time."

"Alright, I'll be there." Mal struggles to keep the hesitation from her voice as she power walks out of the science room.

"Miss Thomas, may I talk to you for a moment?" the Chemistry teacher asks. Kristy hurries over to him, slinging her bag across her shoulder.

"What's up, Mr. Chesterton?"

"I just finished grading your summer work, that paper on Trigonal bipyramidal molecular geometry."

"Oh God…Was is alright? Did I fail? I kinda rushed it I'm sorry if it came out horrible—"

"Horrible? Kristy, it was fantastic!"

"Really?"

"It was quite insightful. The work of a Chemistry scholar."

"Thanks, Mr. Chesterton!" Kristy beams. "I guess I've always kinda liked science a bit…"

"Would you consider joining the science club? You could participate in research projects, even enter in science fair."

"Well…"

"I assure you it's not a second rate organization. We've had students win prestigious national awards and scholarships. We meet most days after school."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Chesterton. I just can't swing it."

"Really? Why not?"

"I've got too much on my plate. Softball practice, homework."

"One of your classmates, Bart Taylor, also participates in afterschool sports." Kristy flinches slightly at the mention of this particular student. "The science club doesn't interfere with his schedule."

"Yeah, but unlike Bart I've also got babysitting."

"Babysitting?" The teacher appears surprised.

"Yep. It's a pretty big time commitment, takes up a lot of my afternoons. So I'm sorry, Mr. Chesterton, but I just couldn't handle another thing. My brain would explode or something. Sorry."

"It's alright, I understand that you have a busy schedule. Junior year can be quite stressful."

"Boy, you got that right." Kristy grabs her backpack, glancing back. "Hey! Mal forgot her worksheet!"

"Oh dear, she did seem rather distracted in class today."

"That's Mal for you! Great kid, but kinda spacey at times. I'll be seeing her later; I'll give it to her then. See ya, Mr. C!"

"Be seeing you, Miss Thomas."

Kristy saunters into the swarming hallway, glancing over Mal's worksheet. After giggling over her incorrect, half-hearted calculations, her eyes drift over a certain list.

-Vampires

-Werewolves

-Witches

-Warlocks

-Monsters

-Attacking the town

-Friends fight them off, save people and the town

-Keep adventures secret

Kristy frowns, standing still in the congested halls. Students flow around her, eager to reach their lockers at the end of the long day. For Kristy, the long day is only beginning…

"Kristy, you okay?" It's Claudia, strolling towards her friend, glittery, ripped snowman sweatshirt attracting several bemused glances. Her eyes, encircled with electric blue eyeliner, are filled with concern for her frozen friend.

"Read." Kristy thrusts the paper into her artistic friends hands. "It's Mal's."

"Her Chemistry worksheet?" Claudia frowns. She strokes her chin, sarcastically. "Electron configuration. Fascinating."

"Read what she wrote at the bottom."

"Whoa." Claudia's outlined eyes widen.

"Yeah."

"Oh. My. Lord. Do… do you think she knows?" Claudia whispers, cautiously. "About what we really do…."

"Well, this implies that she does. Witches. Vampires. She's got the details down. She must know what… well, what's really going on with the BSC. And if Mal knows, you can bet Jessi does too."

"What should we do?" The artsy girl bites her lip, anxiously.

"Recruit 'em. Not just for babysitting. For real this time." Kristy folds the worksheet, placing it in her jacket pocket. "What else can we do?"

"This meeting of the BSC will now come to order," announced Kristy. She is perched precariously on the director's chair, visor shielding her eyes, pencil stuck over her ear. She stares hard at the notebook in her lap.

"Anything wrong, Kristy?" Jessi asks, brow furrowing. The Club President for life appears somewhat more tense than usual.

"Everything's great." Kristy's smile is obviously forced. "Just fantastic." Mary Anne raises her eyebrows, bewildered by her friend's artificial cheer.

There is a nasty pause.

"Alright, let's fill up the treasury." Stacey flips her long blonde hair out of her face, producing the dreaded envelope from her purse. Obediently, everyone deposits the required club dues.

"So, guys, I have some pretty big news," Mary Anne pipes up, suddenly.

"You and Logan are getting back together?" Claudia guesses, happily.

"WHAT?" Mary Anne wails, horrified. "No! No!"

"Way to go, Claud," Kristy smirks, "You're in direct violation of Article Three, Clause Seven of the Logan Bruno Embargo, banning and prohibiting the mention of Mr. Bruno and his past affiliation with Miss Spier at all BSC meetings and functions." Mary Anne holds her head in her hands, clearly traumatized by the brief remark concerning her old boyfriend. She and Logan have shared a sometimes-turbulent relationship over the years. Ever since middle school, they've been on again, off again. Recently, as summer vacation entered its twilight weeks, just when their relationship began looking up, Logan had suddenly and inexplicably dumped Mary Anne. Just like that. A sensitive romantic, she had been utterly devastated by the abrupt and unprecedented break up.

"Never… again," Mary Anne sniffs, glaring at Claudia.

"Wishful thinking, sorry…." the instigator of controversy throws her hands up, defensively. "What? I'm definitely not the only one here who thought they were cute together!"

"Not….happening," Mary Anne hisses, eyes widening. "No. I have a much better surprise."

A ringing noise blares through Claudia's room, leaving everyone in suspense. Jessi lunges for the phone, beating out Kristy and Stacey in the dash to answer.

"Hello, Babysitters Club," she says, politely, "Yes…. Yes… hello, Mr. Perkins. Of course. Certainly. I'll call you right back." She hangs up. "That was Mr. Perkins. He needs a sitter for tonight at eight o'clock."

"Lemme see." Mary Anne flips open her notebook. "Kristy you're free. So are Jessi and Mal…"

"Kristy, you can take this one," Jessi offers, quickly.

"Yeah, I have a History paper due tomorrow, I'm going to have to work on that tonight," Mal lies.

"Thanks!" Kristy grins, as Jessi dials the Perkinses number. "Hello there, Mr. Perkins. Kristy'll be there at eight tonight. Great… thank you. Have a nice day!"

"So… what is your surprise for us?" Stacey inquires, staring curiously at Mary Anne.

"Dawn… is…coming…back."

"Yay!" nearly everyone choruses.

"Oh that's fantastic!" Stacey cheers.

"Is she going to stay this time?" Claudia asks, munching on a Snickers bar.

"Yep!" Mary Anne says, sounding pleased.

"Great," Kristy mutters, less enthusiastically, "Why?"

"And when?" Claudia demands.

"She'll be arriving a few days. She says she needs a change of pace. Plus, apparently Stoneybrook High is a better school than Palo City High. Her parents want her to graduate here."

"That's awesome!" Stacey declares, "We should all go to meet her at the airport!"

"We can throw her a 'Welcome Back Party' too!" Mal suggests.

"She'd love that," Mary Anne smiles quietly.

"I can't wait to see her!" Claudia exclaims, "She was so chill last time she visited. We could definitely use some of that California coolness around here."

"All right, all right," Kristy interrupts, "Can we get back to business, please?"

No one hears her as the excited chattering develops into a chaotic din. Much to the Club President's disdain, the remainder of the meeting is spent planning Dawn's much-anticipated return…

"What is this, the Babysitters Club or the Dawn Schafer Welcoming Committee," Kristy mutters, as she and the others file out of the Kishi residence. Farewells are exchanged as everyone hurries home. Kristy digs into her pockets, searching for the car keys she somehow convinced her mother to loan her. Her fingers brush over Mal's chemistry worksheet. Eyes widening, she sprints to catch up with Mal and Jessi, who are marching down the sidewalk.

"Guys! Wait!"

"What's up, Kristy?" Jessi asks her huffing friend.

"We need to talk," the President says, strictly. "There's something serious I must discuss with you two."

"What is it?" Mal frowns, worried by Kristy's stern tone, "Is something the matter?"

"Well… how do I explain this?" Kristy frowns, deep in thought, "I know."

"You know what?" Mal and Jessi ask.

"I know that you know."

"You know that we know what?" Mal inquires, mystified.

"Ahh, playing dumb, are we?" Kristy muses, oblivious to their obliviousness, "Well, I think I can fix that."

"What?" Jessi crosses her arms, "Kristy, what on earth do you mean?"

"Why don't you two come with me tonight, and I'll show you," Kristy suggests, slyly, "Help me babysit for the Perkins kids tonight. You'll find out."

"But, my History paper!" Mal blurts out.

"Mallory Pike. You and I both know that Miss Wright announced that she was going to be absent tomorrow and therefore extended the due date for the summer paper for Advanced History." Mal's eyes widen at Kristy's revealing deduction. "BUSTED!" The President cackles, somewhat manically. "Listen, our job is important. Maybe you don't realize this. Our job is essential! If you see what we really do, maybe you'll appreciate that." Mal and Jessi stare at her, baffled. "So are you guys coming tonight?"

"I guess," Jessi says, without enthusiasm.

"Fine." Mal blinks, ruse unraveled.

"HUZZAH!" Kristy jumps up, elated. "See you guys at eight!" She starts to take off, only to stop and turn back. "Bring some garlic, would you?"

"Garlic?" Mal tilts her head. "Why garlic?"

"You'll see!" is the singsong reply.