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  Kristy’s mother works hard, though. She has a good job with a company in Stamford. I think that’s how she met Watson.

  Since Watson came along, Kristy’s mom’s life is much easier, although she now has even more kids. Watson has two little kids, a boy and a girl from a previous marriage. They stay with the Brewers every other weekend, over some holidays, and for two weeks in the summer. And (as if the house wasn’t full enough) they adopted a little girl from Vietnam. Emily Michelle is two and a half, and is so cute you can hardly stand it. Then Nannie (Kristy’s mother’s mother) moved in to help out with the kids. With all those people living together, I guess it’s a good thing that they do live in a mansion.

  The vice-president of our club is Claudia. She gets to be VP mostly because we hold meetings in her room. Claudia has the best room for meetings because she is the only member with her own phone and her own phone number. When I tell you about how the club works, you’ll see that having a private phone line is very important. (More about the club later.)

  The first thing most people notice about Claudia is her appearance. She’s naturally beautiful with long, shiny, straight black hair. (She’s Japanese-American, so her hair is really black-black, not just dark brown.) And she has delicate features. But what strikes people about Claudia even more than her stunning looks is her sense of fashion.

  Claudia wears super-trendy clothes, and she puts them together in ways that are uniquely Claudia. Today, for example, she was wearing maroon leggings and ballet slippers under an oversized yellow shirt. Around her waist she wore this great belt that she made herself from three thin strips of leather tied together and decorated with ceramic beads. For the final touch, Claudia had swept her hair over to one side and tied it up with another thin leather strip that had the same kind of beads on it. She looked great — and she was just hanging around her own house!

  Claudia’s fashion sense is an extension of her artistic talent. Claudia loves to do anything artistic: sketch, paint, sculpt, make pottery and jewelry.

  When Claudia grows up I’m sure she’ll be either an artist or a fashion designer. Which is lucky for her. I don’t think she’d do too well at a profession that required a lot of regular school. Claudia is a terrible student. (Straight C’s, if she’s lucky. And she can’t spell for beans.) The odd thing about Claudia being a poor student is 1. she’s really smart and 2. her older sister, Janine, is a real-life genius. Claudia’s parents used to pressure her constantly to be more like Janine, but Claudia wasn’t interested. (Even though they’ve let up a bit, I still think Claud’s parents are too hard on her. She has to hide her Nancy Drew books because her parents think they’re “frivolous.” I mean, come on. At least she’s reading.)

  Claudia’s best friend, and the treasurer of the BSC, is Stacey. Like Claudia, she’s also fashion conscious. Her clothes are very cool, but she doesn’t put them together quite as originally as Claudia does. Still, she always looks great. She’s tall and thin with big blue eyes. Her fluffy shoulder-length blonde hair is permed and suits her perfectly. Of all of us, Stacey seems the most grown-up.

  Maybe that’s because Stacey has had a tough life. She has diabetes, which means her body has trouble controlling the level of sugar in her blood. She has to stay on a very strict diet. Also, she has to give herself injections of insulin every day. (Even thinking about that gives me the shivers!)

  Stacey has been bounced around a lot, too. First she moved from New York City to Stoneybrook (her father was transferred here). Then her father was transferred back to New York. Then her parents decided to get divorced, and Stacey moved back to Stoneybrook with her mother. Whew! That’s a lot of moving. But we are thrilled that she’s back.

  I was especially thrilled. Not only because I missed Stacey when she left, but also because I had taken over her job as treasurer. You see, I’m the alternate officer of the club, which means I can take over for any member whenever I’m needed. That’s how I got the treasurer’s job, even though I’m not too swift in the math department. Stacey is a whiz at it, though. I was glad to turn the job back to her.

  We also have two junior members. They’re called “junior” because they’re only eleven. (The rest of us are thirteen.) They can’t sit at night unless it’s for their own sisters and brothers. But they do baby-sit in the afternoons. That frees the rest of us to sit in the evenings.

  Besides age, Mal and Jessi have a lot in common. They’re both nuts about horses and books. (As you might figure, they’re wild for horse books in particular.) They’re both the oldest kids in their families. Oh, and they’re best friends.

  They’re not clones, though. Each girl has a distinct personality. Another difference is that Mal is white and Jessi is black. When the Ramseys first moved to Stoneybrook, some people gave them a hard time simply because they’re black. Thank goodness that died down. Now the Ramseys are settled in and seem happy.

  Besides her parents, Jessi lives with her aunt; her sister, Becca (eight); and her baby brother, Squirt. (His real name is John Philip Ramsey, Jr., but he was so small at birth that the nurses in the hospital nicknamed him Squirt.)

  The most amazing thing about Jessi is her dancing ability. She plans to be a ballerina and has already performed in several professional productions. She’s incredibly talented.

  Mal is also talented in her own way. Her ambition is to write and illustrate children’s books. I know she’ll be great at it because she’s very creative. And she sure knows what kinds of stories interest kids. She’s the oldest of eight! The combination of her creativity and her experience with all those brothers and sisters makes her a terrific baby-sitter.

  And, just so you’ll know, we also have two associate members: Kristy’s friend Shannon Kilbourne and Logan Bruno. (That’s right. Mary Anne’s boyfriend.) Shannon and Logan don’t come to meetings, but we call them as backups if we have too many baby-sitting jobs.

  Now that you know who’s in the club, let me tell you how it works. As I said, we meet three times a week, for a half hour. Our clients know that we meet at those times. (At first the club advertised by distributing BSC fliers. Now we’re so popular we don’t need to advertise anymore. Though we do sometimes, anyway. Just to keep new clients coming.)

  If a client needs a baby-sitter, he or she calls us during a meeting. (That’s why Claudia’s private phone is so important.) The great thing about this is that with one call, a client can reach seven experienced sitters. One of us is bound to be free to take the job.

  That’s where Mary Anne comes in. As club secretary she keeps track of the record book. In it she records everyone’s schedule — Jessi’s dance lessons, Mal’s orthodontist appointments, Claudia’s art classes, and anything else that comes up. By checking her record book she can tell right away who is free to accept a baby-sitting job.

  That’s not all she keeps in the record book. There’s also a list of clients’ names, addresses, and phone numbers. Plus a record of how much money we make, and each of our weekly sitting schedules. If we need to know anything, we can check with Mary Anne. She’s a great secretary and has never, ever (not even once) made a mistake.

  What do we do if the phone doesn’t ring? Lots! For starters, on Mondays, Stacey collects the dues. That’s the least fun part of the club. But it’s necessary. We use the money to help pay Claudia’s phone bill. And we pay Charlie, one of Kristy’s older brothers, to drive her to meetings. (Kristy used to live across the street from Claudia. But Watson’s mansion is on the other side of town.) We also buy new supplies for our Kid-Kits.

  Kid-Kits were Kristy’s idea and they’re really helpful. A Kid-Kit is a box full of toys, coloring books, crayons, and other fun stuff. We often bring the Kid-Kits on baby-sitting jobs. The kids love them. There’s something exciting about playing with new things. Even difficult kids settle down when we open our Kid-Kits.

  If there’s any money left over after all of that, we splurge on a club pizza party or a sleepover or a trip to the movies. Something fun.
r />   After money business is settled, we sometimes go over our BSC notebook. This isn’t the same as the record book. It’s more like a diary for the club. We write down our baby-sitting experiences in the notebook. Sometimes it’s kind of a pain to do, but it is a helpful resource for all of us.

  On that day we had plenty to do. We’d been so busy over the vacation that our Kid-Kits were in desperate need of restocking. Each of us was making suggestions for things to buy. Stacey was writing everything down and trying to figure out what we could afford to buy and what we couldn’t.

  Mary Anne was the only one not making suggestions. She was busy writing in the BSC notebook. The night before she’d sat for the Kormans. She was glad to report that Bill and Melody were no longer terrified of the toilet monster. (Believe it or not, the kids thought there was a monster in their toilet. Whenever it was flushed, they would race to their beds and hide.) Logan had suggested that Mary Anne make a game of it — like timing how fast Bill and Melody ran away, for example. Mary Anne tried it and it worked. Now the only problem was that the kids wouldn’t stop flushing the toilet. They laughed hysterically every time they did. Oh, well.

  As we were conducting the meeting, the phone rang. “Hello, Baby-sitters Club,” Claudia answered. “Yes … yes … that’s us.” She took a pad and pencil off her desk and began writing down information. “Can I ask how you heard about us? … Oh, wow! Dr. Johanssen is your pediatrician? Yeah, we baby-sit for her little girl, Charlotte, all the time. I’ll find out who’s available…. Great. I’ll call you right back.”

  “All right! A new client!” Kristy exclaimed after Claudia hung up.

  “Yeah,” Claudia replied with a smile. “Dr. Johanssen told this guy Mr. Hill that we’re really good sitters.”

  Kristy shot Claudia a worried look. “He didn’t ask for anyone in particular, did he?” she wanted to know. We’re not supposed to work that way. Whoever’s free gets the job.

  “No, he didn’t,” Claudia said pointedly. “He just wants someone to take care of his two kids, a nine-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy.”

  Mary Anne already had the record book open. “When and what time?” she asked.

  “Friday at four,” Claudia read off her pad. “Mrs. Hill won’t be home from work, and Mr. Hill has to go to a meeting. Normally he works at home.”

  “How about you, Dawn?” Mary Anne asked, looking up from the record book.

  “Sure,” I said. A nine-year-old and a seven-year-old. Usually those are pretty easy ages to sit for. That’s what I thought, anyway, before I met Sarah and Norman Hill.

  “Hey, something smells good,” said Richard, coming into the kitchen Saturday afternoon. “What’s cooking?”

  “Don’t get your hopes up, Dad,” said Mary Anne, laughing. “It’s a soybean pie.” She was standing at the counter, rolling tiny hot dogs into “blankets” of dough. I was at the table, shaping peanut butter logs, while Jeff sprinkled them with coconut. Mom was at the counter, arranging plastic utensils in paper cups.

  “Oh … well, I’m sure it will be good,” said Richard, his face falling. It fell even further as he gazed around the kitchen. It was a disaster area. Open cartons, paper towels, dirty dishrags, used bowls and utensils were everywhere. Even Jeff was covered with tomato sauce. (He’d been helping Mary Anne with her English-muffin pizzas.) Richard took a deep breath. He’s very different from my mother — super organized and neat.

  I expected him to launch into his usual speech about “cleaning as you go” when cooking. He didn’t, though. “I’m going up to the attic to look for those extra sleeping bags,” he said, instead. I could tell from his distressed expression that he was trying hard not to plunge in and start whipping the kitchen into shape. I wondered if he’d made a New Year’s resolution not to be such a neat freak.

  “Thanks, hon,” said my mother, as he left. In this spirit of compromise, Mom started wiping spilled sauce off the counter and throwing old wrappers and cartons into a paper bag. (This was not her usual behavior. Messes don’t bother her in the least.) It was kind of inspiring to see Richard and Mom trying so hard to make each other happy.

  The rest of the day passed quickly. We cleaned the house, finished making the snacks and dessert, and decorated the living room. Mom pulled out a box filled with corny New Year’s stuff — funny hats, horns, even a cardboard baby wearing a diaper, and a banner. The banner read, “1979.” I hung it on the wall anyway, since I thought it was cool.

  Soon it was seven o’clock. That’s when we’d told everyone to come over. The first to arrive were Mal and the triplets, Adam, Byron, and Jordan. The three of them are the same age as Jeff. The triplets are identical. Thank goodness they dress differently, though. Once you find out who is wearing what, you know who is who.

  “Happy New Year — almost,” said Mal, stepping into the living room with the triplets.

  “Hey, you guys,” cried Jeff, hurrying to the door. The boys immediately ran off with Jeff, up to his room.

  The next to arrive was Kristy. “Hi,” she said, her sleeping bag on her shoulder and a shopping bag in her hand. “Where should I put this stuff?”

  Mary Anne had come out of the kitchen. She took Kristy’s jacket. “Your sleeping bag can go upstairs in Dawn’s room. What’s in the shopping bag?”

  “Mom and Watson sent this stuff,” said Kristy. She reached into the bag and pulled out a bottle and a small jar. “It’s for your parents,” she explained. “Champagne and caviar.” There was also a bakery box at the bottom of the bag. “And these are some kind of fancy cookies for us.”

  “That was nice of them,” I said, taking the bag.

  “What is caviar, anyway?” Mal asked.

  “Fish eggs,” I told her.

  Mary Anne and Kristy looked at each other. “Sounds yummy,” Kristy said dryly, making a disgusted face.

  “Have you ever tried it?” Mal asked me.

  “No,” I admitted. “It’s supposed to be great, though.”

  “Adults eat the weirdest things,” said Mary Anne.

  In the next few minutes, Stacey and Claudia arrived. Naturally, they both looked gorgeous. Claudia had tied her hair up in a high ponytail with this silver netting around it. She was wearing wide black pants and a top with a silver moon appliquéd on the front.

  Stacey wore a form-fitting purple dress and pink tights with black stripes. “Wow! You guys really got decked out!” I said as they walked in. (I was dressed for comfort, in black leggings and a big blue top lined with fleece.)

  “You have to get dressed up on New Year’s Eve,” said Claudia. “That’s part of the fun.”

  I shrugged. I guess everyone has their own idea of fun.

  Jessi arrived next. Her father walked her to our front steps. My mother happened to come into the living room as I opened the door. “Happy New Year!” she said. “Richard and I are about to toast the New Year,” she added to Jessi’s dad. “Why don’t you join us?”

  “Sounds good,” he replied, as Mom led him off to the kitchen, where she and Richard had been sitting.

  “I’m so excited,” said Jessi. “This will be the first time I’ve celebrated New Year’s Eve. I’ve been sent to bed before midnight every other year.”

  As I took Jessi’s coat, Stacey reached into her large black leather pocketbook. “Mary Anne,” she said in a sort of teasing singsong voice. “I have something to show you.”

  “What?” Mary Anne asked eagerly.

  “I got a package in the mail today from my father. He said it was a New York City care package.” (Stacey is a real New York girl at heart, even though she likes Stoneybrook. On her bedroom walls she has a map of New York, a poster of the Empire State Building, and a poster of New York at night.) Stacey kept one hand in her bag as she spoke. “He sent me some really good sugarless candy from a gourmet store near his apartment. He also added these very cool sunglasses and hair clips that he bought from a street vendor. And he sent me this tape I asked him to look for.” Stacey pulle
d the tape from her bag. “Ta-da! Cam Geary Sings!”

  Mary Anne grabbed the tape from Stacey. “I don’t believe it. I don’t be-lieeeve it!” she squealed. Cam Geary is Mary Anne’s absolute favorite star. Even though he’s an actor, I guess he wanted to become a singer, too. Cam Geary Sings was his first recording. Mary Anne had read about it in a magazine and was dying to hear it. “I didn’t think this was out yet. Where did your father find it?” she asked.

  “There’s a huge record store uptown. They get everything first,” Stacey told her.

  We decided to go up to my room to listen to the tape. Mary Anne popped it into the stereo as everyone laid out their sleeping bags.

  Nobody but Mary Anne thought much of Cam Geary’s singing. “I think he sounds … good,” she said loyally.

  “This is only his first album. Maybe he’s just kind of learning how to do it,” Mal suggested.

  For Mary Anne’s sake we listened to the whole tape, but no one was paying attention after the first two songs. (Except Mary Anne, that is.) We started talking about school and baby-sitting. And about boys.

  I’ve noticed lately that we talk about boys a lot more than ever before. Stacey and Claudia, especially. Even Kristy, who used to think boys are dweebs, is now interested.

  “How are things with you and Logan these days?” Claudia asked Mary Anne.

  “Great,” Mary Anne replied with a bright smile. “We’re having a lot of fun, now that he doesn’t act like he owns me.” (Logan and Mary Anne broke up for awhile because Logan was being possessive. But they missed each other too much to stay apart.)