CHAPTER 6: February—Stacey

I was walking toward the entrance on the Monday before President's Day, and there, on the bulletin board, were the cast lists for the all-school play, The Outsiders, and the senior class play, The West Side Waltz. I'd auditioned for the part of Cherry Valance in The Outsiders, but when I looked at the list, I saw that Erica Blumberg had gotten the part. Oh, well, I guess we can't all be redheads.

When I left SHS, I went over to Charlotte Johanssen's house. Since she was now in middle school, and felt that she no longer needed a baby-sitter, we just hung out together from time to time.

"Hi, Char," I said when she answered the door.

"Hi, Stacey!" she said. The two of us got on our bikes and went downtown. The sun was out, a light wind was blowing, and there wasn't a snowflake in sight. It felt more like early October than the middle of February.

"I hear it's supposed to snow tonight," I said as we left Kimball Street.

"Do you think we'll get enough to cancel school?" she asked.

"Really? I thought you liked school."

"Yeah, but it's nice to have a vacation every now and then."

When we arrived downtown, I asked, "So, what did you want to do first?"

"Let's look in some of the stores," Charlotte suggested.

"Okay," I agreed. Before too long, we found ourselves outside Polly's Fine Candy. Polly and her sister had long since retired, and the store was now under new management.

"Can I help you?" the woman behind the counter asked. I should also mention that she was Polly's great-niece, and Polly had left her the store in her will.

"Yes, I'd like half a dozen of the thumbprint cookies," Charlotte answered.

"Sure thing," the woman said as she filled a bag. When we got outside, Charlotte put the bag in her bike basket, and we were off.

As we pedaled back to Charlotte's house, I said, "You know what Dawn recently told me? She said that her friend's mom is dying of cancer."

"That's terrible," Charlotte said. Then, after a moment of silence, she said, "You know, I won't be eleven until June, but I'd still like to be part of the Baby-sitters Club."

"I'll see what I can do," I told her.

"Thanks."

When we got back to Charlotte's house, I left for the BSC meeting.

During the meeting, I told my friends what Charlotte had said. "It just might be a possibility," Kristy said.

"Good. How should we go about it?" I asked.

"Well, let's train her as a baby-sitter first, then maybe we'll consider making her an official BSC member after her birthday."

"How about next week?" I suggested. "That should give me plenty of time to tell her."

"Good deal."

"Oh, and Kristy?" Claudia said. "Try not to give her a baby-sitting test, like we did with Mallory. That had been your stupidest idea ever, especially the picture of the divestive system."

"That's di-ges-tive," Dawn corrected her.

"Whatever."

"I won't," Kristy promised. "We'll just do some basic training."

"Left, left, left, right, left," Abby said, sounding exactly like a drill sergeant, making us giggle. When we'd calmed down, she said, "But seriously, though, good idea, Kristy."

I couldn't wait to tell Charlotte what we'd decided.