"Do you think five bathing suits are enough?" I asked looking at my suitcase.

"Probably," my best friend Stacey McGill replied. "I'm bringing five too, and I plan to buy a couple. I hear things are really cheap in Mexico. Are you packing anything fancy? In case we go out to a nice dinner or something?"

"Definitely," I replied. I pulled out my big, full lime green dress. It was a '70s prom dress I had bought at a thrift store over the summer, complete with ruffles and taffeta. I had stuck rhinestones to the front with my hot glue gun and laced hot pink ribbons through the sides. It was totally chilly.

"Cool," Stacey said staring at my dress with wide eyes. I could tell she was envious. Stacey has a great sense of style, but she's into more traditional fashions while I like to mix it up. This is probably because she grew up in New York City! Until last year Stacey's family was living in Manhattan. Then her father's job got moved here, so they packed up and left the exciting city for boring Stoneybrook. But Stacey was more than happy to move. You see, a couple years ago Stacey was diagnosed with a disease called diabetes. Basically it means that her body can't handle certain foods, especially ones with sugar. And she has to give herself shots of a hormone called insulin every day. Many of her NYC friends weren't understanding about her disease. She handles it very well though; I've almost never heard her complain.

With Stacey's looks and sophistication you might think she was 15. She has long beautiful blonde hair which she gets permed regularly so it's thick and fluffy. She has blue eyes, and a figure to die for.

"You can borrow it sometime if you want," I said rolling the dress into my suitcase.

"Maybe, I don't know if I could pull if off the way you could Claud," Stacey said uncertainly.

This was true. I'm known for my crazy outfits, and people always say that while I always look great in what I'm wearing, they would never ever be able to pull it off. I think my exotic looks help. I'm fully Japanese and I have long black hair, which I love to put into crazy styles. I also have smooth almond colored skin, and wide eyes that slant. Luckily I'm tall and thin too. I say "luckily" because I loooove junk food. I eat it all day, but I'm able to keep a good figure and clear skin. Unreal, I know. I have to hide the food in my room though because my parents don't approve of me eating it. They say it'll rot my teeth and my brain, but I think it makes me more creative. Ring Dings and Ho Hos just assist me in my art. I'm not that great in school, in fact I'm a horrible speller and I can't do math to save my life. But I'm a great artist. I love to paint, sculpt, sketch… everything!

It doesn't help that my sister Janine is a real life genius! She's sixteen and already taking college courses. She loves math, and science and loves making me feel stupid. Few people know this, but I'm actually really smart. My IQ is above average, and if I were to just "apply myself" (the way my teachers put it) I would do great in school.

Other club members started arriving as I packed. Mallory Pike and Jessi Ramsey were first. They're the two youngest members of the club, both eleven years old. They're best friends and they have almost everything in common. They're both the oldest in their family, both love horse stories, and both think that their parents treat them like babies. There are some differences though. Mallory has seven brothers and sisters! Her family is one of the BSC's most frequent charges, we all know the Pike kids pretty well. Mallory hopes one day to be a writer, and spends a lot of time making up characters for her stories. Jessi only has one brother and one sister. Instead of writing, Jessi spends most of her time dancing. She's an amazing ballerina and she can't wait to be a professional. Mallory and Jessi also don't have a lot in common physically. Mallory has thick, curly red hair, glasses, and freckles. She complains a lot about her looks, but we all think that she's an ugly duckling just waiting to become a beautiful swan. Jessi on the other hand is beautiful already, tall, thin and graceful with beautiful dark eyes with long eyelashes. She has black hair that she keeps pulled away from her face in a bun. Oh and I guess I should let you know that she's black. None of us care, but some people can be very closed minded.

"Hola amigos," Jessi said as she entered the room.

"No Jessi, you mean 'amigas' its feminine, we're all girls," Mallory corrected her as they sat on the floor.

"Well, either way I can't wait for tomorrow!" Jessi said laughing.

"Me neither," Mary Anne Spier said as she walked through the door, followed by her step-sister Dawn. I noticed them both eyeing the clock as they walked in, Kristy can be a real Nazi on getting to meetings on time. It was funny that she and Abby were the only ones not there yet.

"I've been to Mexico twice already, it's not that great," Dawn said plopping down on my desk chair.

"Actually Dawn, Mexico City is dripping with culture! The city was built on the ruins of the Aztec capitol, Tenochtitlan. The population of the city grows at a rate of 2 a year…" Mary Ann continued on, but I tuned her out. Boooring.

Mary Anne always gets like this when we go on trips. She studies tour books and brochures for hours picking out the best spots to go to and collecting useless information. It can be helpful sometimes, but usually it's a pain.

I've known Mary Anne my whole life. Until last winter she lived across the street with her father. Mary Anne's mother died when she was younger, and her dad Richard was left to raise her on his own. He wanted so badly to prove that he could do a good job that he was very strict with Mary Anne. She had to keep her hair in two braids, she had to wear skirts, knee socks, sweaters and loafers to school every day, she had to be in bed by 8, and couldn't talk on the phone for more than 10 minutes. Luckily everything changed when Dawn Schafer came along.

Dawn had a pretty happy life growing up in California. That was until her parents got divorced last year. Her dad decided to stay in California and Dawn's mom Sharon decided to come back to Stoneybrook, where she grew up. So Dawn, Sharon, and her brother Jeff all moved in at the beginning of last school year. Jeff decided that Connecticut wasn't for him, and soon moved back to California. Meanwhile Dawn and Mary Anne discovered that their parents had dated in high school, and schemed to get them back together. It worked! Richard and Sharon got married and now they all live together in an old farmhouse on Burnt Hill Road. Well actually Dawn lives with them a few months in the winter, and during the summer. Like her brother, she missed California too much to stay in Stoneybrook.

Mary Anne cut her long brown hair a while ago into a short pixie cut. And instead of knee socks and loafers, she sports trendier clothing, but nothing too risky. She goes for more of an L.L. Bean look. Mary Anne is probably the shyest person I know, and she's very sensitive. Surprisingly though, she's the only member of the BSC with a steady boyfriend! His name is Logan Bruno, he's from Kentucky and he's super cute.

Dawn looks like a typical Californian. She's tall and thin with loooooong blonde hair so pale its almost white. She has blue eyes and is always tanned. We consider Dawn's style to be "California casual". She likes to wear loose-fitting, flowing clothes with flip flops and baggy jeans. She usually just wears her hair hanging down, but sometimes she'll braid some of it or tie it back. Dawn is very concerned with the environment, she doesn't eat meat or a lot of junk food and is concerned with saving the whales and the ozone and all that. I respect her for caring about something so much, but she can be a real pain sometimes.

Kristy and Abby raced in just as the numbers on the clock clicked to 5:30.

"This meeting will now come to order!" Kristy cried taking her usual seat in my director's chair.