CHAPTER 6: February—Claudia

It was the first week of February. My friend, Ashley Wyeth, and I were going to design the sets for both plays. I would design the set for the senior class play, Titanic: Tragedy and Trial, and Ashley would design the set for the all-school play, The Pink Panther Strikes Again.

Some of my friends were going to be really busy for a while, namely Kristy, Logan, and Jason. Not only did they audition for Titanic (Stacey and Abby also auditioned, and the cast list was going to be posted today), but they were also involved with Gypsy at the Civic Center at the end of the month.

At lunch time on Friday afternoon, Stacey, Abby, and I got in Abby's white Range Rover and went to McDonald's for lunch. All of the seniors are allowed to leave the campus during lunch.

We got to McDonald's and placed our orders: a McRib (or, as Mom once called it, a "McMess") with fries and a Coke for me; a hamburger and apple dippers with an unsweetened iced tea for Stacey; and a fruit and walnut salad with a bottle of water for Abby.

"So, how's everything going?" I asked as I set my tray down.

"Pretty good," Stacey said, unwrapping her burger. "In fact, I heard the cast list was going to be posted sometime today."

"Good," I said. "I hope you get a part."

"Thanks, Claud," Stacey said.

As soon as we finished eating and threw our trash away, we got back in my car and returned to school.

At our Monday meeting, after Stacey had collected dues, Kristy said, "I have an announcement."

"What is it?" I asked.

"What is it?" Kristy said.

"What is it?" I repeated.

"What is it?" Kristy echoed.

"WHAT IS IT?" Abby shouted. We all got a good laugh, remembering that we'd seen Fiddler on the Roof at our sleepover at Kristy's last month, and some of us had seen the stage show in Stamford a few years ago. (I also don't mean to get off the subject here, but back then, the BSC had organized a kids' singing group called All the Children, because the members came from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds, and they sang a medley of songs from that show.)

"Well," Kristy began, "a few weeks ago at the bowling alley, while Mary Anne and I were waiting for the food, I told her that I was planning to have Karen take over the BSC when I go to college in the fall."

"That's great," Abby said. "Any ideas where you're going?"

"Ohio University in Athens," Kristy answered as she opened the can of chocolate-covered peanuts I'd just offered her. "I'm going to teach elementary school gym."

"Good luck with that," Mal said as she took the can from Kristy.

"Of course, I'm told I can't take my car my freshman year, but Mom and Watson said they'd be willing to pay airfare or bus fare on weekends I want to come home."

"That's nice," Mal said as she took a handful of peanuts. "How about you, Claud?"

"Chicago," I answered as I leaned over and took the can for myself. "I'm going to teach high school art."

"Chicago!" Jessi exclaimed. "That's a whole 'nother time zone!"

"I know," I said as I took a handful of peanuts and handed the can to Mary Anne.

"I'm going to NYU," Mary Anne said as she took a handful of peanuts, then closed the can and hid it under the bed. "I'm going to be a middle school guidance counselor."

"Speaking of guidance counselors, did anyone hear that Mrs. Evanson was killed in a car accident over the weekend?" I asked. The others nodded. "I also heard that at graduation, the seniors are going to carry red roses to honor her memory."

"That's nice of you guys," Mal said.

"Anyway," Stacey said after a moment, "I'm also going to NYU, but I'm going to be a nurse's aide. I talked to my parents about it, and I'll be staying with Dad and Samantha while I'm going to school, but I'll spend holidays and some weekends with Mom."

"That's nice," Abby said. "I'm also going there, but I'm planning to be an advertising executive, and I'll be coming back to Stoneybrook to settle."

"Sounds like a plan," Mary Anne said as she reached into my sandal, pulled out an Airhead, and unwrapped it. "I also got an e-mail from Dawn. She and Sunny have applied at New Mexico State, majoring in food service, and are moving to Zuni after graduation."

"Good for them," Abby said. "Hey, remember when we took that RV trip? Zuni ended up being one of the stops on the southbound RV route. It was a nice place to visit, and we even got to see the school."

"Yeah, I remember you telling me about that," I said. "I'll bet you're glad you weren't stranded out in the middle of the Badlands without gasoline."

"Yeah," Abby agreed. "Anyway, back to Mrs. Evanson. What do you think of her replacement, Mr. Kirk? Isn't he handsome?" The rest of us nodded in agreement.

"Aaanywaaay..." we all said together, then erupted into giggles.

"Remember when we had that sleepover for the kids who were involved in that pen-pal program?" Mal asked as she reached under my mattress and found a Twinkie. In case you're wondering, Stoneybrook Elementary and Zuni Elementary are involved in a pen-pal program called Pens Across America, which is for students in second through fifth grades. Several of our siblings and baby-sitting charges are involved with that, and they love sharing their pen pals' news with us.

"Ah, our finest moment," Kristy sighed. "Let's see...we had homesickness, bathroom visits at all hours of the night, kids having accidents or throwing up, sleepwalking, nightmares, and basically anything that can go wrong under one roof. And I'm not talking about my house, or Mal's."

"Well, I should hope not!" I laughed as I threw the Twinkie wrapper in the trash can. Mal nodded in agreement.

"And let's not forget about the kids selling their parents' stuff without permission," Mary Anne said. You see, the school in Zuni had burned down, and Dawn had organized a fundraiser to send money to Zuni, along with the necessary things, like food and clothes, to help them build a new school, and the kids somehow managed to donate their parents' stuff. It eventually got to the point where Dawn had to make out permission slips to send home to the parents, so she'd know what they were authorizing to send.

"Oh, don't remind me," Kristy groaned. "I can still see the look on Watson's face when he found out that David Michael was trying to sell his copy of Crime & Punishment."

"Oy," Abby said. "He was pretty pissed, huh?"

"Mm-hm," Kristy agreed. "Eat your heart out, Bobby Knight."

At that, Abby stood up, knocked my desk chair over, and said, "'DAMMIT, THAT WASN'T TRAVELING!' 'Coach Knight, it's okay.' 'IT'S NOT OKAY! IT'S A BASKETBALL GAME! IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN F- LIFE OR DEATH! I'M BOBBY KNIGHT! YOU MISSED IT! THAT WAS A SIMPLE ALLEY-OOP! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU 19-YEAR-OLD WALK-ON!'"

We practically killed ourselves laughing as Abby put my desk chair back. In fact, Jessi accidentally spit a half-chewed peanut butter M & M across the room.

I was really going to miss my friends when we went our separate ways after graduation, but at the same time, I was looking forward to college.