BSC HIGH: Junior Year

A/N: Book Three in the miniseries.

CHAPTER 1: September—Mary Anne

You never know what will happen on a morning in early September. My day started when my cat, Tigger, started walking on my chest and meowing. Normally, he's pretty quiet, but this time, he was meowing and yowling up a storm, almost as if he were saying, "Hey, get up and feed me, you lazy human!"

"Okay, Tiggy, I'm up," I yawned as I lifted him off me and sat up. With a cat like Tigger, who needs an alarm clock?

Who am I? I'm Mary Anne Spier, and I'm almost sixteen years old. Today, I was starting my junior year of high school. It would be another year of helping lost freshmen. As if I didn't have that problem plenty of times when I was one!

I live with my dad, stepmother, and cat. Both of my stepsiblings, Dawn and Jeff Schafer, have moved back to California to live with their dad. I really hated to see my stepsister leave, because she's also a friend, too. I understood, though. Her friend's mom had just died of cancer.

You want to hear a romantic story? My dad and stepmother were high school sweethearts. Unfortunately, her parents didn't approve of the relationship, so they sent their daughter to college in California, and then my parents met, got married, and had me. My mother died when I was barely old enough to talk, which upset Dad so much that he sent me to live with her parents in Iowa until he could get his life back together. That's a time in my life that I don't remember, of course, but I've seen pictures. When I was a year and a half old, Dad felt that he was ready to take me back. There wasn't a big court battle—even though Dad did hire a lawyer to explain things to my grandparents—and they reluctantly returned me. I can understand why my grandparents didn't want to give me up. It was because my mother was their only child, so I was their only grandchild, and they felt that as long as I was with them, a piece of my mother was there, too.

You want to know something? Until I was thirteen years old, I never knew about that part of my life. Dad showed me a letter that my mother had written to me, and my grandmother called him to let him know that her husband had just died, and she really wanted to see, and get to know, me. (That was when I found out that they hadn't spoken to each other in almost twelve years.) Dad let me visit for a week, and I've been trying to go for a week in the summer every year since then.

Dad wanted to prove to a lot of people, namely my mother's parents, that he could handle raising a child on his own, so he invented all these rules about how I dressed, wore my hair, etc. In fact, my room looked like a nursery. Like I said, I was in seventh grade before Dad started loosening up, which included his permission to redecorate my room. I also think remarriage helped him. Dad recently let me get my ears pierced. I was a little nervous during the actual procedure, but Dad and Grandma Baker—my mom's mother—held my hands the whole time.

There's also something else I'd like to mention. I'm also the secretary of the Baby-sitters Club, more about that later.

As you already know, Dawn is my stepsister, as well as one of my best friends. As I said before, Sharon, my stepmother, divorced her first husband when we were in seventh grade, then brought Dawn and Jeff—who are sixteen and thirteen, respectively—to Stoneybrook, because it's the town where she grew up. Jeff never really adjusted to life in Connecticut, so he moved back to California to live with his dad. Dawn recently went back, too, like I said. In fact, Dawn's California best friend, Sunny Winslow, is the president of a California-based BSC called the We Love Kids Club. They're not quite as organized as the BSC, but they're still very nice girls.

Kristy Thomas, my best friend, is the BSC president. She and I practically grew up as neighbors. In fact, I could look out my bedroom window and into her bedroom, and we'd even worked out this flashlight code so we could talk at night after our parents had sent us to bed. I'm still amazed at how we were able to pull that off without getting caught.

Anyway, Kristy was only six when her dad walked out on them. (Claudia Kishi, who lived across the street from us, and I never really liked him that much.) About six years later, her mom remarried. Kristy has two older brothers, a younger brother, a younger stepsister and stepbrother, and an adopted sister. Kristy is sixteen, and like me, she'll be a junior at SHS.

Kristy's older brothers—twenty-year-old Charlie and eighteen-year-old Sam—attend NYU, where Charlie's a junior sports medicine major, and Sam's a freshman sports journalism major. Her younger brother, David Michael, is ten and in fifth grade at Stoneybrook Elementary School. The others attend Stoneybrook Academy, a private school in Kristy's neighborhood: Karen, her stepsister, is almost ten and in fifth grade, her stepbrother, Andrew, is seven and in second grade, and her adopted sister, Emily, is five and in kindergarten. Her grandmother, Nannie, moved in to help when Emily was adopted into the family. Nowadays, I hear she's in the process of moving out, now that Emily's in school. I think I remember Kristy saying something about Nannie moving into the apartment complex at the end of her block.

Kristy and I have our similarities and differences. The only similarities are that we're both short and have dark brown hair. Kristy's five-foot-two, and wears hers long. I'm an inch taller, and keep mine short. Kristy's a loudmouth who rarely cries, whereas I'm really sensitive and cry over the slightest little thing. (Whatever you do, don't watch Love Story with me, okay?) Kristy loves being in charge, and I don't like being the center of attention. In fact, I even ran out on my own thirteenth birthday party.

Claudia is the vice-president of the BSC. She's also sixteen and a junior, which I think is quite an accomplishment, since she's not the best student in the world. In fact, she had to repeat some of seventh grade, but she was able to catch up and go to high school with us. Claud's about three inches taller than me, and Japanese-American. Her mom was born in Japan, and came to the United States when she was a kid. Claud lives with her parents and older sister, Janine, who's nineteen and a sophomore pre-med major at U-Conn, because she's planning to be a doctor. Janine is a genuine genius, and used to constantly correct us if she thought we said something she didn't think sounded right, then would go on these long rants about the proper usage of the term. Her grandmother, Mimi, used to live with them, too, but she died when we were in eighth grade. Since I never knew my own mother, Mimi was like a second mother to me.

Stacey McGill is the BSC treasurer, and originally from New York, which is where I want to live someday. She's also diabetic and has to stick to a strict diet, not to mention a math whiz, and also a great treasurer.

Abby Stevenson is our alternate officer, which means that she takes over if someone has to miss a meeting. (Dawn used to be one, too, until she moved back to California.) Like me, Abby's almost sixteen, but will be a junior. She's at least a head taller than me, has long, thick dark curly hair, and a twin sister named Anna. They were only nine when their father was killed in a car accident. At least Abby never lost her sense of humor, which grows on you.

Mallory Pike and Jessica Ramsey are both fourteen and freshmen at SHS. Jessi's about five-foot-nine, African-American, and a very talented ballerina. She lives with her parents, her Aunt Cecelia, who moved in to help when Mrs. Ramsey got a job, a sister, and a brother. Becca, her sister, is eleven and in sixth grade at SMS, and John Jr.-or JJ, as he now insists he should be called—is four and in preschool.

Mallory has red hair, glasses, is about an inch shorter than Jessi, and comes from a big family with seven siblings, three of which are triplets. In fact, she used to go to a boarding school in Massachusetts, but she decided to return to Stoneybrook for high school, so we're really glad.

Like I said, three of Mallory's brothers—Adam, Byron, and Jordan—are triplets. They're thirteen and in eighth grade; Vanessa's twelve and in seventh grade; and Nick's eleven and in sixth grade. They attend SMS, but the others attend Stoneybrook Elementary: Margo's ten and in fifth grade, and Claire's eight and in third grade.

We also have several honorary and associate members that take the jobs we can't. First, there's Logan Bruno, my boyfriend; Shannon Kilbourne, who lives across the street from Kristy, and is the only BSC member to go to a private school; Jason and Bebe Everett, who are the only ones not born in America. We also have three former baby-sitting charges who are now members: Vanessa Pike, Mallory's sister; Haley Braddock, Vanessa's best friend; and Charlotte Johanssen. They're also cheerleaders at SMS.

Of all of us, Jason is the oldest, in terms of age. He's seventeen, but he and Logan will be juniors at SHS. Bebe was born in Toronto, Canada, and came to America with her dad when she was a baby. Jason was born in Scotland, and came to America with his mom when he was four.

Jason and I also have something important in common. He never knew his dad, and I never knew my mom. Jason told me that his real dad was killed in Iraq about a month before he was born. The only father Jason's known is his stepfather, Steve, who adopted him when he was five. That means Steve married Jason's mom, Diann, and since she took his last name, Steve decided to adopt Jason, since his real father was already dead. Another thing about Jason is that even though he came to America at such a young age, his accent never went away completely. Nowadays, he sounds like the present-day Ewan McGregor, who happens to be one of my favorite actors.

Like I said, Shannon is in eleventh grade at Stoneybrook Day School, another private school in Kristy's neighborhood, and the only BSC member to go to one. Bebe, Charlotte, and Haley attend SMS, where Bebe's in eighth grade, and Charlotte and Haley are in seventh grade.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, getting ready for my first day of my junior year of high school. I pulled a white blouse, blue denim skirt, blue knee socks, and penny loafers out of my closet and quickly dressed. Then I looked in the mirror and decided that I didn't look like a little girl, but still very nice. After I put on a tiny amount of blush and eye shadow, I put on my little "MARY ANNE" necklace and tiny silver hoop earrings. (By the way, here's a little tip: the secret to wearing make-up is to make it look like you're not wearing any.)

When I got to the kitchen, Sharon was preparing oatmeal, and Dad was getting ready to leave. "Good morning," I said as I sat down at the kitchen table and tucked a dish towel into my blouse to keep from getting oatmeal on it.

"Good morning," Sharon answered as she served my oatmeal. "Ready for school?"

"Mm-hm," I answered. I ate as quickly as I could, then took the dish towel out of my blouse and hung it on the towel rack beside the sink. After hurrying to the bathroom long enough to brush my teeth and apply lip gloss, I put on my jacket and grabbed my purse and notebook as I heard a car horn honk outside. "Well, see you later."

"'Bye, Mary Anne," Sharon said.

I ran out to the car and got in the front seat. "Hey, Kristy," I said.

"Hey, yourself," she answered.

When we arrived at SHS, I saw Stacey's little yellow sports car pulling in next to us. The four of us got out of our vehicles and headed to the front entrance of the school.

The hallway was a madhouse with all of these kids getting their schedules. When I got mine, here's what I saw:

1st period-Math

2nd period-American History

3rd period-Home Ec.

4th period-English

5th period-lunch

6th period-study hall

7th period-P.E.(Can you say "cruel and inhumane torture"?)

8th period-science

"Aw, dammit!" Kristy exclaimed. "I've got Home Ec. again? Haven't I suffered enough? What did I ever do to that guidance counselor?"

"Hey, don't sweat it," Abby said. "Those teachers just love to torture the kids who aren't exactly Miss Suzy Homemaker."

"Well, Kristy," I said, "judging from your schedule, you've got Home Ec. at the same time I've got gym, and as you know, I'm not the most athletic person in the world."

Kristy giggled. "I'm starting to feel better already," she said.

Just then, the bell rang, and we disappeared into homeroom: Kristy, Abby, and I into one; the two guys into a second; and Claud and Stacey into a third.

After homeroom, my morning, pretty much ran like this. First period Math with Mr. Cooper. Kristy, Abby, and Logan were in my class. Second period American History with Ms. Gallagher and none of my BSC friends. Third period Home Ec. with Ms. Ross. Claudia and Abby were in my class. Fourth period English with Mrs. Richards and Abby.

At lunch time, I met up with Kristy and the two guys in the cafeteria. "I can't wait until next year when we get to leave the campus for lunch," Kristy commented as we went through the lunch line.

After we got our lunch trays, we sat down at a table, and the two guys soon joined us. The day's lunch was a hamburger, tater tots, corn, and milk.

"Well, Kristy, how are you surviving?" Jason asked, opening his can of Diet 7-Up. He doesn't like the school's milk, so he usually either brings a drink from home, or gets something from the vending machine.

"I'm fine, for now," she answered. "I'm not exactly looking forward to Home Ec., though."

"Hey, Kristy, if it's any consolation to you, your homemaking ability matches my sports ability," I said as I ate a tater tot. "In fact, Michael Phelps would take one look at me and say, 'Why waste my time?'"

"You know, Gordon Ramsay would say the same thing about me," Kristy said, glancing up at Jason. "Well, after he finished ranting and raving, that is."

"I don't do Chef Ramsay. Sorry," Jason said with a grin.

As soon as we finished laughing, we took our trays to the trash can. At that moment, the bell rang.

That afternoon, I had sixth period study hall with Mr. Lewis and seventh period gym with Ms. Frye. Jason was in both classes. And finally, I had eighth period science with Mrs. Hollins and Stacey.

After the last bell rang, I went to my locker, got out a couple of books, and left school. So far, I hadn't had to help any lost freshmen, but that would eventually come.