Standing with her friends on the Taylor's front porch, Kristy reached out her hand to ring the bell. Stacey then stepped in front of her, making herself the head of the group.

"Sorry, but I'm the one who was invited to the party in the first place. They'll be expecting me," she said, preening in her reflection in the glass.

Kristy took a step back, momentarily angry. She soon relaxed though. She had to remind herself that this wasn't the Babysitter's Club, and she wasn't in charge anymore. She was okay with that, it was just different. And judging from her the current state of her life, it was very likely for the better.

Bart Taylor opened the door to the house, music spilling onto the porch. "Hey!" he said. "Come on in!"

Anna came up from behind him and put at arm around him. It took her a moment to notice her sister.

"Abby? Does mom know you're here?" she asked.

Abby looked at her quizzically. "No. Does she know that you're here?"

Anna bit her lip. "Well no. I just wasn't expecting you to show up. Or you two," she said, looking at Kristy and Mallory.

"The more the merrier!" Bart cried out, clutching Anna close to him.

Stacey stepped in and looked Bart straight in the eye. "Is Sam here yet?"

"Yeah, I think he's in the kitchen," Bart said.

"Thanks!" Stacey called over her shoulder. She set off to the kitchen before the words were even out of his mouth, with Claudia following right after her. It made Kristy wonder if there was more to Stacey and Sam's relationship than she thought, but she quickly dismissed it. Stacey was a smart girl, and practically a math genius. She wouldn't get into anything over her head. And Sam was a good guy, so really, there shouldn't be any problem at all.

Abby and Anna ducked into the living room to talk, leaving Kristy and Mallory alone in the foyer with Bart. This made Kristy slightly uncomfortable. She and Bart had sort of dated in eighth grade; they had actually even kissed, but had eventually decided that they were better off being friends. They got along well and everything, but it was weird seeing him with Anna. She never would have predicted them as a couple. They really didn't have a single thing in common. None that she could think of, any way.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here Thomas," Bart said. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Mallory," she said, "She was a member of the Babysitter's Club."

"Of course. Well don't just stand there, join the party," Bart said, opening the door that led downstairs to the basement, where he disappeared in to the crowd. "Say hello to your friends!" He yelled over his shoulder.

Mallory turned to Kristy, her face flushed, "Do you think he likes me?" she asked.

Kristy hesitated. "I think he likes Anna, actually. Besides, he's a little old for you."

"I guess," Mallory said, sighing. "I can't wait to be older."

"It's not as great as it seems," Kristy said. "Believe me."

Abby and Anna walked out of the living room together, and Anna headed straight downstairs to the basement. Abby looked at Kristy and Mallory, shrugged, and went downstairs after Anna. Kristy and Mallory followed suit.

Entering the basement, Kristy was surprised to find it quite crowed. People were hanging out in groups, some listening to music, some dancing, and some playing pool or foosball. She was really relieved to see that everyone was drinking either water or soda. She hadn't really expected otherwise, with Bart's parents coming back at some point that night, but she had been a little bit nervous nonetheless. She was in no way ready for anything more than this.

Initially, Abby headed into the crowd while Mallory and Kristy hung back, just observing everything that was going on. The crowd was a good mix of Stoneybrook High and Stoneybrook Day students, but they were generally staying in their own groups, which was typical. Kristy glanced over at Mallory, who was grinning ear to ear, and loving being at the party, even though she wasn't really doing anything, which made Kristy smile to herself. Two years ago, she would have been exactly the same way.

Abby returned from wherever she had disappeared to, and came back with Erica Blumberg.

"What are you two doing just standing here?" Abby asked, shouting over the music. "You need to come dance!"

Mallory clapped her hands together. "I will!" she shouted.

Kristy was a little more hesitant, but didn't resist when Abby and Erica pulled her into the center of the room with a group of girls from Stoneybrook Day. She recognized one, Greer Carson, as a friend of Shannon Kilbourne. Kristy tried to move along with the music, but she felt a little bit ridiculous doing so. She had taken ballet one summer when she was in grade school, but that was about the extent of her dancing experience. And from catching glimpses of reflection in the darkened windows of the basement, that was probably a good thing.

Abby, Mallory, and Erica all seemed to be having a great time, dancing around and screaming along with the lyrics. Kristy could tell that they weren't the best dancers either, but they were having fun, and didn't seem to mind. This helped her relax, and she tried to let go of everything that she was thinking about, and live in the moment. She had certainly earned a night of fun with her friends.

The next hour passed quickly, with Abby, Kristy, Mallory, and Erica dancing together to every song that came on. The Stoneybrook Day girls even danced with them a little bit, and Kristy was having a great time. It felt like everything that high school was supposed to be. She hadn't realized that she was missing this feeling until exactly this moment, and now that she had it, she couldn't even think of living without it.

Kristy was having such a good time dancing that she became lost in what she was doing. She didn't even notice when Stacey, Claudia, and Sam made their way into the basement. Stacey ran to the center of the room where everyone was dancing and gave Kristy a big hug.

"I'm so glad you came here with us Kristy! I miss hanging out with you," Stacey exclaimed.

Kristy took a step back. "Thanks Stace. I miss you too."

Stacey beamed and then turned to give Abby a hug. She had bridged about half of the distance between them when Abby grabbed her shoulders, holding her back.

"I smell alcohol," Abby said. "Is that you Stacey?"

Stacey giggled. "No. I mean, yes. I just had a little. Sam said that it would loosen me up. And it did; I'm having so much fun!"

Kristy whipped her head around and glared at her brother. "You gave her alcohol? How could you Sam? And where did you even get it?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I found some in the cabinet above the fridge. Bart's parents have so much that they won't even notice that some of it is gone. Besides, all that she had was two shots. It's not a big deal."

"It is too a big deal," Kristy exclaimed. By now she had stepped to the side of the room to have a conversation with Sam. Stacey was dancing with Erica and Mallory in the middle of the room, and Claudia was hanging back, keeping her distance.

"Maybe you should have something to loosen up yourself," Sam said sarcastically, only half joking.

"You're just like Watson," Kristy said, walking towards her friends.

"Get over it Kristy," Sam called as she was walking away. "You're in high school now."

Kristy walked over to Claudia. "How much did she have? And why did you let her drink?" she asked accusingly.

Claudia shrugged. "She didn't have very much Kristy. And it's not like I gave it to her, Sam did."

"Oh it's totally fine then." Kristy muttered.

Kristy leaned back against the wall trying to think of what she should do. She didn't really know much about alcohol, and it didn't really seem like Stacey was drunk or anything, but she thought it might be best to get her out of the party atmosphere. Knowing the she wouldn't be able to do it alone, she did a quick scan of the crowd, looking for Bart. When she finally saw him, she started towards him. He would have to help her. It was his party.

Bart was watching Cary Retlin and Pete Black play foosball, his arm slung around Anna's waist. Kristy pulled him away, much to his surprise and Anna's chagrin.

"What kind of party is this?" Kristy hissed.

"Whoa, back up Thomas. What's your problem?" Bart asked.

"Sam gave Stacey alcohol," She said, gesturing towards the middle of the room where Stacey and Sam were dancing, hardly an inch between them.

Kristy watched as the color drained from Bart's face. "He gave her alcohol? Shit, my parents are going to be home soon. They'll kill me." He turned to Kristy. "What should we do?"

"I don't know," Kristy said helplessly. "Let's try to get her upstairs. Maybe drinking water would help."

Kristy and Bart approached Sam and Stacey, and looked at each other, neither one really sure what to do.

Kristy approached Stacey, and pulled her back from her attachment to Sam. "Let's go upstairs Stace. You need to drink some water. And maybe coffee."

Stacey pulled out her Kristy's grasp, spinning around so she was standing against Sam. "Leave me alone Kristy. You don't know how to have fun."

At this point someone had turned down the music, and people had halted their activities to watch what was going on. Kristy felt her face start to flush.

She did have some allies though. Bart, Abby, Mallory, and even Erica and Claudia were standing behind her in support.

"Come on upstairs Stacey," Bart said, almost pleading. "If my parents find out that people were drinking I am so dead."

Stacey's eyes turned to narrow slits. "I wouldn't want to get Bart-the-Basher in trouble," she said.

"Hey!" Bart objected

Stacey kept going. "None of you care about me, so don't even pretend. Sam told me." She turned to Kristy, "You're just a pathetic do-gooder who wants to make everything better. Too bad you can't fix your family."

"Stacey…" Kristy protected weakly, silently willing her not to go on.

"And you two," Stacey continued, motioning to Abby and Erica, "You don't have any real friends, because you don't care about any one but yourself." Stacey then walked over to Mallory. Kristy held her breath, scared of what she would say, but unable to bring herself to stop it.

"Mallory Pike, the only twelve year old at a high school party. I bet you think you're cool, don't you? It's too bad that no one will ever remember you as anything but Spaz Girl," Stacey taunted.

Mallory's eyes grew wide, and then started to well up with tears. She turned around and headed towards the stairs.

"That's right Spaz Girl, run back to Riverbend. And don't come back until you are the most popular in school. And by that, I mean never." Stacey called after her.

Bart glared at Stacey, and then at Sam. "You started this mess, and now you can deal with it. Why don't you take her home or something. Just leave."

"Whatever," Sam said dismissively. "This party is lame anyway. Come on Stace."

Sam turned to head up the stairs, and Stacey and Claudia followed him. Kristy had no idea where they were going, or what they were going to do, but at this point she didn't care. It was Sam's problem now.

Around the room, people were getting there things together and starting to leave. Bart watched helplessly.

"You don't have to go…" he said.

Abby looked around the room, and then over at Kristy. "I guess this was more interesting than our normal Saturday night," she said, trying to lighten up the situation.

"Let's just go," Kristy said. She wasn't in any mood for Abby's humor.

Kristy and Abby left the party and Bart's house. They walked in silence until they reached McLelland Road and their respective houses.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Abby said

Kristy nodded. "I'll call you. Bye."

"Bye."

Kristy trudged up the stairs to the house. It was a little past ten, so David Michael and Emily Michelle would be in bed, but there was a light on in the kitchen, so she figured that either her mom or Nannie were still up. She didn't expect that Sam was home.

Kristy walked in the door, and hung up her jacket the corridor.

"Is that you Kristy?" Elizabeth called out.

"Hi mom," Kristy answered back.

Elizabeth was sitting at the kitchen table, her brow furrowed. She relaxed a bit when she turned to look at Kristy.

"How was your night with Abby sweetie? Did you have fun?"

"It wasn't bad," Kristy said. "How were things here?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Oh Kristy…"

Hearing this, Kristy felt her heart start to pound in her chest. "What?"

"Your father called. He is going to be in New York next weekend on business, and he wants to see you"