Author's Note: This was a long chapter, too! I would really appreciate it if everyone who reads my story would give me a review! Enjoy!

"Vanessa?"

Later that night, I couldn't get Zach and Haley out of my mind. Had there been a spark of interest between the two of them? Had Haley been interested Zach ever since the first day of school when she met him in art class? But if that were the case, I would have already known by now. Haley could never go an entire week without telling me about a crush.

Another thing bothered me. Why didn't Haley call me after she read my notebook entry and mention that she knew Zach, too? Why didn't she... why... this was too much to handle. I was jealous and confused and upset all at the same time.

"Vanessa?"

I looked up. Mallory was sitting up her bed, looking at me. It was getting late and I was still sitting at my desk, completely dressed and doodling in my poetry notebook. I had just finished adding a couple of lines to the poem of my life. Most girls keep regular journals, but mine is just one big, loo-oong poem. The poem of my life. A journal entry for me equals a few stanzas. The stanza I had written tonight went like this:

Blonde-haired, blue eyed, pretty faces--
Without glasses, pimples, bad haircuts, braces--
Why must you be the portrait of perfection?
How can someone like me compete for his affection?

"Vanessa, are you okay?" Mallory asked, looking puzzled. "It's nearly 11:00 and you're still dressed. Why don't you go get ready for bed?"

"Okay," I mumbled, shutting my notebook and shoving it in my backpack.

"Are you okay?" Mallory asked again.

"Yeah," I said weakly. A tear slipped down my cheek. "N-no..."

"Come over here," Mallory scooted over in her bed and I slid in next to her, resting my head on her shoulder. "What happened?"

"Well, I (sniff)... um... (hic)... Haley..." A few sobs and hiccups later, the whole story was out. I told Mallory all about my having a silly crush on this guy that I barely knew, writing about it in the club notebook, and then about Haley inviting him to join the club.

"Listen," Mal said, playing with my ponytail. "There's something I never told you, but I think you ought to know. Running a club with your friends isn't always going to fun and easy. Especially when people aren't getting along. And then you add a boy to that equation, and you've got even more trouble."

"Yeah," I said, wiping my nose. "I was so embarrassed today. And if Zach ever finds out what I wrote about him, I'll die of embarrassment."

"Well... that's what you get for being such an eloquent writer," Mal said, but she wasn't being mean. She was being funny, and she managed to make me laugh.

"When I die of embarrassment, they can write on my tombstone that I was 'eloquently idiotic.'"

"It won't be that bad," Mal offered. "What if he feels the same way?"

"Well, then Haley would hate me," I sighed. "I know she would because I just know she likes him, too."

"Did she say so?"

"No...but she's my best friend. I know she does."

"Vanessa," Mallory looked at me long and hard. "You remind me just a little too much of myself right now. And I mean that in a good way. The first year of high school is confusing, but you'll get through all of it. This too will pass. Just be patient."

* * * * * * *

After Zach's trial sitting job with the Newtons, it was pretty obvious to all of us that he needed to join. According to Haley and Mrs. Newton, who later called and requested Zach again, 9-year-old Jamie Newton idolized his new baby-sitter and even 6-year-old Lucy had been pretty pleased.

In her notebook entry about the job, Haley wrote:

Is there anything this guy can't do? Zach kept up with the kids, matching them in both energy and creativity. Both of the kids had a blast with him. I think what really makes Zach a great sitter is how he can be ready with a new game or idea at a moment's notice, but he's mature enough to maintain control so the kids don't go crazy. He's even been trained with the Red Cross, and he looked after Kira, his baby cousin, when she was just two months old. Who wouldn't want Zach in the club?

That last sentence didn't sit well with me. I could tell that Haley was directing that question straight at ME. And you know what? Even though I knew Zach deserved to join, I wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of having him at every meeting. Meetings wouldn't be the same with a guy there. Especially a guy that Haley and I were both crushing on. I was trying to take Mallory's advice. I was trying to be patient with Haley and with the uncomfortable situation I was now in, but it just wasn't working.

At Wednesday's meeting, we voted about whether or not to let Zach in the club. The ballots were done in secret, and we all voted for having Zach in the club. In all honesty, I would have rather voted against letting him join, but that would have really backfired on me. All the other girls would have wanted to know who voted against letting Zach joined. Then they would have all blabbed about how they had voted, and I would have been caught and interrogated. Some democracy.

Finally, Friday came around, and it was time for Zach to officially become the newest member of the Baby-sitters Club. We were making it a combined party and meeting. After the meeting, we were going to have dinner and cake to celebrate our newest member. Haley had organized the entire thing herself without asking any of us first. As a matter of fact, she had already placed the order for the cake before we officially voted Zach in on Wednesday. That's how certain she was that he would be voted into the club.

Not only that, but she had also called the former BSC members that still lived in Stoneybrook to invite them to the party. Kristy, Claudia, Abby, Mary Anne, Jessi, and Mallory were all coming. Logan Bruno was in town for the weekend, and she invited him, too! She barely knows Logan!

Haley has really gone out of her way to plan all this. And Haley does not go out of her way to do things like this for just anybody. She definitely had it bad for him.

"You don't know that for sure," Mal argued when I explained my latest theory about Haley.

"Oh, yes I do," I put in. "I know her, and I know when she's up to something.

Mallory didn't have an argument for that so just rolled her eyes and said, "I think you're getting all worked up for nothing, Vanessa." She tied a ribbon in her curly red hair and changed the subject, "You look cute. Why are you all dressed up?"

"Duh," I said in the irritable voice that I had been using all week. "Zach's gonna be there. The last time he saw me at a meeting, I was sweating like a pig. The least I can do is look nice for him."

"You don't have to look nice for any guy," Mallory said in her know-it-all voice. "You know, this is the biggest reason that Logan Bruno was an associate member of the BSC instead of a regular member. It was much to uncomfortable to have a guy at every meeting."

"I agree," I said. "But what can I do?"

"Maybe you won't have to do anything," Mallory said, thoughtfully, "Maybe everyone else will be uncomfortable, too. Then the problem would take care of itself."

"But who knows how long it could take if I just wait for the problem to go away!"

"I don't know what else to tell you," Mal was getting impatient with my whining. I knew that she was pretty excited about getting the old club and the new club together, and I was spoiling it for her. "You'll just have to deal with it yourself."

Some big sister she is, I thought.

At 5:15, Jessi arrived with Becca to pick up Mallory and me.

Becca's so lucky that Jessi has a car. I wish Mom and Dad would buy Mallory a car, but they can't afford to do that. Instead, Mallory has to work as a hostess at Red Lobster to save up enough money to pay for half of the car. And by that time, the triplets will be old enough to drive it, so they'll have to pay Mallory back to become part-owners of the car. It would then be a car owned by four people. And they would all be obligated to drive the rest of us around, too. Isn't that crazy? Sometimes I really regret this family being so huge.

Becca greeted me when I sat down next to her in the back. She was holding the club scrapbook and her camera in her lap, and she looked like she was in a good mood.

"What are you bringing that stuff for?" I asked flatly.

"Haley said this would be a great opportunity to take the picture with the old BSC for the cover of the scrapbook," Becca explained. "It's going to be so fun having everyone together!"

"I guess," I said glumly. "But not everyone is together. There's still Stacey and Shannon in New York and Dawn in California."

"Well, this is the best we can do right now," Becca frowned. "If we ever do get everyone together, then we'll take another picture. But I was just planning to have Stacey and Shannon send me a picture of them together and get a picture of Dawn and put all of that on a separate page."

"Okay," I said softly, knowing that I was frustrating Becca. I even noticed Jessi glance at me in the rear-view mirror, looking very puzzled. Mallory didn't bother to be subtle; she turned all the way around in her seat and gave me a Look. I piped down and tried to look enthusiastic.

When we arrived, Abby and Mary Anne were already sitting in the Braddock's living room talking to Haley. (Haley was even more dressed up than I was!) Even though Abby and Mary Anne were still living in Stoneybrook, I hadn't seen either of them since the BSC got together before school started. Seeing them and hugging them both brightened my spirits just a little. I never realized how strange it would be to have friends who had already graduated high school. They both suddenly seemed so much older than they had last year.

"It's so good to see you!" I cried. "So tell me, what have you been doing? How's college?"

"Well, its not so different since I'm living at home," Mary Anne confessed. Abby nodded in agreement. "But I really like it. I'm doing something I would have never dreamed I'd do in high school..."

She left us hanging for a minute so Becca asked, "Well, what is it?"

"I'm doing theatre!" Mary Anne finally announced, "I really wanted to be involved and this girl I knew told me that I would really like it. So I auditioned and I got in! It's awesome!"

"Augh!" Becca squealed. "That's so cool! I want to act in college, too!"

"Wow, Mary Anne, it sounds great," Haley added.

"Oh, its so much fun..." Mary Anne went on about the drama program, with Becca hanging on her every word. Theatre is something we never would have thought that shy Mary Anne Spier would do. The only time she had ever been involved in a play was when Stoneybrook ISD put on "Peter Pan." Even then, Mary Anne refused to set foot on the stage. Instead, she was the backstage baby-sitter.

While Becca interrogated Mary Anne about drama, everyone else started to arrive. By 5:29 Haley, Mary Anne, Abby, Mallory, Jessi, me, Becca, Charlotte, Kristy, and Logan were gathered in the Braddock's living room. At exactly 5:30, Claudia and Zach arrived, and they had brought Janine and her husband, (and Zach's older brother) James. That made 14.5 people, plus Marilyn and Carolyn who had not arrived yet.

"Janine!"

"Look at you!"

"How long until you're due?"

It seemed wherever she went, she was now the center of attention. Her cheeks were pink; I couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or just flushed. Janine looked even bigger than the last time I had seen her, if that was possible. James ushered her to sit down, and she playfully gave him the "I'm not an invalid" speech that she had given Claudia the other day. But she sat and James stood by her.

I took a close look at Janine's husband. Then I looked at Zach and then back at James, comparing the two brothers' looks. They didn't resemble each other very much.

"Hey guys," Haley had gone to her room and returned with the cordless phone and the record book. "I figured we would hold the meeting in here since we can't all fit in my room."

Everyone agreed to that, even me. Although this was no way to really hold a meeting. It was much more of a party, but that was what it was intended to be. If someone had asked me, I would have suggested not inviting everyone else until after the meeting adjourned. But that someone obviously didn't want my opinion, and consequently we made such a racket that we almost didn't hear the phone when it did ring.

I finally picked it up myself, put a finger in my other ear, and said, "Hello, Baby-sitters Club."

"Hello, this is Yvonne Hutchison. I wanted to call you back to get a sitter for Seth on Tuesday. The last girl you sent, Carolyn Arnold, was absolutely wonderful with him. Tell her I said thank you again for a job well done. I'll be regularly calling your organization when I need a sitter."

"Great!" I said enthusiastically. "I'll tell Carolyn..." If she ever shows up, I thought."...and, Mrs. Hutchison, I will check to see who's available and call you back."

I hung up and looked for Charlotte and the record book. She was busy talking to Abby, and the record book was still on the kitchen counter where Haley had set it down. I just shrugged and picked it up, deciding to play secretary since nobody else seemed to care about their job right now. Haley and Charlotte were both free.

"Hey Haley? Hey Charlotte?" Neither of them heard me. "HALEY? CHARLOTTE?" Both of the girls were too caught up in the party to pay any attention. Haley was putting her Michelle Branch CD, making even more noise and making it harder for me to get their attention.

Finally, Kristy took notice of me. "HALEY! CHARLOTTE!" She bellowed in her typical loud-mouthed manner. That worked. The music was turned down, and everyone quit talking.

"I think Vanessa wants to know who will take the job with the Hutchisons," Kristy calmly explained. I gave her a small smile, realizing that she had been observing me the whole time I was on the phone.

Charlotte offered the job to Haley, and Haley called Mrs. Hutchison back.

"So how am I doing?" I asked Kristy, knowing that she'd be honest, even if the truth hurt.

"Well," Kristy began. "I know you're trying, but things aren't going so smoothly, am I right?"

"Not really," I sighed and started explaining all the problems we'd been having, starting with Haley inviting Zach to the meeting without asking any of us and then explaining how Haley had basically planned this whole party without first checking with anyone else.

"So Haley's sort of taking over?" Kristy asked.

"I guess so," I admitted. "She keeps doing things on her own, but we're supposed to function as a group in order to be fair to everybody. What should I do, Kristy?"

Kristy opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, the kitchen door flew open. Carolyn was standing there, out of breath, and tears were running down her cheeks. The time on the kitchen clock read 5:56.

"Carolyn, what's wrong?" I asked. "Where's Marilyn?"

Carolyn didn't answer my question. Instead, she sat down at the kitchen table, covered her face with her hands, and started sobbing.