BSC HIGH: Sophomore Year
A/N: Book Two in the miniseries.
CHAPTER 1: September—Claudia
It was a Tuesday morning in early September in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. I woke to the sound of the radio blaring a public-service announcement, not to mention the alarm telling me to get my ass out of bed. Normally, I would've been filled with dread at the thought of going to school, but not today. Today, I was starting my sophomore year at Stoneybrook High School.
Hi, my name's Claudia Kishi, and I'm fifteen years old. I live with my parents and older sister, Janine, who's eighteen and recently started her freshman year at U-Conn. She's a pre-med major, because she's planning to be a doctor. My beloved grandmother, Mimi, used to live with us, too, but she died about a couple of years ago, and I miss her very much. In fact, I have something very special in my room: a matted picture frame with my seventh-grade school picture in one corner and a picture of Mimi at age twelve in another corner. We look so much alike.
I'm also the vice-president of the Baby-sitters Club. The reason why is because I have my own phone and phone number, so I talke calls during non-meeting times. Like the vice-president of our country, I have no official duties, unless you count snack provider during meetings. There are two reasons why I have my own phone and phone number: one, so we don't have to tie up someone's phone line during our meetings; and two, so people don't have to call all over town just to find a baby-sitter.
Another thing about me is that I'm not the best student in the world, which is why I had to repeat some of seventh grade. Thankfully, it helped, because it didn't take long for me to catch up and go to high school with my friends. My sister, on the other hand, has a genius IQ, and was always taking classes higher than her grade level in school. Every year, whenever one of Janine's former teachers learns I'll be in their class, they expect me to be just like her, and are always disappointed. My sister was the valedictorian of her class, whereas I'm lucky if I can get a grade above a C. I'm also a fabulous artist—not that I'm bragging, of course—and sometimes make my own jewelry.
Okay, on to our loyal president and founder, Kristy Thomas, who's also fifteen and a sophomore. Kristy got the idea for the club about three years ago when she saw her mom make a hundred phone calls, trying to find a baby-sitter for her little brother, who was only six at the time. Her dad, who Mary Anne Spier and I never really liked all that much, abandoned them when Kristy was in first grade, which was soon after David Michael was born. Six years later, her mom married Watson Brewer, then Kristy and her family moved in with her new stepfather.
You know about Kristy, so let's talk about her huge family. First, her oldest brother, Charlie, is nineteen and a sophomore at NYU; Sam is seventeen and a senior at SHS, and David Michael is now nine and in fourth grade at Stoneybrook Elementary School. Her stepsister, Karen, is almost nine and in fourth grade, and her stepbrother, Andrew, is six and in first grade. Both of them attend Stoneybrook Academy, a private school in Kristy's neighborhood. Her adopted sister, Emily, is four and in preschool. She came from Vietnam when she was two. Back then, the doctor described her as "language-delayed", because she was having trouble learning English, after hearing only Vietnamese for the first two years of her life, so she was behind kids her age with knowing her shapes and colors, as well as counting and matching. Thanks to some tutoring from Yours Truly, she was able to catch up, and I still tutor her from time to time.
Mary Anne is the BSC secretary. She's almost fifteen, but will be a sophomore, along with the rest of us. Mary Anne was just a baby when her mother died, and her dad remarried about a couple of years ago. She lives with her dad, stepmother, stepsister, and cat in a renovated barn. You see, their old house burned down last year (apparently, what they say about old houses and modern wiring is true), so everyone got together and turned the barn into their new house.
Stacey McGill is the treasurer of the BSC, as well as my best friend, the first one I ever really had. Not that I wasn't good friends with Kristy and Mary Anne, but I always felt like I was older than them, even though we're the same age, with our interests. I always liked art, and Kristy and Mary Anne were still playing with dolls and stuffed animals right up until we were getting ready to start seventh grade. Stacey's fifteen, a native New Yorker, and a diabetic, so she has to stick to a strict diet.
Abby Stevenson and Dawn Schafer are our alternate officers, which means that one of them takes over if someone has to miss a meeting. Dawn is also Mary Anne's stepsister, which is because her mom is married to Mary Anne's dad. Mr. Spier and Mrs. Schafer were high school sweethearts, but in true Romeo & Juliet fashion, her parents didn't approve of the relationship, so they sent her to college in California, where she started a new life. When Dawn and Mary Anne made the discovery, they re-introduced their parents, and before you could say "Here Comes The Bride", Mr. Spier and Mrs. Schafer were married. Then Mary Anne and her dad moved into the Schafers' old farmhouse.
Dawn is originally from California, and was only twelve when her parents divorced. When that happened, Mrs. Schafer brought Dawn and her brother, Jeff, who's now twelve, to Stoneybrook, because it's the town where she grew up. Sadly, though, Jeff never adjusted to life in Connecticut, so he returned to California to live with his dad. Dawn also went back for a few months, but we were glad when she returned.
Abby is originally from Long Island, and moved to Stoneybrook when she was in eighth grade. She's also almost fifteen, but will be a sophomore. She also has a twin sister named Anna, and they were only nine when their father was killed in a car accident. Best of all, since the Stevensons are Jewish, the BSC got to attend the twins' Bat Mitzvah.
The BSC also has two junior officers, Mallory Pike and Jessica Ramsey, who are thirteen years old. Jessi is in eighth grade at SMS, and Mal attends a boarding school in Massachusetts, but I've heard rumors that she's planning to return to Stoneybrook for high school, so we're really glad.
Mallory has seven siblings, and three of them are triplets. The triplets—Adam, Byron, and Jordan—are twelve and in seventh grade, and Vanessa's eleven and in sixth grade. They attend SMS, but the others attend Stoneybrook Elementary: Nicky—oh, excuse me, Nick—is ten and in fifth grade; Margo's nine and in fourth grade; and Claire's seven and in second grade.
Jessi lives with her parents, her Aunt Cecelia—who moved in to help when Mrs. Ramsey returned to work—her ten-year-old sister, Becca, who's in fifth grade at SES, and her three-year-old brother, John Jr., AKA Squirt, as Jessi says the nurses at the hospital called him because he was so tiny.
The BSC also has three associate members that we can call on if we're overloaded with jobs. Guess what? Two of them are guys. Logan Bruno is Mary Anne's boyfriend, and moved here from Kentucky when we were in eighth grade. Shannon Kilbourne is in tenth grade at Stoneybrook Day School, another private school in Kristy's neighborhood, and the only BSC member to go to one. Like Kristy, Stacey, Dawn, and me, they're fifteen.
That leaves Jason and Bebe Everett. (And in case you're wondering, yes, Bebe's our honorary member.) They're not only stepsiblings, but also the only ones not born in this country. Bebe was born in Toronto, Canada, and came to the United States when she was barely old enough to talk, but she has a very subtle accent. Bebe's twelve and in seventh grade at SMS.
Jason is my boyfriend, and is sixteen. He was born in Scotland, and came to the United States with his mom when he was four. The interesting thing about Jason is that even though he came to America at such a young age, his accent never went away completely. When I first met him, he sounded like a cross between Ewan McGregor (in his pre-Star Wars days, when he guest-starred on ER during the show's third season) and Nanny Stella from Nanny 911. Nowadays, he's just starting to sound like the present-day Ewan McGregor, who happens to be one of Mary Anne's favorite actors.
Okay, back to me. I went to the kitchen, where I found Mom sitting at the kitchen table, and Dad serving breakfast.
"Good morning," Dad said as I sat down at the table.
"Good morning," I answered.
"Ready for school?" Mom asked.
I nodded as I finished my piece of toast with peanut butter, which is one of the ways I like it. Once in a while, I like it with apple butter or regular butter and cinnamon.
"Well, see you later," I said as I finished eating, brushed my teeth, and gathered up my purse and notebook.
"See you," Dad said as I headed out the door.
I walked to SHS, and met up with Stacey and Mary Anne near the entrance. Just as I got there, I saw Dawn and Kristy coming back with their schedules.
When I picked up my schedule, here's what I saw:
1st period-Art
2nd period-Remedial Math (whoopity-doo)
3rd period-Japanese
4th period-study hall
5th period-lunch
6th period-Remedial English (again, whoopity-doo)
7th period-World Geography
8th period-Remedial Science (one more time, whoopity-f-in-doo)
The bell rang, and I went to homeroom with Kristy and Jason, then to Art class. "Hi, Mrs. Howe," I said.
"Claudia," she answered as I sat at one of the tables.
The morning was pretty average. I had first period Art with Mrs. Howe and second period Remedial Math with Mrs. Mayer.
Third period was Japanese. Mr. Hung was the teacher. "Just for the record, I'm no relation to William Hung," he told us. The class laughed.
I thought Japanese would be an interesting language to learn. Mimi had tried teaching me several times, but at the time, I just wasn't interested. I guess peoples' tastes change as they get older. You see, Mom was born in Japan, and came to the United States when she was a kid. Mimi was an adult, though, and she had a wonderful accent, until her stroke. I even remembered that when we were quizzing Mimi with flash cards to improve her vocabulary, she'd sometimes say the Japanese, instead of the English—a condition the doctor called aphasia—word for the object on the card, unless we reminded her to use English.
Fourth period was study hall with Dawn. During the period, I looked over my Japanese textbook to see if there were any words I recognized as ones Mimi had said, or tried to teach me.
Fifth period was lunch. Stacey, Dawn, Abby, and I sat at a table near the one we'd sat at last year. Honestly, I think the freshmen must sit at the same tables every year. Today's lunch was a pizzaburger, French fries, fruit cocktail, and milk.
"It's a good thing I brought my lunch," Dawn commented. She'd brought a peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwich with low-fat chips and a can of Diet Vernor's. Stacey had brought a fruit salad and a bottle of water, and Abby had brought a peanut butter sandwich and an apple with a can of Sprite.
"So, how was your first day back?" I asked, taking a bite of fruit cocktail.
"Fine, Mommy," Abby said. The rest of us burst into giggles.
"I'm looking forward to World Geography," Stacey said, taking a sip of water.
"You'll like it," Abby told her, dipping a French fry in some ranch sauce (no ketchup for her, because she's allergic to tomatoes). "I had it fourth period."
A few minutes later, the bell rang. My friends and I threw our trash away and went our separate ways.
Sixth period was Remedial English with Mrs. Alden. Seventh period was World Geography with Mr. Wright. Kristy, Mary Anne, Stacey, Logan, and Jason were in my class. We were told that we'd be divided into groups, be assigned a continent, and do a group report, which would be due at the end of the semester. I was put in a group with Jason and Stacey, and our group was assigned Asia.
Eighth period was Remedial Science with Mrs. Martinez. Like some of the other teachers, she reminded us that she was there to help, and not to be afraid to ask for it.
As the final bell rang, I ran to my locker, got out a couple of books, and headed to the entrance. I decided this was going to be the best year ever.