The weekend arrived. Marci and Grace decided to stop by and see Cokie. As usual, Cokie was home. Her mother was home, so she answered the door.
"Hello, Marci and Grace. Wouldn't you like to come inside?"
"Thank you, Mrs. Mason. Where is Cokie?"
"She's probably in her bedroom," was the answer.
"We know where it is."
Mrs. Mason slammed the door once Grace and Marci walked up the stairs.
Before joining Grace to Cokie's bedroom, Marci asked, "Mrs. Mason, have you noticed anything different about Cokie?"
"Yes, I have, actually. Have you noticed it also?"
"Of course. I'll see you later."
That's when Marci headed upstairs to Cokie's bedroom. When Marci made it to her friend's bedroom, Grace was already with Cokie.
"Hello, girls. Why don't you come in?"
This was another change about Cokie. She sounded inviting, but it wasn't that noticeable in the past, so this was different. Even Grace saw it as well.
"Cokie, can we talk?" Grace asked.
Once Grace asked that question, Marci shot Grace a look. Grace didn't notice.
"What sort of question do you want to share?"
Coklie and Marci both looked at their friend.
"What gave you the idea of changing your attitude?"
"I don't know. I guess it was time for a change."
"So we noticed. Have any of those baby – sitters seen this new change in you yet?"
"Actually, they have. Kristy seemed to be first to notice. She and I got caught talking when we were in history class."
"What did Kristy think of the new you?" Grace asked.
"Nothing much."
Cokie was telling them the truth, Marci told herself.
"We had a nice hello with your mother, Cokie. Even she told me you haven't been yourself recently."
"I thought if I changed, maybe I would be a member of the Baby – sitters Club."
"Like that will ever happen," Marci said with laughter.
Cokie noticed Grace didn't join Marci with laughing, but that didn't bother her at all.
"You keep thinking it would happen," Grace said.
"If I change, it might happen."
"We'll see about that."
"Have the baby – sitters invited you to any of their meetings yet?" Marci asked when her laughter ended.
"No."
"What about Logan? Has he noticed anything different about you?"
"I have no idea, so I can't answer that."
"You and Mary Anne both like him, but there won't be any chances about having a date."
"I know that, Marci. I don't need any reminders."
"Sorry."
"That's okay."
"How much longer do you plan to keep this change?"
"Maybe the rest of my life."
"That we would like to see."
"And you will. Let's see how it looks like on Monday."
What Cokie just said, Marci didn't need to hear Cokie say that sentence.
"What do you girls plan to do the rest of this weekend?" Cokie asked.
"Not much. Maybe we'll stick around with you, if you don't mind.
"Of course I don't mind, Marci. You know you both can hang out with me whenever you want."
To change the subject about Cokie's new change, Grace asked, "What should we do now? Go see a movie or play a game or two?"
Maric liked the ideas Grace thought of.
"We can do both," Cokie answered.
"we don't need to visit the theater. We could watch them on television or rent. What idea sounds good?" Marci asked.
"I'd vote for television. I don't have any money," Grace said.
"TV is fine with me. Maybe next time we can go to the movie theater."
The three girls made an agreement on that. Mrs. Mason heard Cokie say that.
"Would you girls like some popcorn?" Mrs. Mason asked.
"That would be kind of you, Mom, but I can handle that on my own."
Cokie usually didn't do this by offering, but Mrs. Mason and Cokie's friends didn't think that was something new. All four of them walked downstairs and Cokie's mother left Cokie and her friends to be left alone. Cokie turned the television set on and flipped the remote control to one of the movie channels.
The three of them didn't care which channel they would watch their movie, but Mrs. Mason preferred her daughter should watch only G and PG –13 movies, but maybe when Coklie is older, she could make this choice on her own abiyt R rated movies, but for now she is too young. Cokie let Marci and Grace have the choice of movies while she went to the kitchen and start the popcorn.
"Too many choice on television, Grace. Why don't we watch a DVD instead?"
Cokie, Grace and Marci have never seen Forrest Gump, and that was on of the channels playing now. They saw the television had the part of Forrest Gump learning how to play ping – pong. This was a movie none of them heard of, and they didn't care to show an interest in watching it for the first time.
When Cokie returned with three sodas, she asked, "Have you picked out a movie on television?"
"They didn't have much of good selection, Cokie. Forrest Gump is playing now. The other channel had a Cary Grant movie," Grace answered.
"We'll watch one of my DVDs then."
Cokie and her friends heard the microwave go off, telling Cokie the popcorn was ready.
"is there anything you would like?" Cokie asked.
It did make sense to get what else her friends wanted to like, so she wouldn't have to do it once she sat on the couch to join them.
"No thank you," both of her friends answered.
"Okay. Let me collect the popcorn and then we can pick out a movie."
Once again Cokie disappeared to the kitchen. While Cokie was grabbing a bowl for the popcorn, Marci and Grace got of the couch and then bent down on their knees to agree on a movie.
Cokie returned three minutes later with the bowl of popcorn in her hands. She set the popcorn on the coffee table.
"Have you already picked anything yet?"
"How about Oliver and Company?" Grace asked as she and Marci put the pile of movies back in their places.
"What do you think, Marci?"
"That's fine with me, Cokie."
"Oliver and Company it is."
Cokie let Grace put the DVD in and press PLAY.
Then they found their seats on the couch. Cokie passed the bowl of popcorn around as she finished grabbing a handful. The movie finally began.
"We should do a sleepover," Grace said.
"That's a good idea. I'll be right back and see if it's okay with her."
Once again Cokie got off the couch. She found her mother grabbing some dirty laundry in the master bedroom.
"Mom, could I ask you something?"
"Go ahead, Cokie."
"Is that all right with you if the girls spend the night this weekend?"
"That's fine with me. They need to ask their folks first."
"Thank you, Mom. I'll go and tell them."
Cokie walked back to the living room. The previews just ended, so Cokie didn't miss anything.
"What did your mom say?" Grace asked.
"Mom said it's fine with her if your parents let you stay or not. Maybe they can pack your things."
"Okay. Mind if I call me parents first, Grace?"
"I don't care."
Cokie found the remote and paused the video.
"Mind if we pause it for a while?"
"Sure, Cokie. That does make sense so we won't have to miss anything."
Cokie grabbed for the telephone and passed it over to Marci.
"Thank you, Cokie."
"No problem," she said as she and Grace heard the telephone ring.
It didn't take long for Marci to ask that question. A minute later, she gave the telephone to Grace.
"What did they say?" Cokie asked.
"They said that was fine. They will be here shortly to give me my things."
The three girls listened as the telephone rang at her house. This time it was Grace's mother who answered.
Her mother said it was okay and would be over with her stuff. Grace handed the phone to Cokie.
"What did your mom say?" Cokie asked.
"It's good to go. She will be here in then to fifteen minutes."
"That's cool. We can spend the weekend with movies and games," Marci said.
Several minutes later, Grace's mother drove into the driveway at the same Marci's mother did. After Cokie's friends bought their things inside, they left their bags by the front door. Once again they all took their seats on the couch. Marci was the one to turn the PLAY button. It was almost getting late when they finished the movie.
"You know what, girls?"
"What's that?" Cokie asked.
"This is a fun weekend. We're enjoying ourselves."
Marci meant exactly what she just said.
"Glad you had fun," Cokie told her friend.