CHAPTER 5: January—Stacey

I returned to school on the day after New Year's. For the New Year's holiday, Mom and I had gone to New York. We'd left on December 30th, spent the day shopping, and stayed with the Spencers', which are my Uncle Lou, Aunt Beverly, and my cousins, Jonathon and Kirsten. On New Year's Eve, I made sure to take my insulin and fix some carrot and celery sticks before we left to get our spot to watch the ball drop, which was after dinner. We still had a good spot, considering the fact that we'd never done that before.

"Having a good time, sweetie?" Mom asked while we waited for midnight. And believe me, we were freezing our asses off.

"Oh, yeah," I agreed as I started munching on a carrot stick. "Too bad this is Dick Clark's last year to do this."

Mom nodded in agreement.

"Ryan Seacrest is going to have HUGE shoes to fill."

"I'll say," Mom agreed. And it really was too bad, since Dick Clark had hosted New Year's Eve for I-don't-know-how many years. In my opinion, Regis Philbin didn't do a bad job the year he hosted while Dick Clark was recovering from his stroke, but Ryan Seacrest would have to follow a legend.

I don't mean to get off the subject here, but when Bob Barker announced his retirement from The Price Is Right, I knew that whoever they hired—which turned out to be Drew Carey—wouldn't be the same as Bob Barker, since Bob hosted it for practically three and a half decades. And have you ever noticed how sympathetic Bob Barker is whenever a contestant loses? Recently, when I was baby-sitting for the Hills', eight-year-old Norman showed me his Bob Barker impression. I almost blew my milk out of my nose from laughing so hard.

About fifteen minutes later, as I finished my snack and put the sandwich bag in my coat pocket, everyone in Times Square—and maybe even at home—started counting down, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Amidst the rowdy, cheerful singing of "Auld Lang Syne" (at least these people were slightly sober, knew all the words, and knew what the hell a lang syne was), Mom turned to me and said, "Happy New Year, Stacey."

"You, too, Mom," I said, getting misty-eyed. I thought of my childhood, the way my life changed after I was diagnosed with diabetes, the day we first moved to Stoneybrook, and my friends in the BSC. I said a silent prayer for them, in the hopes that they were having a happy new year as well.

The next afternoon, Mom and I returned to Stoneybrook, and like I was saying before, I returned to school on the day after New Year's. I had first period Algebra with Mr. Adams and none of my BSC friends. I had second period English with Mary Anne and Logan.

In third period gym with Kristy and Mary Anne, we found out that we'd be starting square-dancing that day, and learned the basic steps. We'd be applying them the rest of the week, then having a square dance on Friday. I was paired up with Howie Johnson, and we learned Allemande Left, Grand Right and Left, and Promenade. We'd be doing these steps while "Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight" blared from the stereo. I'm told that it's supposedly a song about the Great Chicago Fire, which was rumored to have started when Mrs. O'Leary's cow accidentally knocked over a lantern. As we got started, I could tell that Mary Anne looked a little nervous.

"It'll be all right," I told her.

"Thanks, Stace," she said. That's when the music started, and we all started to dance.

Now, I'm not too sure, but I think I heard Alan Gray say to his partner, "Hey, after this, why don't we lead everyone in the Time Warp?" Part of me wanted to smack him for saying that, but at the same time, I couldn't really blame him, because I felt a little dorky myself.

I had fourth period science with Mary Anne, then fifth period study hall with Claud, Dawn, and Abby, during which I spent most of the period helping Claud with her homework, which is really my forte. I'd had experience with that, because before Claud was temporarily sent back to seventh grade—which, by the way, she wasn't exactly happy about—I'd helped her with her homework then, too. I think doing that really helped her, though.

At lunch time, the four of us sat at our usual table. Today's lunch was mini-pizzas, fruit cocktail, and milk. Since I could eat the other menu items, that's what I got, along with a ham sandwich I'd brought from home.

"How was your trip to New York, Stacey?" Dawn asked as I sat down with my lunch tray.

"Great," I answered as I opened my milk. "We got to see the ball drop."

"I saw that on TV," Abby said, taking a bite of applesauce. Like me, she didn't get the pizza, mostly because she's allergic to tomatoes and cheese. "In fact, I still remember the New Year's that Mom, Anna, and I spent on Sanibel Island."

"And we had Kristy over for New Year's Eve, and on the upside, she didn't call Bart and say, 'Happy New Year, Bart-Man'," Dawn added.

We giggled. In case you're wondering, yes, Kristy really did do that one year.

When we calmed down, I said, "That's good, Abby. I think I remember reading about that in your autobiography last year."

As soon as we finished eating, we threw our trash away. Just then, the bell rang, and we all scattered. I had seventh period History with Kristy, Claud, Mary Anne, Logan, and Jason. Mr. Reed told us that the second of our projects would be due before we left for spring break. This time, I was paired up with Mary Anne, and we decided to do ours on the Roaring Twenties. (Last time, I'd been paired up with Claud, and we'd done ours on the 1899 NYC Newsboys' Strike, which was the inspiration for the Disney movie Newsies.)

I had eighth period Home Ec. with Mary Anne. Today, we filled out a budgeting worksheet in our workbooks. After we finished, we tore the pages on the perforated line, and I gave mine to Mary Anne to turn in.

After school, I baby-sat for Charlotte Johanssen. She sure was different from the shy, clingy, friendless girl I'd met a couple of years ago. After she skipped a grade, she started to come out of her shell a little more and make some friends.

"Hi, Stacey," she said.

"Hi, Char," I said.

During the afternoon, Charlotte spent most of the time on the phone with her friends. Becca Ramsey—her best friend, as well as Jessi's sister—even came over to hang out with her. I still couldn't believe that this was the same girl.

As soon as I got home, I finished my homework. When Mom came home, we ordered Chinese food. I know there's always something from there that I can eat.

I hoped the rest of the year would be just as good.