Mary Anne in the Middle Read online

  Shea Rodowsky stepped forward next. “But in Massachusetts there were cheers.”

  The kids ended their skit. “Because now Mallory had two homes, Riverbend and Stoneybrook! The end.”

  Everyone clapped. Mallory had tears in her eyes. “That was great,” she said as she got up to hug the kids.

  Kristy rang a little silver bell then. Shannon and Logan appeared from the kitchen each holding a tray of fried chicken. Shannon’s younger sisters, Maria and Tiffany, followed with bottles of soda and juice.

  “This is awesome!” Mallory said. “When did you plan all this?”

  “Are you kidding?” Abby joked. “How can you ask The Amazing Kristy such a question?”

  “You’re right. I should know better,” Mallory said with a smile.

  Once the kids had all been picked up by their parents, Kristy’s mom and dad drove us to Washington Mall. We went directly to the BookCenter, the store Mallory had worked at briefly for a Project Works class. Ms. Munro, the owner and manager, greeted us.

  “Mallory, I hear you’re going off on a new adventure,” she said. “I have something for you.” She presented Mallory with a blank book. The words We Love Mallory Day were inscribed with press-on letters on the cover.

  “Thank you so much,” Mallory told Ms. Munro. “I’ll write in this every day.”

  “I’m looking forward to selling your first book and having you in for a signing,” Ms. Munro told her.

  Mallory crossed her fingers and held them up. “I would love that!” she said.

  We left the BookCenter and rode the escalator down to the first floor. We’d told Mallory we were leaving, but that wasn’t true.

  From the escalator, I spotted the person I was looking for, waiting in front of the movie theater. Mallory saw him too. “Ben!” she cried.

  “Yes,” I said in my best announcer’s voice as the escalator carried us along. “You’re not going home just yet. For the next two hours of We Love Mallory Day, you’ll be with none other than Ben Hobart!”

  The rest of us shopped while Mallory went to the movies with Ben. The time passed quickly and before we knew it, we were meeting her again in front of the mall fountain.

  “What a day!” she said, smiling. “Thank you all so much.”

  “It’s not over yet,” Claudia told her.

  “It must be nearly over. By the time we get home it will be almost seven,” she pointed out.

  “You’ll see,” Stacey said mysteriously.

  Kristy’s parents drove us to Claudia’s house. The moment Mallory stepped into Claudia’s room she cried out, “Oh, my gosh! I don’t believe this.”

  “We Love Mallory Day” balloons floated everywhere. A huge teddy bear with a big heart on its chest sat on Claudia’s bed. We’d all written our names on the heart. Claudia opened bags of snacks and bottles of soda for everyone.

  It was wonderful to see Mallory smiling, joking, and acting like her old self again. Happy as she was, at one point, she turned to me with a concerned frown. “Is Jessi missing the party too?”

  I just shrugged.

  Still frowning, Mallory nodded and seemed to put Jessi out of her mind. “This is so great,” she said. “What a perfect way to end this special day.”

  At that moment, Jessi burst into the room. “It’s not over yet!” she sang out, waving two tickets in the air. “Not quite.”

  “Jessi!” Mallory cried.

  “I waited in line for hours, but I got them!” Jessi crowed triumphantly. “They’re for you.”

  Mallory took the tickets and read them. “Cats!” she screamed. “The road show is in Stamford!”

  Jessi slipped one of the tickets from Mallory’s grip. “This one is really mine. I’m going with you.”

  “That’s the best part of all,” Mallory said, wrapping her best friend in a hug.

  I loved seeing them happy together, the way they had always been, the way I hoped they would always be.

  It even made me sort of glad I’d gotten in the middle.

  * * *

  Dear Reader,

  Being stuck in the middle is never much fun, especially when two best friends are fighting. If you do find yourself stuck in the middle, as Mary Anne was when Jessi and Mal were fighting, try to remain as impartial as possible and try not to take sides. If you do take sides, you’re bound to alienate one friend, and two against one never looks fair. When Mary Anne got stuck in the middle, she did take sides at first. Then she found a better approach. She listened to both of her fighting friends, and encouraged them to talk to each other. Remember — the fight is really your friends’ problem, not yours, and ultimately it’s up to them to work things out.

  Happy reading,

  * * *

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Suzanne Weyn

  for her help in

  preparing this manuscript.

  About the Author

  ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.

  There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.) In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.

  Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.

  Copyright © 1998 by Ann M. Martin

  Cover art by Hodges Soileau

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. 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, December 1998

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-87467-0