"It's some kind of sick joke, right?" Mary Anne texted.
"Yayabut y did the say unfished biscuts?" Claudia flubbed so supremely even autocorrect couldn't help her.
"It's a trap," Kristy insisted.
"So let's just ignore it," Stacey suggested.
"For now, anyway," Kristy concurred.
"Where Dawn? Krusty did u put he ongroup txt?" Claudia asked.
"Of course," Kristy replied.
"She's been really busy," Mary Anne chimed in.
"Yeah, I bet USC is tough!" Stacey said.
"Gotta go – class in 5!" Mary Anne exited abruptly. "Keep in touch!"
"I gotta go, too," Stacey echoed, "Studying for the real estate licensing exam is no joke!"
"Good luck!" Kristy typed.
Claudia responded with thumbs up, robot, unicorn, martini, sunglasses emoji.
Kristy put down her phone with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" a man's voice asked from the doorway.
Kristy turned to see her boyfriend, Dax Holden, towel around his waist, looking concerned.
"No," Kristy forced a smile. And she hoped that was the truth.
The words of the mysterious text message she had received the night before kept repeating in her mind. Unfinished business...The new B...It had been a few years since their altercation with the original B, who was now tucked safely away in a mental health facility on the other side of the state. So who was this clown trying to take over the sick game? And why?
"Do you have time for breakfast before work?" Kristy asked, determined to dismiss the text as a dumb joke and get on with her life – a life that was pretty darn great at the moment. She was at a great college roughly two hours from Stoneybrook, studying to be an elementary school teacher. And her boyfriend of nearly one year was in his third year of school, on track to be a pharmacist.
"Sure," Dax replied, digging through his duffle bag for clothes. "You know, living out of a suitcase is not exactly an ideal living situation..."
"But I'm worth it, aren't I?" Kristy teased, moving in for a kiss.
It was an ongoing game between the two of them. Dax had been ready to move in after just a few dates. Kristy, on the other hand, preferred to take things slowly. She had a history of bad decisions when it came to boyfriends. And while Dax seemed perfect, Kristy was determined to be cautious...though her resolve was waning.
For once in her life, Kristy Thomas felt completely secure about her future. And that terrified her...
About an hour away, in the fancy, high end part of Connecticut, Stacey McGill clicked her expensive stilettos across the travertine floor in her kitchen as she grabbed her coffee cup from the red Keurig sitting on the polished marble countertop. She sat down at her kitchen table, which was piled with books and papers. On top was a bright yellow paper which read EVICTION NOTICE.
Stacey bit her lip and pushed the paper aside. That, much like the stupid text from the new B, was a worry for another day. Right now, she had work to do.
Just a few weeks earlier, she had thought her life was perfect. She had a man – he was older, mature, rich – like, ridiculouly rich. She had a house. She had a car. She had the life she thought she deserved. But it had all come crashing down.
And now, she had no idea where her life was headed. But she knew she had to do it all on her own...
Just a train ride away, in Brooklyn, New York, Claudia Kishi was digging through a pile of purses, looking for spare change to buy groceries.
"Ramen it is," she muttered, looking at the quarter, three dimes and four pennies in her hand.
It hadn't always been this way. Six months ago, Claudia had a roommate to help her with expenses. But that roommate (a certain boy-crazy blonde diabetic) fell in love and drove off in a new car to a newly leased house in Connecticut to start a new life. Claudia had tried to make it work, but New York City was freaking expensive. Especially on the meager salary of a boutique manager.
To make ends meet, Claudia had, believe it or not, started babysitting on the side. She was working up to sixteen hours most days – and it still wasn't enough. Claudia was exhausted and lonely and unfulfilled. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go on like this. But she felt trapped, with nowhere else to go and nothing else to do...
Twelve hours away, in a quaint college in Illinois, Mary Anne Spier sat in the front row of her anatomy class taking diligent notes. She had been doing so well in school – so well in life, which was saying a lot given the shocking events that had taken place a few years before. She had found out that her mother was not who she thought she was. Her mother was not dead. Her mother was a crazy woman who may or may not dabble in witchcraft. It was truly like the plot of a soap opera. But it was her life.
But Mary Anne chose to run from that life – to attend college far away and bury herself in school work, volunteer work and whatever other activities she could find to occupy her time and her mind.
It had worked so far. But this creepy text from someone calling themselves "the new B" threatened to burst the bubble Mary Anne had created to protect herself from her old life.
She willed herself not to think about it – to concentrate on the class and her future and her new life. But it was too big of a task. Mary Anne continued to fret about it. As far as she had run, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe she hadn't gone quite far enough.
Clear on the other side of the continent, Dawn Schafer swept her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she gazed into the mirror. To her left, a pale brunette applied coat after coat of blood-red lipstick. To her right, a girl in a red wig adjusted her pale pink bustier.
What had her life become?
She picked up her phone and read through the group text she had intentionally avoided just minutes before. She had been avoiding her friends for months, sending an occassional "Hope all is well!" text, just to placate them. But all was not well with her.
Where had she gone wrong in life? Vision of the past swirled in her head. The life she had lived. The life she had planned to live. The person she always thought she'd become.
"It's showtime, princess," a gruff, sarcastic voice brought her back to reality.
So much for California dreamin', Dawn thought as her heart sank, all I've got are California demons...
"Are we going through with this?" Charlotte asked, standing in the gazebo at Stoneybrook Park.
"Yes, Charlotte," Karen replied, deeply exasperated, as she wrapped a streamer around one of the posts. "We will have our launch party as scheduled."
"But who sent the text?" Charlotte pressed, genuinely concerned...and scared.
"Who cares?" Karen snapped. "It was just some jealous troll trying to bring us down. Now, finish the streamers and blow up the balloons. The party starts in an hour!"
With that, Karen stormed off toward Kerry and Becca at the refreshments table.
"Hi-hi," a melancholy voice from behind a nearby bush startled Charlotte. Jamie Newton stepped out, smiling sheepishly. "Can I help?"
"Oh...sure, I guess," Charlotte accepted, somewhat reluctantly. Jamie was a nice kid, but there was something unsettling about him. He seemed to pop up a lot, wherever Charlotte went. And he always had that weird, awkward half-smile. Plus, the strange way he always said "hi-hi" had become so creepy over the years. As a kid, it had been a cute, enthusiastic greeting. But now, at ten years old, it was delivered in a sedate, monotone voice that kind of made Charlotte's skin crawl.
"So you're bringing back the Babysitters Club?" Jamie asked.
Charlotte nodded and looked over toward her fellow club members, hoping they would come to her rescue.
"Awesome," Jamie said without much enthusiasm.
"Hey!" Claire Pike sauntered up, "Can I help?"
"Yes!" Charlotte exclaimed readily, and siezed the opportunity to exit, "I'd better go get some more tape! I'll be back..."
She darted off, feeling just a twinge of guilt and a huge wave of relief as she fled...with Jamie staring after her.
Across the park, Druscilla Porter sat on a bench, sulking. She should be part of this event – not as a supportive spectator, but as a member of the Babysitters Club. According to Karen Brewer, Druscilla was "not a good fit" for the club. In other words, Karen didn't think she was good enough. Really, it should not have been a surprise. Karen had always been such a brat.
Druscilla watched Karen flutter around the park, making last minute adjustments and basking in the glory of her creation...which, Druscilla smirked to herself, was just a rip off of Kristy Thomas's great idea from seven years ago. Not nearly as impressive as Karen would like to believe.
As she waited for the festivities to begin, Druscilla allowed herself to bask in the bitterness she felt. As a dark cloud moved in from the west, Druscilla's spirits lifted. The idea of Karen's party being rained out made her smile.
Yes, Druscilla seethed. Something needs to happen to put Karen Brewer in her place.
An hour later, the new BSC launch party was in full swing. Despite the overcast skies, nearly all the kids in Stoneybrook were there, it seemed. And everyone was having a fantastic time.
Charlotte had a face painting booth set up in the gazebo. Becca and Kerry were manning the refreshments. Jackie was in charge of a pin the tail on the donkey booth. David Michael refereed cornhole games. And Karen wandered around, handing out business cards and listening to parents and kids alike raving about the event.
Karen mentally patted herself on the back. The day could not have been going any better.
And then a deafening scream echoed across the park, so loud and so desperate Karen, and everyone else, could feel it rattle their bones. It was as if someone had pressed pause – the crowd went instantaneously silent and no one moved a muscle. They were all frozen, breath held, eyes locked in the direction of the horrible screams.
"My baby!" an anguished voice wailed. "My baby is missing!"
