Chapter One
Dawn-Friday
One more day! I can't wait, but I've still got so much to do! I've got to pack, and go buy some stuff for donations (everyone going is supposed to bring 10 non-perishable food items and 2 personal hygiene items) and it's already 9:00! HELP! Mary Anne is already done and is playing with Tigger. At the meeting today, she said how hard it was for her to leave Tigger to go to school, let alone a full week. The BSC meeting was tons of fun…
"Attention!" Kristy called from the directors' chair. "This meeting will now come to order!" We all stopped talking and looked at Kristy. 'We' is Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, Stacey McGill, Logan Bruno, Mallory Pike, Jessi Ramsey, and me, Dawn Schafer. We, plus Kristy and Shannon, make up the Baby-Sitters Club. We sit for families around our neighborhoods. Kristy is the one who thought the BSC up. One night, Kristy had to watch her mom's pizza get cold while she called all of Stoneybrook looking for a baby-sitter. Kristy thought it would be great if clients could call one number and reach a lot of sitters at once so they'd be guaranteed a sitter. So Kristy got together with Mary Anne, Claudia, and Stacey and they formed the BSC. When I moved from California, I was invited to join. Not long after, Mallory and Jessi became junior members, which means they aren't allowed to sit at night, except for their families. Finally, Logan Bruno and Shannon Kilbourne became associate members. They're kind of like back-up baby-sitters, in case no one else is available.
The club meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5:30 till 6:00. That's when our clients call us. Every Monday we collect dues. These pay for a lot of things, including Kristy's mode of transportation(her brother drives her because she lives across town), our KidKits, which are boxes filled with toys and games we take baby-sitting with us, and the occasional slumber party.
Kristy is the president of the club. She calls the meetings to order everyday and has never missed a meeting. Kristy is petite and short and is a tomboy. Her normal clothes are jeans, a turtleneck, a sweater, and a base-ball cap. Kristy loves sports and coaches a softball team for little kids, called Kristy's Krushers. Kristy's comes from a big family. Well, really her family is big because it's two families combined. Kristy used to live next door to Mary Anne and across the street from Claudia with her mom, her older brothers Charlie and Sam(who are 17 and 15) and her younger brother David Michael(who's 7). Her dad walked out on her and her family when she was 5. Kristy's mom then re-married a man named Watson. Watson is a millionaire and lives in a mansion across town. Kristy's family moved there and Watson and Mrs. Brewer adopted Emily Michelle. Emily is from Vietnam is very adorable. Kristy's grandmother moved in as well, to help take care of Emily. Watson also has two children from his previous marriage. Karen is 7 and Andrew is 4. They visit every other weekend. Besides all the people living in that house, there's a puppy named Shannon(after Shannon Kilbourne), a cat named Boo-Boo, two fish, Karen's rat, Emily Jr. and Andrew's hermit crab, Bob. Emily Jr. and Bob travel back and forth with Karen and Andrew. Kristy loves her new life, but still thinks about her father a lot. I think she misses him, but tries to show it.
Mary Anne Spier is the secretary of the club. She keeps the appointment book neat and organized. She's able to tell us who can take a sitting job on what day. She has never made a mistake. Mary Anne is as petite as Kristy but she's much more girly. Mary Anne likes wearing classic clothes like skirts and knee socks and blouses. This is probably because her dad raised her alone. Her mom died when she was a baby. Mary Anne loves her dad very much but he used to be very over-protective. Mary Anne finally found the courage to face him and he's loosened up. Mary Anne has a gray-stripped cat named Tigger. She also has a steady boyfriend. She's the only one in the club, which is hard to believe because Mary Anne's very sensitive. She cries at everything. Kristy and Mary Anne are best friends and they used to live next door to each other.
Claudia Kishi is the vice-president of the club because we hold our meetings in her room. She has a private phone number, so it doesn't tie up someone else's line. She also provides us with snacks. Claudia loves junk food, so she has it hidden all over her room. Despite the fact she eats tons of chocolate and sugar, she's still very thin. She has beautiful, creamy skin and long, black hair. Claudia's parents are Japanese. Claudia loves to dress wild and is always doing something wild with her hair. Claudia is amazing at art, so she often creates her own clothing and jewelry. Claudia isn't a very good student, but she does love to read Nancy Drew mysteries. The fact that's Claud's not very smart is hard on her parents. They love to read and are very conservative. Grades are important to them. Claudia has an older sister, Janine, who is a certified genius. She's only in high school but she takes college courses. Claudia doesn't like the fact that her parents don't think the arts are as important as academic excellence, but she doesn't let it bother her too much.
Stacey McGill is the treasurer of the club. She collects our dues every Monday and hands the money back out. Stacey is very pretty, with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, but she's had a rough life. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother. Her father lives in New York City, which is where Stacey was born. She visits him every chance she gets. Stacey also has diabetes, so she has to give herself injections everyday and keep a strict diet. Stacey's pretty happy, though. She loves math and is very good at it. She and Claudia love to go shopping together and Stacey loves trendy clothes.
Jessi and Mallory are best friends. They're both in the 6th grade and are 11(the rest of us are in the 8th grade and are 13). They both love reading horse stories and they both think their parents treat them like babies. But that's where the similarities end. Jessi comes from an average family-a dad, mom, brother, sister, and aunt. Mal's family has 8 children, including 10 year old triplets. Jessi has long, beautiful legs and is a ballet dancer. Mal has frizzy red hair, braces, and glasses and wants to be a children's author and illustrator. Also, Mal's white and Jessi's black. Jessi had some trouble being black when she first moved to Stoneybrook, but it's becoming easier.
Shannon and Logan are the associate members. I don't know Shannon very well. All I know is she has curly blonde hair and blue eyes and lives near Kristy. Logan is from Kentucky and has a really distant accent. All the girls think he's cute…and he's Mary Anne's boyfriend! It's amazing how perfect they are for each other. Shannon and Logan don't usually come to meetings, but Logan was at this one because he was coming to Zuni with us.
I'm Dawn Schafer. I'm the alternative officer, so I fill in if someone's sick or can't make a meeting. I have pale, blonde hair that's past my waist. I dress to please only myself. My parents are divorced and my dad and my brother, Jeff, live in California where I grew up. My mom and I moved out here, to Stoneybrook, Connecticut and my mom re-married Mr. Spier! Mary Anne and I are step-sisters. Our parents had been high school sweethearts. Mary Anne and I discovered this and we got our parents together again. We all live in my house, which is complete with a secret passage that was once part of the Underground Railroad.
So that's the BSC. Back to the meeting…we were all watching Kristy.
"Thank you." Kristy said. "Any new business?" Everybody shook their head so Kristy continued.
"As you all know, we leave for Zuni at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning. There are 8 kids to watch and there are 8 of us. The teachers will be busy, so why don't we each take a kid and make sure they don't get lost?"
"That's a good idea." Jessi said.
"Yeah. The buddy system. It's a rule whenever all of us Pikes go out in public." Mal said, grinning.
"Okay. Mary Anne, who's all going?" Kristy asked. Mary Anne pulled out the list.
"Haley, Charlotte, Vanessa, Byron, Jordan, Shea, Jackie, and Buddy."
"Okay. Who wants who?" Nobody said anything. Finally, Logan spoke up.
"I'll take Jackie." he volunteered. Everyone sighed. Jackie is a bit accident prone and can be a handful. After that, everyone slowly started choosing kids. Mary Anne got Jordan, Mallory got Haley, Jessi got Vanessa, Kristy got Byron, Claudia got Shea, Stacey got Charlotte, and I got Buddy.
"All right. This meeting is adjourned." said Kristy. "See you at SES tomorrow at 5:00!" Everyone started talking with excitement because we're going to Zuni!
Chapter Two
Mary Anne-Saturday
My father and I said good-bye this morning. I have to admit that he's getting better at doing that. He hardly even cried! Anyways, all 18 of us arrived at SES at 5:00 AM. It was confusing. It was noisy, despite everyone being so tired. It was cold. Needless to say, the teachers weren't in the best mood by the time we reached the airport…
So, like I said, everyone had to be at SES by 5:00. It was freezing. The teachers were loading our luggage into the school bus that was taking us to the John F. Kennedy Airport. Kids were hugging parents good-bye and BSC members were helping the kids. We all though Charlotte was going to cry after her parents left, but she was fine. It was surprising because she cried nearly the whole 2 weeks she was at camp. Kristy pulled Ms. Besser aside and told her our plans for the buddy system.
"Excellent, Kristy. I just knew you and your friends would be a big help on this trip." I heard Ms. Besser exclaim.
The school bus finally left at 5:30. Everyone fell asleep on the bus and the bright rays of the sun woke us up outside the airport.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Buddy, peering out the window at the taxing planes.
"Cool!" cried Shea, looking at the tall control tower.
Ms. Besser stood up.
"Children, may I have your attention, please?" All the children quieted down and faced Ms. Besser. She smiled.
"Thank you. Now, many of you know the Baby-Sitters Club. They are coming along to work and to play with you. In case you don't know, this is Kristy…" Ms. Besser went on to introduce us all.
"Kristy has worked out a buddy system, so listen for who you're paired with and stay close to him or her. They're there to help you, so don't be afraid to ask questions. Kristy?" Ms. Besser turned the floor over to Kristy. She stood up and smiled.
"Hi everyone. So, listen up closely because I'm only reading the list once. Shea Rodowsky, you're with Claudia. Jackie Rodowsky, you're with Logan. Haley Braddock, you're with Mallory, Charlotte Johanssan, you're with me, Buddy Barrett, you're with Dawn, Vanessa Pike, you're with Jessi, Jordan Pike, you're with Mary Anne, and Byron Pike, you're with Stacey. So as soon as you're off the bus, find your buddy and stay close. We don't want to lose anyone." Kristy sat down and the bus pulled up to the entrance. Everyone filled off the bus. Jordan walked up to me and smiled.
"This is going to be awesome!" he cried. I smiled.
"I agree. But let's get our luggage and get inside the airport, okay?"
Jordan nodded and found his stuff. I got her suitcase and Jordan and I walked into the building, followed by everyone else.
"Now, Jordan." I began. "Do you have everything you need for the plane? Your ticket, something to do on the plane, your coat?"
Jordan nodded. "Yep. My ticket's right here," he said, waving his ticket. "I've got my coat and some comic books in my backpack."
"Okay. I've got my stuff too. To the check-in counter."
We followed Ms. Besser and the rest of the group to the check-in counter, where we didn't wait in line at all. We all got seats and we went through security. No one had a problem getting through, although Claudia had to go through twice because the first time her metal jewelry set it off(she was wearing earrings she had made herself). Everyone made on last stop at the bathroom and then we went to our gate.
"Gate 17, Flight to Farmington New Mexico, 7:00, boarding now."
We all got up to leave and got onto the plane with no trouble. Once on the plane, we did have a squabble between Jackie and Haley.
"I want the window seat!" Haley cried, rushing for it.
"No, it's mine!" Jackie yelled.
Luckily, Logan's quick on his feet and reached them before they could continue.
"Why don't we just see who's ticket puts them by the window?" Logan suggested.
Jackie and Haley agreed and, as it turns out, neither of them had the window seat. It went to Charlotte. Everyone found their seats after that and sat down. All of them had flown before, so they all knew what to expect.
Ding went a soft bell. The steward gave the safety demonstration and then the plane began to taxi. Soon we were lifted into the air. Somehow, being in the air made everyone tired, so as soon as our breakfast was done, we all fell asleep. The breakfast, by the way, wasn't as bad as normal. It was an egg omelet with 2 strips of bacon. It actually tasted good. I couldn't believe it.
After what seemed like forever, the captain came on the mike.
"This is your captain. We are about to make our descent to Farmington Airport. It is currently 10:02 AM and it's a beautiful clear day with the sun shining. It's approximately 89 degrees Fahrenheit. Please fasten your seat belts and return your seats to an upright position. Thank you for flying with us."
Everyone did as they were told and we soon landed. Once we got off the plane, and entered the terminal, we saw a huge banner that read "Welcome to Zuni, Kids of Stoneybrook!" All the pen pals of those along with us were there, as well as the principal of the school.
"Welcome!" exclaimed Mr. Woodward, the principal. "Let's get your luggage and get back to the reservation. Everyone is quite anxious to see you."
We did just that. The kids talked non-stop to their pen pals the whole time.