CHAPTER 8: April—Abby
It was the first day back to school after spring break. The all-school and senior class plays would be the following two weekends. Today, we were going to find out the usher assignments for both plays.
I met up with Kristy in the hall at the end of the day. We saw the assignment lists on the bulletin board outside Mr. D'Amato's office.
"Wow, Abby, you and I are the freshman ushers," she said. Then, "Oh, shit."
"What?"
"Janet Gates and Leslie Howard are going to be the sophomore ushers. You and Janet are supposed to usher during M.A.S.H., and Leslie and I during The Mousetrap."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Well, soon after we started the BSC, two girls named Liz Lewis and Michelle Patterson started their own club called the Baby-sitters Agency, and they tried to take away our business," Kristy explained. "They were the most irresponsible baby-sitters on the face of the earth, as well as the opposite of us. They didn't interact with the kids, just watched TV, talked on the phone, you name it. In fact, one day, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, and I found Jamie Newton playing too close to the street without his hat or mittens. It was scary enough that you would've had the Hail Mary of all asthma attacks."
I nodded, because last year, that did happen to me while I was baby-sitting for the Papadakises'.
"Anyway," Kristy continued, "it seemed that the Agency had sent one of their sitters, and that's just when we realized how irresponsible they were." She looked like she was either going to start crying or throw something.
"But what do Janet and Leslie have to do with them?"
"Well, you see, the BSC tried to recruit older members to take on the late-night jobs. Janet and Leslie were our choices, and they were awful."
"What happened?"
"Well, they didn't show up for the baby-sitting jobs we'd assigned them, thus forcing the parents to either cancel their plans or make other arrangements. It was all part of their plan to give the BSC a bad name. That's not even the worst part, though. You see, they were only pretending to be BSC members, but they were actually part of the Agency..." She said that word as if it were as welcome as a root canal, "...the entire time."
"Oy," I said. "What happened to the Baby-sitters Agency?"
"They went out of business, thank God," Kristy answered. "We encouraged the kids we sit for to talk to their parents if they were unhappy with the Agency sitters, and we also told Mrs. Newton, who made a few calls. And you know, they say word travels fast. Before too long, they went belly-up. I guess the part of their plan that involved Janet and Leslie being BSC members was to spy on us so they could one-up and shut us down, but I'm also guessing they couldn't accept the fact that we were more mature and responsible than they were."
I put an arm around Kristy, and we went outside to wait for the bus.
Well, it was finally opening night for M.A.S.H., the all-school play. I wasn't surprised at all that Sam Thomas got to be Hawkeye. That part fits him well. (Oh, and I'd auditioned for this character named Miss Randazzle, but lost the part to Stephanie Kingsley.)
I noticed a girl with long blond hair in a ponytail, and dressed like a Goth girl. She was also chewing at least a dozen pieces of gum. "Hi," I said. "Are you Janet Gates?"
"Yup," she answered, snapping her gum.
"I'm Abby Stevenson," I said. "I guess I'm your helper."
"Good," she said, snapping her gum some more. I wondered if she'd ever been afraid of turning into a giant blueberry. After hearing what Kristy had to say about her, that might actually be a good thing.
"The programs are over there," she said, pointing to the white file box on the floor next to the table. "Just stand by that door and hand them out. I was a freshman usher last year, so I know the drill."
"Okay," I said. I watched Janet spit her gum into the trash can, then she picked up a stack of programs, and we stood at both doors.
While people were filing into the auditorium, I felt my right temple itching, so I reached up, programs and all, and started to scratch it. Then I got a really silly idea: I divided my stack of programs in half and started waving a couple of them around like an air-traffic controller, scratched my head with one program, and brushed my shoulder with the other, while saying to myself, "Is your dandruff shampoo sending the wrong signals?" After saying that, I screamed very quietly with a horrified look on my face. I got a few puzzled looks from people, but Janet was doubled over with laughter. I took that as a good sign that she'd matured a little over the past couple of years, from what I remembered Kristy saying about her.
After the show, I shook Janet's hand. "Good job," she said.
"Thanks," I answered. "You, too."
I hoped the other BSC members (namely Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey) would find it within themselves to bury the hatchet with Janet and Leslie.