Disclaimer: I don't own The Babysitters Club or any of the characters.
Author's Note - Now I'm starting to get into my story. Hope you enjoy it! E-mail blazeflametthotmail.com with the subject: 'One Smile' for comments, etc.
Please note: This Chapter is written in the 3rd person again.
Chapter 3
The Party
"Hello?" said the voice on the end of the phone.
"Dawn? Is that you? It's Kristy." Kristy said into the phone.
"Hey Kristy what's up?" Dawn asked, puzzled.
"I can't get to your house for 4 o'clock. I don't know if I'll even get to the BSC meeting tonight," she complained. She sounded like she was on the verge of whining.
"Why not?"
"Well, Watson's not back from his office yet, David Michael, Sam and Charlie have gone to some football game somewhere and Mom was supposed to bring me over but she's just been called into the office. And it's too late to start cycling over. I hate being late and..."
"Okay Kristy, don't panic," Dawn said cutting Kristy short, "I'll see if my Mom can drive you over. Hold on a sec." Dawn placed her hand over the receiver while she talked to her Mom. Kristy heard muffled sounds on the other end of the phone. "Mom said she'll come and collect you."
"Thanks Dawn, you're a lifesaver." Kristy sighed with relief.
"Mom'll be there in 5 minutes, okay Kristy?"
"Yeah, no problem. See you in a few minutes."
"'Bye." Dawn hung up the phone and grinned. The plan was in action.
She ran to the bottom of the stairs, "Mary Anne! Kristy's on her way. Come on!"
"Okay," Mary Anne called dashing down the stairs.
Both girls ran to their yard where a huge marquee had been set up. Inside, there were many tables and chairs set up towards the entrance. At the end furthest away from the entrance was a stage set up with speakers. There were decks and piles and piles of CDs to the right of the stage for the DJs. Along the sides of the tent were tables filled with refreshments and the rest of the area was left as a dance floor.
Banners (courtesy of Claudia) were hung around the inside bearing messages such as 'Welcome Back Kristy!', 'Home Run For Kristy!' and various others. There were streamers strung from corner to corner and balloons were all over the place.
Seated at the tables were the families of all the BSC members, clients of the BSC, their charges and also Bart Taylor and his family. The BSC were gathered in their places, waiting for word from Dawn that Kristy was on her way.
Logan and Shannon - who were keeping a general eye on things - were joined by Mary Anne while Dawn dashed to Claudia and Stacey at the sound booth and grabbed a radio microphone and hooked it in place over her ear. She walked up the steps onto the stage and Stacey signalled that the mic was on. Dawn nodded.
"Listen everyone!" Dawn said. She could hear her own voice out of the speakers. "Kristy will be here any minute and then we can get this party started!" A cheer rose from the crowd. Dawn grinned, "While we're waiting, we're going to listen to a little music."
Dawn stepped off the stage and Claudia flicked a switch on the decks. A familiar song blared out of the speakers. Everyone chatted away and the babysitters were waiting nervously for Kristy's arrival.
Seven minutes passed. A car door slammed outside. Kristy appeared at the marquee entrance with Mrs. Schafer. She looked totally surprised. She did a double-take when she saw her whole family sitting at a table. Karen, Andrew, their Mom and Stepdad were sitting at the table next to them.
Dawn bounded back onto the stage and signalled to Stacey who gave her the thumbs-up back.
"Okay everyone, time to start the festivities!" Another cheer rose from the crowd. "But first," Dawn said, "you have to listen to me talk for a few minutes."
"Oh no!" Claudia joked, smirking.
Dawn gave a quick safety brief then introduced everyone, "Okay everyone, in case you don't know or forgot, I'm Dawn Schafer and I'm going to be your MC tonight." She gestured towards Stacey and Claudia, "Claudia Kishi and Stacey McGill will be DJing for us tonight so if you have any requests just go and tell them and we'll see what we can do. Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey," she gestured again, "will be in charge of refreshments and Mary Anne Spier, Logan Bruno and Shannon Kilbourne will be keeping a general eye on things.
"Some information on tonight - we're going to play some music and we've got a karaoke," she went on to describe about requesting songs to sing, "and, before Kristy kills me, I'd better mention that as we're missing our BSC meeting tonight, if any of you guys need a sitter for the near future, please let one of the BSC members know before you go so we can a sitter arranged for you.
"Speaking of the BSC, as Acting Chairperson, I'd like to invite Kristy Thomas, our guest of honour - to the stage." Kristy smiled and walked to the stage. She was handed a microphone as she passed Claudia and Stacey.
"Mary Anne," Dawn said, once Kristy had reached the stage, "the Club Notebook please." Mary Anne passed Dawn the notebook and Dawn turned to face Kristy who was to her right. "Kristy, please place your hand on the notebook." Kristy obeyed. "As Acting Chairperson, I hereby return you, Kristen Amanda Thomas, to the position of Chairperson in the Babysitters Club." Dawn paused. "Would you care to say a few words?"
"Yes, thank you. First if all Dawn," she took the Notebook from Dawn, "I would like you to place your hand - preferably the unbroken one - on the notebook. As Chairperson, I hereby return you, Dawn Read Schafer, to your position of Alternate Officer." Kristy said, echoing Dawn's speech. Dawn gave a nod of thanks and stepped aside. Then Kristy continued, "I can't believe you guys kept this party secret! How long have you had this organised?"
"About 3 weeks," Shannon called.
"Hmm, anyway," she said looking towards her family, "you guys were pretty sneaky. Leaving me in the house by myself. I even called Dawn panicking!" She grinned. "Anyway, I'm glad to be back. I missed everyone here. I have one last thing to say: Let's get this party started! Thank you!"
Kristy left the stage. Dawn laughed, "Thanks Kristy. To get the karaoke off to a start, I'm going to sing the song 'Fame' by Irene Cara (A/N: One of my favourite songs!)." So Dawn, by herself on the stage, sang the solo. She got the audience involved in the chorus and surprised everyone at how good she was at singing.
The party continued in a similar fashion with a variety of songs played and many, many more performed. Some of the clients and charges had a go at the karaoke and at one point the BSC (except Kristy - who wasn't there for the practices - and Mary Anne - who is shy) performed a song that they had practised in advance which included dancing.
Everything went pretty smoothly and crises were avoided, except one or two exceptions like Jenny Prezzioso's tantrum when she had to wait her turn to sing and Alan Gray gatecrashing the party but being allowed to stay as long as he behaved (he had quite a few goes on the karaoke and seemed to get worse and worse every time) and at 7:30 the party was confirmed a hit when Dawn got back on stage to sing again and then said, "Well, unfortunately, that's the end of the party." (This was met by groans), "Did you all have fun?" (This was met by a huge cheer), "Well, I can definitely say this: We certainly welcomed Kristy back from her summer away at Sports Camp. We, the BSC, would like to thank everyone for their help with the fund-raising for this and with the setting up tonight. Goodnight!"
There was a round of applause and everyone began to leave. Some people stayed to help clear up and strike the tent. The company came and took the hired karaoke set and stage. Another company came to collect the tables and chairs and eventually, the yard was back to normal with the BSC - except for Logan and Shannon - gathered in the centre.
"Well, are you all suitably stuffed or should we go and order a pizza?" Mary Anne asked.
"Pizza sounds good," Claudia said, "we were so busy DJing we didn't get much of a chance to eat."
After debating what to have, they went into Mary Anne and Dawn's house to order. Soon they were settling down at the dining room table surrounded by pizza, sodas and junk food. Halfway through their food, the doorbell rang and about a minute later, Sharon walked into the room closely followed by Mrs. Brewer.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" Kristy asked, "I thought you said I could stay for pizza."
"I did, I just forgot to drop something off for you." Kristy's Mom replied. Kristy looked at her suspiciously. Mrs. Brewer revealed Kristy's rucksack and sleeping bag. Now Kristy was looking at her questioningly. "They haven't told you yet then?"
"Told me what?" Kristy looked around the table at her friends.
"We're having a slumber party." Mallory grinned.
"In honour of your return and to celebrate the almost end to summer vacation as we're going back to school next week." This time Stacey grinned.
"You guys..." Kristy tailed off, she could feel tears filling her eyes. She looked up at her Mom, "thanks Mom."
Mrs. Brewer left.
After they'd eaten, the BSC trooped up to Dawn's room. Dawn was carrying a tray of drinks and Mary Anne was carrying a tray of snacks. Everyone changed into their pyjamas and nightdresses and then started discussing the events of the party.
"What about when Jackie Rodowsky flung his hands in the air when he was singing and managed to launch the microphone across the tent," Stacey said, "I'm so glad Logan caught it, imagine what the rental place would have said if he hadn't."
"How about when Alan Gray was dancing with Dawn?" Jessi asked giggling.
"That was entertaining," Claudia agreed. Dawn shot her a Look. Claudia continued, "and what about Bart." Kristy blushed a shade of crimson; she knew exactly what was coming next. "I thought it was really sweet when he serenaded Kristy and then kissed her in front of everybody." She flashed Kristy a sly smile.
Mary Anne added, "He really did miss you Kristy."
"Er," Kristy looked very sheepish.
"What's wrong Kristy?" Everyone stopped what they were doing. Mary Anne stopped brushing Dawn's hair. Jessi who was doing stretches on the floor looked up. Mallory, Stacey and Claudia who had been lying on Dawn's bed sat up.
"Well, I....you see....something happened at camp." Kristy finally said.
"What? Did you meet someone else?" Mallory asked.
"I suppose you could say that." Kristy muttered. It was clear to everyone that she didn't want to talk about it.
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There we go. Chapter 3 done and dusted. What do you think? Please R&R.
See ya soon. blazeflametthotmail.com for comments, suggestions, etc.
GalaxyAxle