Chapter 2

I arrived at Claudia's just as her digital clock ticked over to 5.01pm. I automatically looked for Kristy, awaiting her famous evil eye for those that dared to be a minute late, and then realised that a) this wasn't a BSC meeting, and b) Kristy hadn't even arrived yet. It seemed I was the first here. Not even Claudia was here yet; she was helping her mom out at the library with Erica as she had last school break. If Claud wasn't such a good friend, I'd realise the strong irony in her choice of summer work. Her seventeen year old sister, Janine, had let me in, and then retreated back to her computer. Now I like school and all, but I can appreciate that summer vacation is supposed to be, well, vacation! Janine has spent the summer taking a class at the community college, as she has the last two years, even though she's just about to enter her senior year at SHS. I guess that's what happens when you're a certified genius.

I look around Claudia's messy, but cosy room and my eyes land on a tin of watercolour paints, in a variety of colours. No doubt Claudia could put together a beautiful painting, using every one of the colours, and make them work together really well. Actually, I guess that would also be a good way to describe our former club members. Each a different shade, unique on it's own, but blending together to be something wonderful.

Kristy Thomas would be royal blue. She makes herself stand out. Not by the way she looks, but by what she says and does. Kristy has a big mouth. There's no polite way to put it, and even she will admit that's true. She loves to take the lead, and always has a million ideas for new projects. Most of the time, she can actually pull them off too. She was my first best friend. We've known each other from when we were babies, as we grew up next door to each other. At that time, Kristy had a pretty normal family, a mom and dad and three brothers. Charlie and Sam were a little older, and David Michael was much younger. When Kristy was 6 and David Michael was just a baby, Mr Thomas walked out on the family. He moved clear across the country…. to California! For the next 7 or 8 years, Kristy and her family very rarely heard from him. Recently, he announced he was getting re-married, and Kristy and her older siblings flew across the country for the wedding. Kristy still hasn't totally forgiven him, but so far he has kept his word and stayed in touch a little more, which I think is from the good influence of his new wife.

Kristy hasn't been lacking a father figure though. In 7th grade, her mother started dating Watson Brewer, a real life millionaire! That summer, they had a gorgeous wedding at his mansion (yes, you heard me right), and the whole family moved across town. Even though the place is huge, it still always feels full. Watson has two kids from his previous marriage, 8 year old Karen – very loud and imaginative, if not a little spoilt, and 5 year old Andrew – who's the polar opposite of Karen, being shy and sweet. Karen is currently living full time at the mansion, while Andrew is living with his mom and stepfather in Chicago. Not long after the wedding, the family adopted Emily Michelle from Vietnam, who's now three. At first she was a little behind other kids her age, what with all the upheaval in her young life, but over the summer, she's really grown, and now turning into quite a chatterbox (obviously the influence from Kristy and Karen is rubbing off). When Emily Michelle joined the family, Nannie, Kristy's maternal grandmother moved in to be carer. She is not your typical grandmotherly type… she drives a bright pink car and loves bowling and going out with her friends! Add a couple of goldfish, a kitten, a puppy and a rat (eww), and it makes for a full house. The family is about to lose one member though, with 18-year-old Charlie about to start college. He won't be too far away, just one town away, but he decided he wants 'the real college experience' (his words) by living away from home. It's quite possible he'll find his dorm peaceful and quiet after spending the last year at the Brewer mansion!

Kristy has long brown hair (always worn in a ponytail, or messed up under her favourite cap with a picture of a collie, her favourite dog) brown eyes, and always wears jeans and sweatshirts. I could count on one hand the number of times I've seen her in a dress. She's also the shortest girl in our grade.

Claudia Kishi would be bright orange. Claudia is bold, and she loves to make a statement with her appearance. For example, today she was wearing grey skin-tight jeans, with buttons up the side of the legs, and slashes around the knees. Over this, she wore a pale pink tunic, which she's hand-painted with an 'artist' theme – tiny little easels and colour palates, and paint brushes! On her feet were plain cream Keds, which she'd decorated with splotches of paint. She accessorised with a wide red leather belt, and matching leather ribbon, holding her hair in a side ponytail. Anyone else would look crazy in this outfit, but on Claudia it looked amazing.

It's a shame Claudia's interest and talent in fashion and art didn't extend to her schoolwork. In fact, Claudia spent the first part of our vacation in summer school, as she flunked 8th grade math. At first, we were worried she'd be held back while we all went on to SHS - after all, it had happened before. Some time ago, Claud got sent back to 7th grade, but she managed to bring her skills back to an 8th grade level, and joined us again for the end of the year. While Claud doesn't like to take school to seriously, her family are big on academics, and sometimes have trouble realising that Claudia is not Janine, but talented in her own way. The one person who really understood Claudia was her grandmother Mimi, who sadly passed away at the beginning of last year. I was close to Mimi as well, she was always there to listen when my father didn't understand, and we both miss her very much. Claudia now confides in her mom's sister, her Aunt Peaches. Peaches (we all call her that), shares Claudia's crazy streak, although she has recently tamed down her wild ways now that's she's a mother. Claudia is crazy about her goddaughter, baby Lyn, and is now her permanent sitter one afternoon a week, as Peaches has decided to return part time to her advertising business.

I think Claudia is spending a little more time with her family than she used to as she had a falling out with her best friend, Stacey McGill, at the end of last year. Sadly, this was over a boy, Jeremy, who now neither of the girls is seeing. Instead, suprising everyone, Claudia started developing feelings for Alan Gray, our class clown. The two make a very cute couple, and are still dating!

Stacey is now back with her ex-boyfriend Ethan, who lives in New York City. How do they keep up this long distance relationship – easy! Stacey's father and fiancé Samantha live in the city (her parents are divorced), and Stacey visits often. She's spent the last 3 weeks there, so today will be the first time we've all been together for some time.

If you asked Stacey what colour would represent her, the first thing she'd say would be green….the colour of money! This combines her two biggest loves…math and shopping. Our former club treasurer is so good at math, she'll be taking a couple of sophomore level classes.

Since the beginning of summer, Stacey hasn't has to travel all the way to NYC to get the latest fashions, she can just go to her mom's clothing boutique! It's easy to see where Stacey got her sense of sophistication from. Her mom's store has been a success so far, in fact, it's been so busy that Ms Spencer (Stacey's mom returned to her maiden name) has offered Stacey 3 after-school shifts in the store a week, so she can 'work on the business, rather than in the business'.

It's great to see Stacey's parents giving her so much freedom these days. You see, Stacey has diabetes and is on a program of a controlled diet and insulin injections. Her parents used to send her to all these doctors, and try and find a 'cure', but now they realise Stacey is now quite capable of leading a healthy lifestyle.

So that's the original members of the club as it was last standing, and the girls that would be meeting at Claudia's this afternoon. Of course, at its peak, the club was much bigger, and we've tried to stay friends with our former members.

The first colour that comes to mind when I think of Mallory Pike would be red. Mal has curly red hair and lots of freckles, and doesn't consider herself to be very attractive, but does try to be as fashionable as her parents let her. Last time I saw her, she was taking a couple of her younger sibings to the playground (she has 8 in all, including identical triplets!) and she was wearing black jeans tucked into black boots, a red shirt with 'Mallory' written in glitter across the front, and some very 'dibble' sheep barrettes. She had painted her nails in the same glitter as on her shirt. I haven't spent a lot of time with Mal recently, as she now attends an all girls boarding school in Massachusetts. Since moving away, she has become a little more confident, and now can't decide if she wants to be a writer or a computer programmer.

Jessica Ramsey would be black. This colour represents her strong African American pride. I also haven't spent much time recently with our other Junior Member, as she decided to take a ballet scholarship she was offered some time ago to Dance New York. She's currently boarding with her cousin and his wife, but tries to come back on weekends to spend time with her mom, dad, sister Becca and little brother Squirt. Sometimes she and Stacey take the train from the city together.

Abby Stevenson, another 8th grade who moved here from Long Island would be yellow. Very bright and very in-your-face, Abby loves soccer, Elvis and cracking bad jokes, in complete contrast to her twin sister Anna, a studious musician. Sadly, Abby and Anna won't be joining us at SHS, instead, they have decided to go to Stoneybrook Day School, of which the high school campus has excellent sporting and music facilities. Both the girls are starting there with another friend, Shannon Kilbourne, our former associate member who's still away at summer camp (our other associate was Logan Bruno).

So that's the Baby-Sitters Club as it once was, a rainbow of colours, personalities and friendships.