"Babysitters Club 007 Claudia And Mean Janine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babysitters Club)

"You may," I replied, stalling. I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Oh, I understand," said Janine. "You want to play games. Well, I'll comply. All right, how does your agency plan to function once your founder is residing in a different district?"
"Huh?"
"I said - "
"Janine, talk in English, will you?"
"I am!" Janine looked hurt again. "I can't help it if this is the manner in which I speak."
"And I can't help it if I don't understand you."
"Oh, never mind," said Janine. She sighed. It might have been a sad sigh, it might have been an exasperated one. I couldn't tell. "I was simply trying to uphold my end of a meaningful conversation with my sibling."
"You were trying to what?"
"Talk to you!" exploded Janine.
"Well, why didn't you just say so?"
"I did." Janine stood up. "Very well. Have fun drawing and baby-sitting and shopping." How did Janine always manage to make me feel that I couldn't do anything worthwhile?
"And you have fun talking to machines!" I yelled after her as she left the kitchen.
Janine mumbled something that sounded
like, "At least they communicate with me." Now what was that supposed to mean?
It was another happy morning at the Kishis'.
As I left the house a little while later, Mimi put her arms around me and said, "Have fun today, my Claudia."
"I will," I replied, giving her a kiss.
Janine watched us from the front yard. Then she looked away. When her ride came along, she got into the car without even waving to us.
Chapter 2.
I'm the first to admit it - I'm a junk food addict. I like candy. I like cookies. I like things with funny names such as Ho-Ho's, Ring Dings, Ding-Dongs, and Twinkies. I stock up on the stuff I like and stash it around my room. Since my Nancy Drew books are also hidden, I have to know a lot of good hiding places. If anyone were to search my room, they'd find cupcakes in the desk drawer, licorice in my pencil case, The Clue of the Tapping Heels and The Message in the Hollow Oak under my mattress, M&M's in my jewelry box, and The Clue in the Crossword Cipher at the bottom of a box of art supplies.
To get ready for our Baby-sitters Club meeting that day, I got out the M&M's. I also got a box of pretzels from the kitchen. They were for Stacey and Dawn. Stacey's diabetic and can't eat candy, and Dawn's into health food. I don't think pretzels are particularly healthy,
but I suppose they're better than M&M's. I also set out our record book, and another book that Kristy insists we keep up-to-date - our Baby-sitters Club Notebook, which is a sort of diary. We're supposed to record every single baby-sitting job in it, and then read it about once a week so we know what's going on at the homes where the other club members have baby-sat.
At five-fifteen, my friends started to show up. Stacey was first. She walked proudly into my room, looking smug.
"I didn't know you were going to get your hair cut!" I exclaimed when I saw her.
"I decided not to say anything," Stacey replied. "I wasn't sure how I'd look. Do you like it?"
"I love it! Did you get it permed again?"
"Yup. But after this I might let the perm grow out."
Stacey sat on my bed. Her blonde hair, which had been long and fluffy, was now cut to just above her shoulders. It made her look older.
"Gosh," I said, "maybe I should get my hair cut."
"Oh, don't!" cried Stacey. "Your hair is amazing. How long did it take you to grow it to that length?"
"Years," I admitted.
"It's so beautiful. Don't you dare touch it!"
"Touch what?" asked a voice. Dawn was standing in my doorway.
"Speaking of long hair ..." said Stacey.
"Hi, you guys." Dawn came in and eased herself onto the floor. She had to swing her hair out before she sat down. That's how long her hair is. And it's white-blonde.
When Dawn and I stand next to each other, we look kind of like a photograph and its negative.
"Her hair," Stacey said, answering Dawn's question. "Just because I got mine cut, Claudia - "
"Aughh!" shrieked Dawn. "I didn't even notice. Oh, Stace, it looks fantastic!"
"Thanks," said Stacey, grinning.
A few moments later, Kristy and Mary Anne showed up. Mary Anne joined Dawn on the floor. We'd all been leaving my director's chair for Kristy. She likes to sit in it and take charge. Sometimes she wears a visor, or sticks a pencil over one ear. Anything to make her stand out as our president.
"Okay, baby-sitters," said Kristy, after she and Mary Anne had oohed and aahed over Stacey's haircut. "Business first. Stacey, what's in the treasury?"
Stacey had brought a rumpled manila envelope along with her. "Give me your dues first, you guys," she said.
We each forked over a dollar.
Stacey put the money on the bed and emptied the contents of the envelope over it. "Nineteen dollars even," she announced. She said this after one pretty quick glance at the bills and change, which is why she's our treasurer.
"Not bad," said Kristy. "Well, I have two interesting pieces of news, speaking of the money. One is that Charlie passed his driver's test today."
"Yea!" cheered the rest of us.
"The other is that I asked him about driving me to the meetings and to sitting jobs in this neighborhood after we move to Watson's."
"Yes?" I said eagerly. The whole future of the club depended on whether Kristy could get to the meetings.
"I offered to pay him a dollar for each trip he had to make - that means two dollars for every meeting."