A/N: This is the last chapter.

CHAPTER 10: June—Claudia

It was the Tuesday of the last week of school. That afternoon, I baby-sat for Jamie and Lucy Newton. Jamie, who's seven, had a Stoneybrook Kids dance rehearsal, and Lucy, who's three and a half, and I were watching them. Actually, I was doing most of the watching. Lucy was more interested in the Blue's Clues coloring book she'd brought with her.

You know something? For their first dance rehearsal, they were doing a great job, despite the fact that when they were doing one of the turns, Jackie Rodowsky accidentally smacked Scott Hsu in the face, which sent him falling backward into Hannie Papadakis, who fell into Bobby Gianell's arms. (Can you say "domino effect"?) I don't know who was more embarrassed: Bobby, Scott, or Hannie. Jackie, on the other hand, was standing there with that "It wasn't my fault" look that we all knew too well.

Then, to top it all off, Bobby got a really sentimental look on his face and said, "Gee, Hannie, I didn't know you cared."

The other kids burst into giggles as Hannie shook her head. "Dream on, Gianelli," she said as she got up. But even she found it funny.

After rehearsal was over, Jamie ran up and threw his arms around my waist. "Hi, Claudia!" he exclaimed. It seems like only yesterday that he was calling me "Claudee", and was greeting everybody with "hi-hi".

"Hi, Jamie," I said. "You were doing a great job out there."

"Thanks," he smiled.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah," he answered, putting his backpack on.

"Come on, Lucy!" I called.

"Okay, Claudee," she answered as Jamie and I helped her put her coloring book and crayons in her Scooby-Doo bag and stand up.

On the way to the car, Jamie said, "I don't know about you, but I can't wait until the last day of school."

"Oh, absolutely," I agreed. Even though I no longer struggle so much in school, I was still glad to see summer vacation coming.

"Oh, guess what?" Lucy said as I helped her into her carseat. "I'll be starting preschool next year."

"Oh, that's great," I said as I buckled her in.

"I liked it when I went," Jamie said, fastening his seatbelt, as I started the ignition. "I'm sure you will, too."

"Thanks, Jamie," she said as I fastened my seatbelt and started to pull out of the parking lot.

When we got back to the Newtons', I fixed the kids a snack and turned on the TV. The movie that happened to be on was Spaceballs, and it was already up to the part where Dark Helmet is playing with his dolls. In fact, Jamie thought it was so funny, he used his carrot and celery sticks and acted it out, along with the movie. It reminded me of the summer I turned six—before the birthday party where nobody showed up, that is—and Janine and I were spending a weekend with Russ and Peaches. It was also the first time I'd seen that movie, and when it got to that part, I'd used the set of Magic Markers I'd brought with me, and acted it out.

Okay, back to Jamie's little performance. "'No, please, leave me alone!' 'No, kiss me!' 'No!' 'Yes!' 'No!' 'Yes!' 'Oh! Oh! Ohh, your helmet is so big!'," he said, sounding exactly like Rick Moranis. Lucy laughed so hard that she spit her juice across the room. Thankfully, she wasn't eating, so I didn't have to worry about giving her the Heimlich maneuver if she choked on something. I did, however, have to wipe some juice off the TV screen.

"Okay, Jamie, that'll do," I laughed as I finished.

"So, Claudia," Jamie said as soon as Lucy had calmed down, "are you coming to our concert?"

"You bet," I agreed. "Remember when you were in All the Children?"

"Yeah," Jamie said, his face brightening. "That was so much fun! And remember the songs we sang?"

"I'll say," I answered.

I knew that Jamie would have fun with the Stoneybrook Kids, and seeing his little performance with his snack really convinced me.

THE END