The following day, the phone rang as I picked up.
"Hello," I said.
"Hi, Kristy," said Mary Anne.
"Oh, hi, Mary Anne, what's up?" I asked.
"Nothing much, I want to show you and the other girls a gift that Vanessa made for me," said Mary Anne. "It was here when I got home to get my things for the sleepover at Patti's. When I opened it, it was a ten pages of poems about me. The girls loved it."
"That's good," I said.
"I already showed it to my dad. And, I thanked Vanessa," said Mary Anne. "I'll bring it to the club."
That afternoon, at Claudia's, Mary Anne had the book of poems.
"Wow. That is neat," said Claudia.
We were impressed when Mary Anne read it to us.
"That was very cool. Vanessa did a great idea doing the poems about Mary Anne," I said.
"Mom says it was thoughtful of her to do that," said Mallory.
"I bet she'd be terrific at being a poet in the future," said Kaylee.
"Me, too- even though she always speaks in rhymes," said Mallory.
It drives everyone crazy.
"Fine by me," said Mary Anne. "As long as you give it back to me."
"Deal," I said. "I can bring it at the next meeting."
"Okay," said Mary Anne. "Or you can always come over tomorrow for the day if you want to bring them over here."
"I could do it that way," I said. "Either way is fine with me."
We talked five more minutes before we hung up. I went back up and said, "She told me it was fine to do so."
After the meeting, Charlie was outside when I came out. At home, I couldn't wait to show the poems to my family.
Later, after supper, I read the poems to them.
"Wow. Vanessa was very good to do that," said Mom.
"I know," I agreed. "Mary Anne was very surprised."
Then, I had an idea.
"I'm thinking about doing the New Year's Eve party on Monday evening and maybe the girls can sleep over here," I said.
"That's a nice idea," said Mom.
The following day, I went to spend the day at her house, so I decided to bring the poems back to her while I'm at it like she said I can when I go over to her house.
"I had an idea that came to my mind," I said.
"Like what?" asked Mary Anne.
"A New Year's Eve party," I said. "Mom liked it."
"Sounds good," said Mary Anne. "Dawn won't be back until New Year's Day and we don't go back to school the following day. She's celebrating New Year's Eve with her father."
"I'm sure she can call us to wish us a Happy New Year," I said.
"True," said Mary Anne. "Maybe we can invite Marci, Kathi, and Patti."
"Sure," I said. "I don't mind them."
"Me, either," said Mary Anne. "Let's make some phone calls to invite them."
"Okay, and Shannon's still not back from her trip. They visited some family for Christmas and I'm not sure when she's coming back," I said.
"My grandma is leaving the day after that," said Mary Anne. "We'd be back in school at that time."
She checked with her dad first and gave her permission to come to the party before we made phone calls. Everyone accepted the invitation.
"I'm trying to think what time would be best since I'm sure we'll be in bed after midnight since we watch that show to see the ball drop," said Mary Anne.
"Mom said you guys can start coming over for 8:00 pm," I said.
Then, we took off to have lunch at Friendly's. Later, I said, "Want to pick up some stuff for New Year's Eve party next week?"
"Sure," said Mary Anne.
"I'll take them to my house with me when we do," I said.
"That would save you a trip," said Mary Anne. "We can also get some stuff at the Party City."
"I thought about that," I said.
That night, I stayed there for dinner. Her father took us out for supper.
"And, I'll bring you home," said Mr. Spier.
"Okay. I'll call Mom to tell her," I said
"You can bring the stuff with you while we're at it," suggested Mary Anne.
"I thought about the same thing," I said.
I called home to tell Mom that Mr. Spier is giving me a ride home.
"Alright. I'll inform Charlie," said Mom.
Then, we left for Chinese. He took me home after that.
At home, I said, "Mary Anne loved the idea and we made several phone calls to invite the girls and everyone is coming."
"Good," said Mom.
"We're planning to do some shopping for the party next week," I said.