"Babysitters Club 037 Dawn And The Older Boy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babysitters Club)

I had to ask another question. "Mary Anne," I said, "what did you think of Travis? Don't you think he's the most gorgeous boy you've ever seen?"
"Travis?" She looked at me suspiciously. "Dawn, you're not going to get some kind of hopeless crush on him, are you?"
A hopeless crush! I was insulted. "Of course not," I said stiffly. "I just think he's very . . . attractive."
"Oh, well, sure," Mary Anne said. "I do, too. Of course, I think Logan is gorgeous." She paused. Mary Anne and I know each other so well that she could guess what I was thinking. "Dawn," she said, "I just want to remind you that he's in high school. . . ."
"I know that."
"And that even if you like him, it doesn't
mean he's going to ask you out or anything." "Right." I changed the subject then, but my mind kept racing along the same channels. I had found the one boy in the world for me, and his name was Travis.
Chapter 3.
A lot of kids hate Monday, but I don't mind it. Why? Because Monday is the first meeting day of the week for the Baby-sitters Club. I know you're probably wondering about the club and how it works, so I'm going to fill you in on our last meeting. It took place the Monday after the sleepover, and if you're guessing that I was still thinking about Travis, you're absolutely right.
I should begin by telling you that we meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and that we start promptly at five-thirty. And that means on the dot! Kristy Thomas, our president, is a stickler for being on time (and for a lot of other rules as well). We meet for half an hour, until six o'clock.
I scooted into Claudia's bedroom about two minutes late (due to a sitting job), and got an icy glare from Kristy. She was sitting in her
director's chair, as usual, and made a big production out of looking at Claud's digital clock, the official BSC timepiece. She didn't say anything, but she gave her head a little shake, and I knew she was annoyed.
"Sorry," I said, stepping between Mallory and Jessi, and settling myself on Claud's bed between Claud and Mary Anne. Mal and Jessi were smiling at each other, and I knew that they were trying not to giggle at some private joke. Since they're a couple of years younger than the rest of us, you would think that Kristy would bend the rules a little for them. No way! Whoever said rules are made to be broken never met Kristy Thomas.
You're probably curious about why we meet in Claudia's bedroom. That's easy - Claudia is the only one of us with her own phone and personal phone number. And a phone is very important when you're running an organization like the BSC. Why did I call it an organization? Because it's partly a club and partly a business.
Maybe I better back up and tell you how it got started. One day, before Kristy's mother had married Watson, when Kristy still lived across the street from Claudia and next door to Mary Anne, she noticed that her mother
was calling all over town, trying to find a babysitter for David Michael, Kristy's little brother. Kristy got a brainstorm. Why not form a babysitters club - an organization that parents could call to reach several sitters at once.
This is the way our club works. My friends and I meet three times a week, as I mentioned, and anyone who wants a baby-sitter can call us at those times - and reach seven sitters. It's wonderful for the parents and great for us. We sometimes have more jobs than we can handle (which is why we have a couple of backup baby-sitters), and everything is done on a very professional basis.
We have elected officers, we collect dues, and we keep very accurate records of who sits when and how much money they make. We also write down our baby-sitting "experiences" in a notebook. This information is very helpful to all the club members and gives us tips about what to expect from the kids.
You already know that Kristy Thomas is the president, and I would say that she is perfect for the job. Even though she does tend to be a little bit bossy, I have to admit that she keeps the club running well. (Plus, let's face it. I can't really think of anyone else in the club who would want to be president. It's a lot of responsibility. Besides, the club was Kristy's idea.)
Claudia Kishi is our vice-president because we felt it was only fair since we use her room three times a week, tie up her phone, and eat her junk food.
Mary Anne is the secretary, and she keeps the record book in good shape. Don't get confused. The record book is different from the notebook. The record book is like a giant appointment book. Mary Anne schedules every single baby-sitting job, and since she is very good at details, she actually enjoys doing this. She also keeps track of clients' names, addresses, and phone numbers, and the rates our clients pay. Mary Anne could tell you anything about our schedules - the date of Jessi's next dance class, or when Mal is due to have her braces checked. Mary Anne never makes mistakes, and as far as I know, has never mixed up a baby-sitting appointment. Mary ХAnne's job would drive me straight up the wall, but she loves it.
Stacey McGill is the club treasurer because she's practically a genius with numbers. She keeps track of who makes what (each of us keeps the money we make, though; we don't split it with the group), but it's good to know
how things stand. Stacey is also responsible for collecting dues from everyone each Monday. The dues are pretty low, and the money is well spent, but it's still hard to get people to part with money. Actually, the dues are important for several reasons. We help Claudia pay her phone bill, and we pay Charlie, Kristy's oldest brother, to drive her to and from the meetings, since she lives in a different neighborhood, now that her mother has married Watson. We also use the money to restock our Kid-Kits (I'll explain later), and if there is any money left over, we blow it on fun things like pizza parties.
Not to be snide or anything, but as alternate officer, I think I have the most interesting job in the BSC. I get to fill in for any club member who can't make it to the meeting. Since Kristy is such a stickler for attendance, that hardly ever happens, but I've been the vice-president and the secretary, and I was club treasurer while Stacey was back in New York. I like being able to try all different jobs.
Mal and Jessi are our junior officers because they're not allowed to baby-sit at night yet, unless they're sitting .for their own brothers and sisters. Still, they are both very responsible
and are a big help to us in the club by taking on a lot of the after-school jobs.
Finally, we have two associate members, Shannon Kilbourne and Logan Bruno - Mary Anne's boyfriend! Shannon and Logan don't come to our regular meetings, but we know we can call on them in a pinch when we really get swamped with jobs. They are both good baby-sitters.
Anyway, back to the meeting. We were discussing club business, but my mind was filled with Travis. I was dying to ask Kristy if she had seen him again, but I couldn't think of any way to work it into the conversation.
Kristy must have noticed that I was a million miles away because she said suddenly, "How about you, Dawn? Do you need some more crayons or Magic Markers for your Kid-Kit?"
It took me a minute to come back to earth. "Uh, no, but I'd like to buy a few more coloring books."
This is what a Kid-Kit is. We each made our own. It's a decorated cardboard box filled with our old toys, books, and games, and we take it with us when we baby-sit. The kids love them, and the kits are part of what makes our club so special. For some reason, someone
else's old toys are much more interesting than your own. However, although the toys and games last forever, certain items, like crayons and coloring books, need to be replaced from time to time. We use money from the treasury for this.
My mind was racing, though, trying to fit Travis into the conversation, and a minute later, I got my chance. Kristy mentioned that Charlie would be a little late picking her up at Claudia's.
"Oh, really? Is he out somewhere with Travis?" I asked, trying to sound ultracasual.
Kristy gave me a funny look. "No, he's at the dentist getting a cavity filled."
"Gee, that doesn't sound like much fun." I tried to laugh, but it didn't quite come off. "So how's he doing, anyway?" I asked.
Kristy rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he's fine. It was a very small cavity. Now if we can get back to business ..."
"I don't mean Charlie," I said quickly. "I mean Travis." Everybody was looking at me now, and I knew I was probably giving the whole thing away by being so persistent.
Kristy shrugged. "How should I know?" She glanced down at the notebook, all set to
talk about Charlotte Johanssen, who is one of our favorite sitting charges.
"You mean Travis hasn't been back to your house?" The words just tumbled out.
Kristy looked at me suspiciously. "Maybe once or twice," she said vaguely. "I think he came over to shoot some baskets yesterday."
"You think?" How could she not know a thing like that?
"There were a lot of boys playing basketball in the driveway," she snapped. "Now we really need to . . ."
I tuned out the rest of what Kristy was saying. Item one: Travis may or may not have been back to her house. Item two: Travis probably hadn't mentioned me, at least not to Kristy. (But maybe to one of her brothers? I couldn't be sure.) I really hadn't found out very much in this conversation, but at least it was fun to talk about Travis. I just liked hearing his name!
The phone rang just then, and Kristy grabbed it. "Good afternoon, Baby-sitters Club." Kristy listened for a few moments, jotted down some notes, and promised to get back to the caller. I should explain that every-
one is "equal" in our club. Just because you answer the phone doesn't mean you can take the job for yourself (although this has happened a few times). Instead, you are supposed to write down the details of the job, discuss it with the club members, let Mary Anne check the record book, and then call the client back. It's a good system.
"That was Mrs. Hobart," Kristy said, looking around the group. "She needs a sitter for Johnny, Mathew, and James next Saturday because Ben is taking Mal to the movies."
Six of us gasped, and Mal turned an interesting shade of pink.
"Is that true?" I asked. "You and Ben are going out together?" I should mention that the Hobarts are an Australian family who moved into Mary Anne's old house across the street. There are four boys in the family, all with reddish-gold hair and "Aussie" accents. Ben Hobart, the oldest in the family, is Mal's age and a really nice boy.