Graduation Day Read online

  “That is so cool,” I said, feeling reassured.

  Jessi grinned. “Yeah. You know, when they were six they decided they were going to become famous actresses and stay together for the rest of their lives. They were going to marry twin brothers and have their kids at the same time and all live in one big house.”

  My friends and I burst out laughing.

  “Well, we know what your mom is doing now,” said Mal. “What about her best friend?”

  “She’s an architect in Chicago, and she’s married but she and her husband don’t have any kids. But she and Mom are still best friends. They constantly talk on the phone, and they see each other about two times a year.”

  “Maybe being a best friend is different when you’re grown-up than when you’re a kid,” said Abby. “I mean, just because you are a grown-up.”

  “When I’m grown-up,” said Claud, “when I finally get out of school and become an artist, a real artist, I don’t think I’ll want to get married right away. I think I’ll just want to be an artist and live on my own for awhile. Then maybe I’ll get married.”

  “I’m not sure I want to get married at all,” I said. “I don’t see why everyone has to get married.”

  “Everyone doesn’t have to get married,” replied Stacey.

  “They do if they want kids.”

  “They do not. Plenty of people who aren’t married have kids.”

  “Oh, good. Then I want to adopt four kids but not get married. Maybe I’ll adopt five. You know I’ll want to have a lot of kids.”

  “I want to get married and have kids,” said Mal. “But not eight kids. I think just two or three. I’ll want to have my writing career too.”

  “When you are a famous dancer, Jessi, traveling the world, will you come back and visit your old friends?” asked Mary Anne.

  “Of course I will. And when I’m not around, I’ll send all of you lots and lots of postcards and letters and e-mail.”

  “Hey, Dawn,” I said. (I was beginning to feel more relaxed. This wasn’t such a bad conversation after all.) “Do you think you’ll stay in California all your life?”

  “I don’t know. I might. Well, probably. But you never know. I think I’d like to go to college here in the East. Maybe. But then go back to California. And you know what? I’m pretty sure I want to get married someday, but I’m not sure I want kids.”

  “You’re kidding. Why not?” asked Abby.

  “I don’t think I’d be a good parent. I mean, I like kids and everything, but I don’t know that I want to have any of my own.”

  “Not everyone has to have kids,” said Jessi. “My mom’s friend is really happy and she doesn’t have kids. But I think I want to have at least one.”

  “Well, I’ll tell you guys something,” said Abby. “I know for sure that before I settle down in any way, I want to see this whole big world. You are so lucky, Jessi. Traveling around. Visiting foreign countries. I wish I could see every country there is. I want to do lots of traveling as soon as I can.”

  “Hey, you guys. What do you want to do?” I asked Mary Anne and Stacey.

  “I don’t know,” said Mary Anne. “I really don’t. Not what I want to do or whether I want to get married or anything. I think I just want to enjoy high school and college first.”

  “Well, I know for sure that I want to go into some kind of business,” said Stace. “Like, run a big company, or own a store or a chain of stores. Working with my mom will be good practice. And I guess I want to get married and have kids, but I haven’t thought much about it.”

  “You know what?” I said. “We should make a pact.”

  “What kind of pact?” asked Dawn.

  “That in twelve years, when we’re all grown-up and out of college, we’ll meet — the eight of us — and have a reunion. Then we can see what we’re really doing.”

  “Where will we meet?” Abby asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “We can’t decide that now. But we should write this up and make it official — that on January first, twelve years from now, we will all call one another and plan a reunion, somewhere, for the eight of us on June twenty-third of that year.”

  We were silent for a few moments, considering this. Then, very solemnly, Claud took a piece of paper and a pen from her desk drawer and handed them to Mary Anne, our secretary, who drafted an official-looking pact. She promised to have it copied for each of us the next day.

  When the party ended that evening, I went home thinking of the pact. And I began to think about it again, much later, as I was writing in my journal.

  Dear Readers,

  It’s hard to believe, but it’s been almost fifteen years since Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Stacey formed the Baby-sitters Club. When I first began working on the series, I thought I was going to write four books, one about each of the girls. But to my surprise, a total of 213 books about Kristy and her friends followed. I’ve had a lot of fun working on the series; in fact, these have been fifteen fabulous years. But now it’s time to say good-bye to the members of the BSC.

  The series wouldn’t have lasted so long without the support of many people, but especially without you — the loyal BSC readers. Over the years, I’ve felt a great connection to my readers. I’ve received thousands of amazing letters — letters with suggestions for plots, letters of thanks, and letters from kids who simply wanted to share their lives with me. I’ve met readers at book signings, at schools, and through contests. Of all the wonderful things that happened to me as a result of the Baby-sitters Club, getting to know my readers was one of the best.

  I’ve been thinking a lot about decisions and choices lately. Often, making the right decision is easy. But sometimes a decision is difficult to make, even when you feel certain it’s the right one. That’s how I feel about the decision to end the series. I will miss working on the books, miss spending time with the characters, and especially miss my connection with the BSC fans. On the other hand, I have fifteen years of memories, many of them created by you. That’s why this last book is dedicated to my readers.

  Thank you for your loyalty and enthusiasm.

  Happy reading,

  Acknowledgments

  The Baby-sitters Club was conceived over fifteen years ago, and would not have become a success without dozens and dozens of people who brought their time, energy, vision, and talents to it. To them, I am unendingly grateful. They may never know how much I appreciate them. I want to extend thanks to:

  My editors: Brenda Bowen, my longtime friend, and the first editor on the series; the current editors—Bethany Buck, David Levithan, and Kate Egan (editors extraordinaire); Julie Komorn; Kathryn McKeon; and Janet Vultee.

  The other writers for the Baby-sitters Club, Baby-sitters Little Sister, and California Diaries who, with great sensitivity, shared the voices of Kristy and her friends: Ellen Miles, Peter Lerangis, Stephanie Calmenson, Suzanne Weyn, Nola Thacker, Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner, Gabrielle Charbonnet, Jeanne Betancourt, Jan Carr, Diane Molleson, Vicki Berger Erwin, Mary Lou Kennedy, Helen Perelman, and Laura Dower.

  Hodges Soileau, Susan Tang, Charles Tang, and the other artists whose work brought the characters and their world to life visually.

  David Tommasino, the first art director for the series, and his staff for their insight and vision; Elizabeth Parisi, Dawn Adelman, and Cristina Costantino in the art department; and Holly Tommasino, who created and executed all the handwriting for the characters.

  Ronnie Ambrose, Bonnie Cutler, Annie McDonnell, Laurie Giannelli, Heidi Robinson, Pam LaBarbiera, Nancy Smith, Karyn Browne, and Ellie Berger in production and manufacturing.

  The Baby-sitters Club has many other Scholastic friends as well. Among them are Dick Robinson, Barbara Marcus, Ed Monagle, Craig Walker, Judy Newman, Maggie Kniep, Alan Cogen, Betsy Howie, and all those (currently and formerly) in the publicity department, the sales department, the marketing department, the book clubs, and the book fairs who have promoted the series.

&nb
sp; In addition I would like to thank Adele Brodkin, Lisa Pasquale, Beth Perkins, Debbie Jensen, Madge Christensen, Kirsten Hall, Becca Lieberg, Bonnie Black, Diane Muldrow, and especially Elisa Geliebter for their inestimable help over the years.

  As always, I want to thank Laura Godwin.

  And most of all, I want to thank Jean Feiwel, who came up with the idea for the Baby-sitters Club and who guided it from the very beginning to the very end. Without her, the series wouldn’t have happened at all.

  Thank you, Jean.

  About the Author

  ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.

  Copyright © 2000 by Ann M. Martin

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition, 2000

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-09382-7