The sun shining in through Kristy's windows woke Mary Anne up on Saturday morning. Tired, she squinted at the clock, and deemed 10:36 as an acceptable time to think about getting out of bed. Quietly, as not to wake up Kristy, she rose out of bed and made her way down the hall to the second floor bathroom that most of the kids shared. As she was walking out of the bathroom, hoping to return to the warm comforts of Kristy's bed, she ran into Stacey in the hallway. Her hair was messy, and she was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of Sam's boxer shorts. Still, she gave off a very sophisticated aura.

"Good Morning," Mary Anne said

"Good Morning yourself," Stacey replied. "I forgot that you were spending the night here too. It's almost like one of the Babysitter's Club sleepovers. Except some of us didn't really get any sleep."

With that, Stacey made her way down the hall and into the bathroom. As she closed the door, Mary Anne was kind of glad that she had gotten there first. Quietly opening the door to Kristy's room, she saw that her friend was already awake, though she had made no effort to move from the bed. Mary Anne climbed back in and snuggled a pillow. Both girls were content to lie in a half awakened state, and for the next several minutes neither of them said a word.

Mary Anne surveyed the room; it was an interesting mix of sports paraphernalia, as well as some more girlish things added by Elizabeth. Somehow, it didn't seem out of place for Kristy's baseball glove to be sitting on the same bedside table as a framed picture of flowers. It just seemed like Kristy, who was somehow in between everything, yet completely sure of herself at the same time.

The blankets started to shift, and Kristy stood up, stretching and yawning. She rubbed her eyes: "Ready to get up?"

Mary Anne nodded. She was tired too. Both girls headed downstairs to the kitchen, not really saying anything. Kristy wordlessly handed her a packet of strawberry Pop-tarts, which she opened. After a few minutes, both girls began to perk up.

"So what do you think is going to happen with Dawn? Your dad and Sharon have got to be mad. Do you think she will get in trouble?"

Mary Anne shrugged. "I hope so. I mean, I don't really want her to get in trouble, but something has to be done."

"Maybe she should stop hanging around with Abby."

"I guess that would help. But really, I think this is more Dawn than Abby. She was wild in California, and she's wild here. I just don't think she realizes that there isn't anywhere else to go if she screws up here. Besides boarding school in New Hampshire, I guess."

"I still think that a lot of it is Abby's fault. Dawn seemed normal that first weekend," Kristy said firmly.

"Who knows. It's hard to tell. All last year I thought Abby was normal, and that you two were best friends."

"That's how it started."

Mary Anne looked at Kristy imploringly: "Care to elaborate on that?"

"Not particularly."

As soon as Abby was brought up, the air in the room seemed to thicken, and Mary Anne could feel the tension. She backed down and changed the subject. She would leave Kristy alone for now.

"I guess I better get ready and call home. They're expecting me so we can have a family meeting or whatever."

Kristy gave her a sympathetic look. "Good luck with that. Mom and Nannie will be home this afternoon with the kids, so I know that I will be busy. Call me and let me know what happens though."

"Don't worry, you'll hear all about it. I'm sure I'll need to vent to someone," Mary Anne replied.

With that the girls got up and left the kitchen, going upstairs to get ready for the day. Shortly after, Mary Anne called home, and Sharon soon came to pick her up. The ride back across town was quiet, as both Mary Anne and Sharon were tired from the events of the night before.

When they arrived home, Sharon pulled into the garage and Mary Anne quickly retreated upstairs to her room. When she arrived inside, she was surprised to see that both of the doors to the bathroom she shared with Dawn were open, and she could see right into Dawn's room. What really shocked her was Dawn's room itself: it was pristine. Forgetting that Dawn had vowed to never talk to her again, she found herself wandering through the bathroom to find out it what she was seeing was real. And it was. Both beds were perfectly made, and all of the clothes that had been strewn across the floor had been hug up neatly in the closet. Dawn was sitting at her desk surrounded by textbooks, softly humming to herself as she did her homework.

"Wow." Mary Anne couldn't help but saying. She could hardly believe that what she was seeing was real. Maybe it wasn't.

Dawn turned and looked over her shoulder at Mary Anne. Instead of the cold sparks that had come from her eyes last night, she gave a simple smile. "I know, right? It took awhile to get things this clean. But it had to be done."

Mary Anne was so shocked that Dawn had actually talked to her after last night that she literally felt herself shrinking back. "It looks great in here."

"Thanks. I'd love to hang out with you, but I really need to get some of this homework done before we have that family meeting if you don't mind. Maybe we can watch a movie together tonight," Dawn replied, her voice warm and welcoming.

"Sure, that might be fun," Mary Anne responded. With that, she quickly turned around and went back into her room, partially closing the door that separated her room from that bathroom. She had no idea what had just happened. Maybe last night had been a dream.

Maybe.

Tigger jumped on her bed and rolled onto his back, begging her to pet him. She did, glad that least one thing in her life was constant. Tigger was always loveable, and willing to love back, as opposed to other members of the household who shifted back and forth for no apparent reason.

Mary Anne lay back on her bed and thought for a moment about calling Kristy and letting her know that latest news about Dawn, but then decided against it. Instead, she chose to push the issue out of her mind and instead focus on her homework. She worked hard, and had already completed her algebra equations, conjugated Spanish verbs, and made up history flashcards by the time her dad and Sharon came to her room and asked herself, and then Dawn to come downstairs. Mary Anne braced herself for what was coming next, as she truthfully had no idea. At least her life was no longer boring.

They all settled down in the living room, with Mary Anne and Dawn sitting together on the couch, and Sharon and her dad each in a separate chair. On the couch, Mary Anne was seated directly in front of the family picture that had been taken in eighth grade. It was a nice picture, it even had Jeff in it, but it in no way represented the family that they were now. Not even close.

"Girls," Richard began "I know that it's been an interesting couple of weeks, with Dawn moving back, and school starting, and there's been a lot of change going on in everyone's life. And-"

"What he's trying to say," Sharon interrupted. "Is that we are concerned about some of the things that you girls are doing. The party last night was totally unacceptable." Sharon turned to Dawn "You need to get your act together young lady."

Dawn tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled shyly. "I know mom, and I will, I promise. Abby's sister Anna talked us into it, honest. Abby and I were just planning on doing our homework together."

Sharon looked skeptical. "If you've been spending so much time doing your homework, how come you're so behind in your classes?"

"It takes a long time to catch up. I missed two weeks in the beginning of the year, remember? But don't worry, I'm going to spend all weekend studying, and I should be on top of things by the end of the week. That is, if Mary Anne will help me with my English essay."

Richard smiled. "I'm sure she would love to. And both your mother and I would be very happy if you were caught up with your homework by the end of the week. But we are serious, you can't be going to parties like that when you are living in this house. That goes for both of you. Do you understand?"

Mary Anne felt personally offended after hearing that statement. Sure, she had gone to a party, but her father didn't know that. At least she hoped he didn't. She couldn't be certain that Dawn had kept that to herself.

"Yes Dad," Mary Anne replied. "I understand."

"Me too. I talked to Abby this morning, and we are going to stop spending time with Anna. We were just trying to be nice and include her because she doesn't have many friends, and she's Abby's sister, but that didn't get us any where, I guess."

"We are glad that you want to be friendly towards Anna honey, but you do need to be careful about the people you spend time with. Not everyone has been raised that same way that your girls have," Sharon explained. "Maybe you and Abby should try to find some different people to hang out with. I'm sure Mary Anne and Kristy would love to include you. Isn't that right Mary Anne?"

"Sure," She offered. Inside, she winced. Kristy would not be happy to hear that she had been volunteered to spend time with Dawn and Abby.

"Maybe you could spend more time with the rest of the Babysitter's Club," Richard offered.

"That's a good idea too," Dawn said diplomatically, not making any indication the Babysitter's Club didn't exist.

"Well I think that both of you girls should take everything said here to heart." Richard said. "We're going to be watching very closely these next few weeks to make sure that everything is going smoothly, but I'm not too worried. I think what happened last night was a wake-up call for everyone."

"This will be a fresh start for all of us," Sharon said.

Mary Anne groaned inwardly. How many fresh starts would Dawn get?

"I'm going to make you proud mom," Dawn said. She looked toward Richard. "Both of you."

"That's my girl," Sharon exclaimed. She got up and approached the couch, first giving Dawn, and then Mary Anne a hug.

"How about the four of us go out to dinner tonight?" Richard proposed. "We could go to Cabbages and Kings. We haven't been there in quite some time."

"That sounds great honey," Sharon said. Dawn and Mary Anne nodded in agreement.

The four of them did go out to dinner, and they had a great time. It was almost as if they were a real family. It reminded Mary Anne of how things used to be right after her dad had married Sharon. It was nice, but given everything that had transpired in the last month, Mary Anne knew that it wasn't real.

Dawn was on her best behavior throughout dinner, making conversation and even laughing at all of her dad's corny jokes. She didn't even say anything when Mary Anne and Richard ordered meat. It was almost as if the previous two years had never happened.

As they arrived home, Mary Anne and Dawn both retreated to their separate rooms. Mary Anne headed towards the phone straightaway; she needed to fill Kristy in on everything that had happened.

When Mary Anne picked up the receiver, she realized that Dawn was already on the line, talking from the extension in her own room.

"Abby? Guess what?" Dawn asked

"What?" Abby replied.

"They bought it."