First mate's log:

January 24, 1973

Greg is no longer mad at me, but that's because he thinks his problem is solved.

"I just realized last night, as chairman of the selection committee, I don't actually have to vote. Well, unless there's a tie."

"Uh, what are you going to do if there's a tie?"

"How can there be with three other guys on the committee? That's an odd number!"

I decided to not point out that the three guys could each vote for someone different. He'll figure it out himself in a couple days, although I hope there won't be a tie. And, yeah, I'm rooting for Marcia of course. I don't even know Jennifer. Not that I'm going to tell Greg about my bias of course.

I did ask him what the chairman does when there's not a tie, and he said he'll just count the votes. I don't know why they need a special role for that, but my high school was less complicated than this one.

Carol Brady's diary:

January 25, 1973

Jan designed a cherry tree for George Washington to chop down, since the early part of the play has a bit about his childhood. (The same boy is playing both ages, just with different makeup and costumes.) Unfortunately, when Jan pulled the string, the trunk fell off instead of the top. Luckily, she still has three weeks to figure out the mechanics of gravity.

January 26, 1973

The head cheerleader tryouts were today. Greg didn't look too happy when I saw him at the ferry terminal after school.

"Uh, how did it go?" I figured whichever girl won, Greg felt bad for either his sister or his girlfriend for not winning.

"Well, you won't believe this, but there was a three-way tie!"

"Oh no! Uh, did Marcia at least get a vote?"

"Yeah, and so did Jennifer."

"Who did you vote for?"

"I thought it over and voted for Pat."

"You voted for a boy?" I guess that's one solution.

"No, Patricia Conway. And she really was the best, though I know how hard Marcia practiced, and Jennifer is really talented. But Pat has the talent and the personality, very energetic and happy."

I didn't point out that Marcia and Jennifer probably weren't too happy about the situation, especially when it seemed at first that Greg wasn't even going to vote.

"And now I've gotta face both Marcia and Jennifer!"

"Well, maybe they'll appreciate that you voted honestly. Like when I chose Miss Castaway, because Gladys was the only native to the island."

"Yeah, but Pat isn't a chimp."

"No, but the women all understood, and now I'm engaged to Mary Ann."

"Well, I don't want to marry Jennifer. I just want to go steady with her, but now I don't know if she'll ever even want to talk to me again."

"She's probably disappointed, but from what you've told me, she's crazy about you." And Mary Ann told me she saw them looking very lovey-dovey at the pizza parlor the other day.

"Well, that's true. And she's so modest, she probably didn't really expect to win anyway."

I wasn't so sure about that, because Mary Ann is sweet and modest, too, but she got pretty competitive about Miss Castaway. But I said, "You should give her a call when she's had time to think about it."

He nodded, then sighed. "But I've still gotta deal with Marcia. And we were already fighting even before I started seeing Jennifer, because I wouldn't give her any feedback on her cheers."

"You two have had fights before. And she's your sister, well, stepsister. You'll fight and then patch things up."

He sighed. "Yeah, but I just wish I didn't have to deal with both girls at the same time."

I resisted saying that he kind of brought this on himself, since that wouldn't have helped.

January 27, 1973

I hadn't realized that Jennifer was trying out for head cheerleader, against Marcia and a couple other girls. Yes, the timing of her interest in Greg now seems very suspicious.

Greg, as chairman of the selection committee, had to break a three-way tie. Much as I was rooting for Marcia, I'm very proud that Greg decided on the girl he felt most deserved the spot: Pat Conway. He was worried about how Marcia and Jennifer would react, but when Marcia came home, she said that she approved of Greg's choice and thought he had a lot more integrity than she gave him credit for.

I'm glad Marcia was a good sport about it, and there's none of the bitterness there was with Kathy Lawrence of course. Marcia told me later that Pat is a sweet girl, and "not phony sweet like Jennifer."

Greg thought that Jennifer would be as understanding as Marcia, especially since Jennifer was "crazy about him." But when he called her, she hung up on him. He told me and Mike that he was starting to wonder if she was using him. We did our best to not laugh.

January 28, 1973

Peter still doesn't want to be Benedict Arnold, and the play is inching closer.

I said, "Well, I guess you could try what Cindy did."

"She's never had to play a traitor!"

"No, she really liked being the fairy princess, but she didn't want to have to decide which parent to invite."

"Oh, right. Do you think I should fake twisting my ankle?"

"Well, if nothing else works." I was about to say he should wait till the last week before the show, since there'd be plenty of time for it to heal in the meantime.

But he said, "Thanks, Gilligan, I'll try it tomorrow!" and ran off.

I hope it works better than what he's tried so far.

January 29, 1973

Peter tripped on a roller skate while rehearsing by himself in his room! He didn't injure himself seriously enough for me to call Dr. Cameron, but he did twist his ankle. He thinks he'll have to drop out of the play, but that's still over two weeks away, so it should be fine. It's not like he's in a cast, no pun intended.

I suggested he stay home from school from a few days, but he insisted he'll go back tomorrow. So I doubt he's faking it to get out of a test or something like that.