"When Mary-Anne and I Were Friends…" Kristy began to rite, but then scrubbed it out, almost snapping her eraser with aggression. "Before Mary-Anne Became Such a Bitch!" Kristy stared at those words, briefly, before the eraser scrubbed it all away. If only, the past could be wiped away, like marks on a page. Kristy sat in silence, thinking about the days when the club was still together. Not only were they such fun times, but it was a time, when Kristy was at her sharpest, before she came bitter. It was a time when seven girls had been the best friends ever and thought they would be forever.
"What a dumb essay," she muttered out loud. Kristy was beginning to remember some of the good times but it scared her. Why had the principal set this? It would have been better to be expelled, she thought. Kristy knew, though, that there was no escaping it. The essay had to be done, like it or not.
Kristy stood abruptly and crouched down on her knees, beside her bed, peering under. When she spied what she was looking for, she reached in and grabbed it. The box was an old Kid-Kit. Each of the girls had one of these and took it to every babysitting job. It was made the girls unique and the kids loved it when they babysat. The box had toys in it, which the girls rotated to suit each charge's age. It was one of Kristy's brightest ideas. Now the box was full of memories from the days when the club was together. Sitting upright, with her back against her bed frame and her legs crossed, Kristy removed the lid. Beneath the thousands of photographs of the club members, their charges, vacations and special events was the thing, Kristy was the most interested in reading. She pulled the journal out of the box and flipped through the first few pages. As she read, she cast her mind back to her very first official sitting job, which turned out to be for a pair of rambunctious Saint Bernards named Pinky and Buffy. Kristy chuckled as she read the note about about the nightmare, that job had turned out to be.
She continued reading about Stacey's experience sitting for Kristy's little brother, David Michael, Mary-Anne's frightful introduction to Karen Brewer, who would become Kristy's step-sister and Claudia's unexpected dream job turned nightmare, when Jamie Newton's cousins were also left in her care. Each experience taught them something which would help their club grow. Grow they did, not only as a club, but closer as friends. They had looked out for each other, shared tips and ideas and where there for each other, for the good times and the bad. As she packed the journal away, Kristy had an idea forming, that would not only bring inspiration to the dumb essay, she had no choice to complete, but inspire a whole world of babysitters, that would help them survive their charges as it had helped her and her friends, so long ago.
Suddenly she found a point to writing the essay, and secretly was thanking the principal for inspiring the idea. She began to write, rapidly filling the page with memories and antidotes from her time as the President of the best club ever formed. As she wrote, it all flooded back and Kristy could feel the shiver of emotion running through her body. She refused to cry, that was Mary-Anne's job, but Kristy had to admit her eyes were burning from wanting to.
Then, realizing that she was supposed to be focusing on writing about Mary-Anne, she recalled a time, when Mary-Anne had shown a surprising amount of strength. She had been babysitting four year-old Jenny, who was running a dangerously high temperature and Mary-Anne had tried calling anyone she could for help. When no-one was available, Mary-Anne had found a way to deal with it, calling the ambulance and riding with the little girl to the hospital. Through it all, Mary-Anne hadn't fallen apart as what was expected of her. It was then, that Kristy was realizing how suited, Mary-Anne really was for the Class presidential role, that she may have been sensitive but she was strong, when the times called for it.
It was then, that she decided she would apologize to Mary-Anne for treating her like she had. They would never be best friends again, but Kristy rediscovered through writing that essay, a newfound respect for Mary-Anne Spier.
Then when she felt the essay was complete, Kristy turned her focus to a new project, one that would change everything. Digging the journal out, once again, Kristy began to type out all of the entries on her computer. Claudia's with all her spelling mistakes, proved hard to decipher, but Kristy persevered, remembering Claude's verbal recap of her sitting job with the Newton family and her later horrors of the mystery phone calls. After typing each entry, Kristy added her own notes, advise on how to deal with the situations that arise. She couldn't believe how easy it was to write. She had just reached the entries about the other group of girls, who had started a rival club, when Mrs. Brewer called Kristy to dinner. She saved her work and bounded down the stairs, with a newfound energy, that Mrs. Thomas hadn't seen in Kristy for years.
Over dinner she talked animatedly about her new great idea, while Sam rolled his eyes at David Michael and Andrew, who laughed, sparking a similar reaction from Emily Michelle. "Sam, don't be such a nerd," Karen retorted, she couldn't believe a guy his age, who was in college, would act like such a child. Everyone knew Sam liked to berate Kristy and that no matter how old he was it would never change. "Kristy, I think it's brilliant! I would read it and I know it would help my club." Karen was beaming. She pushed her glasses up her nose and went back to munching on her french-fries.
"Thanks, Karen." Kristy thought it was neat, that her little stepsister still looked up to her, as she got older. Karen was almost twelve and inspired by her sister's success with the BSC had started her own club, with her best friends Hannie, Melody and Nancy, which Karen cleverly decided to call, Babysitters' R Us, to Kristy's amusement. "I'll be sure to give you a signed copy, when it's done."
Karen loved Kristy, like a real sister, but she knew a compliment from Kristy, even a backhanded, one such as that one, was like gold. She couldn't wait to tell her friends about Kristy's book idea, when she phoned them after dinner. Kristy, however, was itching to return to her writing. Both girls wolfed down their food at a pace, even Sam was impressed with. Then simultaneously, the pair raced upstairs to their rooms, leaving Sam, David Michael and Emily Michelle to help Mrs. Brewer with the dishes.