The next few days quickly faded into each other, and despite Mary Anne's best efforts she was unable to get Kristy to talk about what was going on at home. She came to school every day and chatted about classes and homework, but the general look of weariness that had overtaken her was all Mary Anne needed to know that nothing was being resolved. But try as she might, Mary Anne just couldn't get Kristy to open up to her.
In her hurry to avoid Mary Anne's questions and leave school as quickly as possible, Kristy left her Algebra book on the floor next to her desk in their final class on Friday. This was Mary Anne's opportunity. She would bring it over to her house later. Maybe if they were alone, and outside of the hectic school environment Kristy would be more willing to share what was going on.
Mary Anne arrived home and set about her tidying the house and feeding Tigger. She barely glanced at the note on the table from her dad and Sharon that said they were spending the weekend at a friend's cabin in Vermont. She was just about to head over to Kristy's house when the phone rang.
"Hello, Spier's. This is Mary Anne."
"Hi Mary Anne, This is Dee Pike. I know this is short notice, but I was wondering if you could come over here for a few hours. Something's come up, and I really need a sitter."
"Um…Sure Mrs. Pike. I guess I can be there in about ten minutes."
"Thanks so much Mary Anne. I'll explain everything when you get here. Bye."
"Bye."
Sighing, Mary Anne set down Kristy's book. This would have to wait until tomorrow. Heading out the door, she wondered just what exactly was going on in the Pike's.
Just before she could ring the bell at the Pike's, the door opened and Mrs. Pike was hustling her into the kitchen.
"Thanks so much for coming Mary Anne, we're really in a pinch. My sister in Stamford was in a car accident, a minor one, thankfully, and I need to go down there to straighten things out. John won't be home for a few hours, so we just need you to cover the time in between."
"No problem, I've missed the kids. Who is here, anyways?" Mary Anne asked.
"The triplets are playing a basketball game tonight, and Mrs. Hobart will be dropping them off around nine. Mr. Pike should be home by then. Vanessa is spending the night at Haley Braddock's, so you don't need to worry about her. The only ones here are Claire, Margo, Nicky, and Mallory."
"Mallory's here? Mary Anne asked, confused.
"Riverbend is on the trimester system. She's here for her fall break," Mrs. Pike explained.
"But why can't she watch the kids? Mal's a great babysitter."
Mrs. Pike grimaced. "Mallory has picked up a lot of bad habits at Riverbend. Glitter nail polish, sparkle sweatshirts, you name it. We can't have her influencing Margo and Claire. They're too young."
"Um…okay," Mary Anne responded. "I guess that's it."
"Great, I'm off then. Mr. Pike should be home in a few hours. Thanks so much again Mary Anne."
There were some things that Mary Anne would just never understand about the Pikes, and the glitter ban was one of them. She followed the sound of voices to the den, where she found Claire, Margo, and Nicky watching television.
"You guys are getting so big!" Mary Anne exclaimed. I feel like I never see you anymore- how are things going?
"Fine." Margo responded. Claire and Nicky didn't remove their eyes from the television.
"Don't you want to do something? What fun is watching tv all day?" asked Mary Anne.
"We always watch this show at four." Nicky whined.
Mary Anne was surprised to find the younger Pikes so subdued. Normally energy radiated from the house, and the kids were something of a force to be reckoned with. Maybe the Pikes had finally given up on their 'anything goes' parenting approach. Something was working anyway. She had never felt this calm in the Pike's house. It was almost unsettling.
"Okay then. If you don't mind, I'm going to go upstairs and say hi to Mallory. When I come back down we'll find something to do."
Mary Anne walked up the stairs to the second floor bedroom that Mallory and Vanessa shared. She hadn't spent much time with Mallory since the days of the Babysitter's Club, and she hadn't even seen her since her new transformation. Remembering the good times they had shared, Mary Anne was looking forward to talking to Mallory for a little while. Even though she was away at boarding school much of the time, there was really no reason whey they couldn't remain friends.
Mary Anne knocked on the door. "Mallory? It's Mary Anne. Can I come in?"
"If you must," came a voice from inside the room.
Mary Anne opened the door. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.
Mallory's braces had been removed, and her parents had finally caved and bought her contacts. Her curly mess of hair had been straightened, which looked like a process that would take hours every morning, as did her make up, which looked meticulous. She had grown a few inches, and no longer looked sturdy, but slender. She was wearing fitted black pants and a pale green camisole. She looked exactly like the girls at school whom Mary Anne couldn't stand. Finally, her clothes looked like they had been attacked by a bedazzler, with rhinestones liberally affixed to the fabric. Despite the sparkles and glitter, Mallory looked normal.
"Hey Mal," said Mary Anne, shocked. "How've you been?"
"Bored. This town sucks. I want to go back to Riverbend. I haven't seen Chloe, Kendall, or Amber in almost a week!"
"Well I'm glad to hear that you're doing well at school. We really miss you around here. Stoneybrook just isn't the same without you."
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Right, I'll almost believe that. I hate this town. I was supposed to spend break on the Cape, but my parents wouldn't fork over the cash. It was something about repairing the washing machine, and buying new shoes for Claire. Like that matters."
"I'm sure they only do what they think is best," Mary Anne responded weakly.
"You would say that. It's been two years, and you're still playing the sweet little babysitter role that you did at thirteen. How is the club nowadays?"
"We pretty much disbanded a year and a half ago. I thought you knew that."
"Like I would care? The whole group was full of bitches. Expecially Claudia and Stacey. If you had any idea what they did to me… Whatever, I don't care. If you don't mind, I need to call my roommate, Kimberly. We need to discuss which purses we'll be using on the first day of the trimester."
Pulling out her rhinestone studded cell phone, Mallory started dialing.
"Good bye," she said pointedly, looking towards the door.
Mary Anne walked downstairs to the den, trying understand the whole conversation. How is it possible for someone to change so incredibly much? Mallory surely wasn't the same girl who had dreamed of being a writer, and had loved playing horses. Now she was just another popular drone, who cared more about herself than anything or anyone else.
Mary Anne set Claire, Margo, and Nicky up with a game of Monopoly that was sure to take hours. She watched them play, reflecting on all of her former friends and how much they had changed over the past two years. Could it be possible that she had changed that significantly as well? She didn't even know what to make of that thought. She didn't feel any different, but she knew that it was also unrealistic to think that she had remained stagnant while everyone else was changing in some way.
She reflected on this until Mr. Pike came home and took over. She then walked home and let herself into the empty house. Coming into the living room she saw the answering machine blinking, indicating that she had missed a call. Mary Anne became momentarily elated- maybe Dawn had called, or Kristy. She anxiously played the message, waiting for what she hoped would break up the monotony of her nights.
Unfortunately, she was let down when she heard the contents of the message.
"Hi honey it's dad. I hope that your day went well. Sharon and I are having a great time in Vermont, we may just have to do this more often. Listen, Sharon forgot to mail some things, so if you could take the letters out of the VCR, and put them in the mailbox, we would really appreciate it. See you Sunday!"
Mary Anne found the letters that her dad was talking about, and walked them out to the mailbox, always the dutiful daughter. It figured that the only person who wanted to talk to her was her dad, and he just had more things for her to do. It wasn't like he called her up to say hi. It wasn't like he wanted to spend time with her.
Mary Anne wondered if things would have been different had her mother still been alive. She used to think so, but now she wasn't so sure. Who's to say that the relationship between her mother and father would have been any different from the one between him and Sharon? There's no guarantee that she wouldn't have ended up the same way: perpetually lost in the shuffle.
It seemed that Mary Anne had become something of a stranger in her own life- she hardly recognized herself or her surroundings anymore. Surely the girl she was two years ago would never have envisioned this future situation. Still, she clung to the idea that things could possibly come together and change, leaving her with everything that she had ever dreamed of. Everything that she had possessed what seems like a lifetime ago.
She wasn't sure if it was realistic or somewhat foolish to hold on to this idea of the life she wanted, but she knew that she had to. She really didn't have anything left.
Tomorrow would be a new day. She wasn't exactly sure what the day was going to bring, but she knew that she would do whatever she could to find out what was going on with Kristy.