The next day, at school, I didn't see Kayla when we walked to school.
"She was getting her braces," said Kaylee. "She and Mom left early this morning. My siblings take the bus anyway. She won't be home until later, but we can go to my house after school. She'll be okay to hang out."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot that she told me," I said.
"She was getting it done in New York," said Kaylee. "Mom wants to keep the doctors in New York City since it's not far."
"Stacey does the same with her doctor for her diabetes," I said.
"I didn't mind having doctors there," said Kaylee.
"Are you sure Kayla will be in good shape later?" I asked. "That's usually painful."
"Mom said she still can," said Kaylee.
"We should see how she feels first," I pointed out.
"You got a good point," said Kaylee.
Later, Logan told me he's unable to hang out with us.
"I have practice," said Logan.
"Okay," I said.
After school, we went to her house. Kayla was home.
"Is she okay to go out?" asked Kaylee.
"Yes. She rested for a while," said Mrs. Willis.
That was when Kayla came out.
"We'll be meeting the others at the mall," said Kaylee.
"Okay," said Kayla. "It doesn't hurt a bit. My mouth was sore after my braces were put in."
"I bet," I said.
"Have fun, girls," said Mrs. Willis.
We went off to the mall. I showed them a few spots on the way, including some restaurants. At the mall, the girls were there.
"Logan couldn't make it. He had practice," said Kristy.
"I remember. He told me that earlier," I said.
"He just wanted to remind you," said Kristy.
"Okay," I said.
We went to a few stores. Kayla and Kaylee loved the mall.
"Do you want to pick out chairs for you to sit at the meeting while we're here?" asked Claudia.
"Sure," said Kaylee.
"I'll figure it out where to put them," said Claudia. "You girls can pick your favorite colors."
"Okay," said Kayla.
"We'll treat you with that," said Claudia.
"Since we're going to the movies, should we wait until after that so we won't have to carry them?" I asked.
"Good point," said Mallory.
"We love going to the movies, too," said Kayla.
"Yeah, that's always fun," I said.
After the movie, we went to have dinner at Johnny Rockets first. The girls never been there.
"There's not too many malls in New York," said Kayla.
"Except at this huge hotel," said Kaylee. "We go to that one often, but they didn't have Johnny Rockets."
"It had a few restaurants," said Kayla.
"I remember going there with you girls," said Stacey.
"Good memories," said Kayla.
"Does Mary Jane remember Marie at all?" asked Stacey.
"Unfortunately, no. The twins were babies," said Kayla.
"The girls were telling me that last night when they invited me over for dinner," I said.
"Poor Marie was born with a heart defect," said Stacey. "I remember her very well. She only lasted a week."
"That's correct," said Kayla. "We don't remember her, either."
"Mary Jane was lucky that she had one," said Stacey.
"I agree," said Kayla. "She had her heart last year."
"Oh, yeah," said Stacey.
"She looked healthy last night," I said.
"She liked to be a normal kid," said Kayla.
"That's common in a lot of kids who suffer illnesses," I said.
"True," said Kaylee.
"We're a strong family," said Kayla.
After dinner, we went to the store.
"Want to have folded chairs? I can put them in my closet when you're not using it and we can save it for the meeting," said Claudia.
"That's a good idea," said Kayla.
"I'll paint your names tomorrow," said Claudia.
Kayla picked red and Kaylee picked blue.
"I can use different paint colors to put names on it. I'll use blue for Kayla's and red for yours," said Claudia. "Otherwise, the same colors of the chairs won't be good enough."
"That makes sense," said Kayla.
"Thanks," said Kaylee.
"Anytime, girls," said Claudia. "I'm a good artist."
"Nice. I never knew you're an artist," said Kaylee.
"I take art classes every week," said Claudia.
"That's cool," said Kayla.
Then, we went home.
"We liked it here," said Kayla.
"I told you so," I teased as we giggled.
"We're thinking about attending the meeting tomorrow instead of Monday if that's okay with you, Kristy," said Kaylee.
"If you girls want to do it that way, you can," said Kristy.
"Okay," said Kayla.
"We'll train you girls. We do that to new sitters," said Stacey.
"That's good to know," said Kaylee.
"We'll figure it out what you girls can do during the meeting," I said.
"We can use another alternate officer while the other one can be co-treasurer," said Kristy.
"Okay. I'm very good at math," said Kayla.
"I'll train you to be a treasurer on Monday. That's when we collect money," said Stacey.
"Sounds good," said Kayla.
"We use the money for Charlie who brings Kristy to Claudia's since they live across town now, to pay for the phone bill for Claudia, and we use the rest for fun things like sleepovers and mostly, pizza parties," said Stacey.
"Neat," said Kayla.
"I like to organize stuff so you can train me to be a secretary in case I take over for you, Mary Anne," said Kaylee.
"Deal," I said. "My dad and I are the same way."
"I can train you to be the president," said Kristy.
"Alright," said Kaylee.
"It's all settled then," said Kristy.
"You'll have fun now," said Dawn.
"It's nice to fit right in," said Kayla.
"Absolutely," said Kaylee.
Later, at home, I was doing homework when Dad came by.
"How did the girls like it here?" asked Dad.
"They liked it. They enjoyed the mall here better than New York City. And, they never been to Johnny Rockets. They attend a mall at a big hotel in a different area, but they said it's not much and had a few restaurants. It didn't have a movie theater and they would to go see a movie near them," I said.
"I'm glad they're enjoying it here," said Dad.
"Yes. Kristy invited them to join the club and they both accepted the invitation. They want to join tomorrow instead of Monday," I said.
"Oh, good," said Dad.
"Kristy already settled the officer duties. Kayla is interested in co-treasurer and Kaylee would be the second alternate officer," I said. "Stacey is going to train Kayla on Monday since that's when she collects money."
"Good," said Dad.
"I know," I said. "We're going to train them. That's what we do when we have new members."
"True," said Dad.
"I think they'll do well since they baby-sit their siblings three to four days a week. They use their day off to study so Kristy and I offered to take over if they need to study because their brothers, D.J. and Mario, fight a lot and it's hard for the girls to focus," I said.
"That's a good idea," said Dad.
"Kristy says she handles any fighters by putting them on time-out. I told Kristy we can try it that way," I said. "Stacey says they're hard to handle."
"She'll have a break from them," said Dad.
"Exactly," I agreed. "What's nice about them living here is she already knows me, Dawn, and Stacey."
"That's a good thing," said Dad.
