CHAPTER 4: Claudia

Wow. Is it just me, you guys, or does everyone have Carnivul on the brain? I talked to Mrs. Baehr about making the puppets, and she said she'd be glad to help. And when I babby-sat for the Perkins girls, I told Myriah and Gabby about it. I kind of wish I hadn't, because the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by allmost every stuffed animal in the house. I guess it was Cirkus Day for those girls. Oh, and the next time one of you sits at the Newtons', do me a favor, and DO NOT mention the C-word around Jamie, because I guarantee you, you'll be taking Exsedrin by the bagful!

At our BSC meeting that afternoon, we were talking about what parts we'd gotten. Well, most of us were. You see, I was still kind of reeling from my baby-sitting job at the Perkins'. What happened over there was this: Myriah and Gabbie asked if they could invite Jamie Newton over to play. By the way, Myriah's almost six, Jamie's almost five, and Gabbie just turned three, and since they're all such good buddies, I said okay, not knowing what kind of game they had in mind. As it turned out, they were pretending that the living room was a three-ring circus, and that's why they had all their stuffed animals out. (Mrs. Perkins had said they'd been to a circus over the weekend.) And of course, Jamie said that he wanted to be the ringmaster. Now, if someone had warned me that he has the loudest voice under the sun, I could've handled it better. Oh, well, at least we all got through that job in one piece. I can only imagine what would've happened if the Pikes and Rodowskys had been there, too.

Oh, all this Carnival talk reminds me: the only ones who weren't actually in it were Mal, Mary Anne, and me. Mal, because she's the student director; Mary Anne, because she's the stage manager, and also because she's petrified of being onstage, thanks to that summer ballet class we took together when we were seven. On the day of the recital, Mary Anne stayed in the bathroom, and wouldn't come out until someone got her dad to take her home. I wasn't in it, because I'd already told Mr. Cheney that I'd design the scenery, which is really my forte. (Yes, folks, since I've gone back to seventh grade, my vocabulary's been improving.)

Okay, back to the meeting. "So, did everyone get the parts they wanted?" I asked. I'd just handed Stacey the crackers, and was opening a package of Golden Oreos. In case you're wondering, I'm a serious junk food addict and Nancy Drew mystery buff. I have to keep both hidden around my room, because for some reason, my parents don't approve. I guess they're afraid I'll wind up with thirteen cavities and terminal acne. I've eaten the junk food for years, and haven't had problems with either.

Yet.

As for my Nancy Drew collection, they think I should be reading more "classic" novels. The only times I'll ever read one are for either a school assignment (recently, we had to read A Wrinkle In Time), or if I were having trouble falling asleep. Those are for Janine.

"Well, I kind of pictured myself as Lili," Kristy admitted as she got off the phone with Mrs. Kuhn. "I'm just glad I don't have tons of lines to memorize this time."

Just then, the phone rang again. "Baby-sitters Club," Abby answered. "No job too small, no kid or problem too big." We all couldn't help laughing, then Abby continued, "Oh, hi, Mrs. Korman, how are you?...Friday from 7:00 to 9:00? Yeah, sure, I'll get back with you."

Mary Anne opened the record book. "Claudia, Abby, and I are the only ones free," she said.

"Why don't you take it?" I suggested to Abby. "They live in your neighborhood."

"Okay," Abby agreed. She called Mrs. Korman back to let her know who would be there.

When Abby got off the phone, Stacey said, "You know, I'm kind of flattered to be Rosalie, and I wasn't surprised at all that Sam got to be Marco. All I can say is, he'd better behave himself."

"I'll make sure he does," Kristy said as she smacked her fist into her palm, which got more than a few laughs.

"And I'm just glad to be the contortionist," Jessi said, successfully putting her leg behind her head. The rest of us tried, but none of us are quite that flexible. In fact, Stacey and Mary Anne almost fell off the bed. Amidst our laughter, the phone rang.

"Baby-sitters Club," I answered, pulling myself together. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Brewer...Yes, she's right here. Kristy, it's your mom." I handed her the phone.

While Kristy talked to her mom, Dawn said, "I really didn't expect to get the part of Lili, to be honest with you."

"Are you serious?" Mary Anne exclaimed. "I saw your audition! You nailed it!"

"Yeah," Mal agreed. "Can you imagine what would've happened if Cokie had gotten that part?"

"You mean, besides the show folding faster than Supergirl on laundry day?" Dawn asked.

"Mm-hm."

"Oy, I don't even want to think about that," Abby cringed. "Knowing her, she'd be out of the show faster than you can say 'Uzbekistan'."

"I'll bet you can't say that three times fast," I giggled.

"'That three times fast'," Abby said, each word clear as a bell, and in the snobbiest British accent she could do, along with rolling the r's and pretending to adjust a monocle. This time, I was the one who almost fell off the bed from laughing so hard. I even managed to send an Oreo or two flying across the room. Kristy, still on the phone, caught one and stuffed it in her mouth without missing a beat.

With coordination like that, she was going to make one hell of a Bluebird Girl!