"Babysitters Club 08 Boy-Crazy Stacey" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babysitters Club)

We entered the front hall of her house and greeted her mother and Watson in the living room. Then we raced upstairs and down a hallway to the room Kristy had chosen for her bedroom. Watson's house is so big that Kristy and her three brothers each got a room of their own when they moved in. And even so, Watson's two little children from his first marriage, Karen and Andrew, who don't even live with him full-time, have their own rooms for when they visit, plus a playroom, and there are still a few guest rooms left over. It makes me sort of breathless. I mean, when I lived in New York, we had what was considered a pretty big apartment, and it only had four bedrooms, one of which was hardly big enough for a bed.
In Kristy's room, we all plopped down on the new comforter on her new bed, arranging ourselves around Louie, her collie, who was sprawled on his back.
"Where are your brothers?" I asked.
"David Michael's around somewhere," replied Kristy. (David Michael is seven.) "And Sam and Charlie are over at a neighbor's house using the pool." (Sam and Charlie are older, in high school.)
"Are sandwiches okay for dinner?" Kristy asked us. "Mom and I made a whole stack of them this afternoon. There are a couple of plain tuna fish for you, Stace."
"Great," 1 said. "Thanks."
1 glanced at Mary Anne Spier. As 1 mentioned earlier, Mary Anne is Kristy's best friend, and Claudia is mine, but it's funny the way things work out. Mary Anne and I were going to be spending the next two weeks together. 1 was a little nervous about it. We are so different. Mary Anne is really shy; I'm pretty straightforward. Mary Anne is kind of young; I'm sophisticated. Mary Anne has no interest in boys; I had a couple of boyfriends in seventh grade.
As if reading my mind, Claudia said to me, "Are you all ready for the Pikes, Stace?"
"I hope so," I replied. "I've never spent two weeks with eight kids before. At least I'll have Mary Anne to help me."
"You guys are so lucky," said Kristy wistfully. "Two weeks at the beach."
"Two weeks of chasing after Claire, Margo, Nicky, Vanessa, Byron, Jordan, Adam, and Mallory," I pointed out.
"Well, I'd go to the beach in a second, even if I had to be a mother's helper," said Kristy.
As uncertain as I was about going off with
Mary Anne, I had to admit I was excited. The members of our club baby-sit for the Pikes often, and not long ago, Mrs. Pike had called to say she wanted two of us to go along with them as mother's helpers when they take their summer vacation down in Sea City, New Jersey. Mary Anne and I were the only ones available.
It was all part of why the Baby-sitters Club was going to scatter. In just a couple of days, Mary Anne and I would be off to Sea City, Claudia and her family were going on a quiet vacation to a mountain resort in New Hampshire, and Dawn and her younger brother were flying to California to visit their father. They hadn't been in California in seven months, since their parents got divorced and Mrs. Schafer decided to move back to Connecticut, where she grew up.
"I can't believe I'm stuck here in Stoneybrook while you guys get to go to all these great places," wailed Kristy.
"It is sort of ironic," spoke up Dawn. "I mean, here you are in this mansion with a rich stepfather. ..."
"I know," said Kristy, looking a little pouty. "But Mom is determined to make our 'new' family work out. She wants us all together for a while."
Kristy's mom appeared at the door just then, carrying a big tray loaded with sodas and the sandwiches. As soon as she left, we dived into the food as if we hadn't eaten since July. When we were finished, we fooled around with new hair styles, and 1 tried on some of Kristy's clip-on earrings to see how I'd look if my parents were to go crazy or something and let me pierce my ears again after all.
"Uh-oh," said Dawn suddenly, looking at her watch. "It's almost nine. My mom said she'd pick me up between nine and nine-thirty."
"My dad's coming soon, too," said Claudia.
"I won't see you guys for over two weeks!" cried Kristy.
"Hey," said Mary Anne, "I've got an idea. Let's exchange our vacation addresses. Then we can all write postcards to each other."
Kristy found some index cards in her desk drawer and we wrote down our addresses for each other.
"I've got an even better idea," Kristy said. "Stacey and Mary Anne, why don't you write me a postcard every day describing your job with the Pikes? Later, we'll enter them in the notebook. That way, we'll keep it up-to-date and official."
"1 might baby-sit for my old clients when I
go back to California," said Dawn. "If I do, I'll send you notebook entries, too."
We talked and made plans busily. We could hardly believe it when David Michael called, "Mr. Kishi and Mrs. Schafer are here!"
We baby-sitters looked at each other. Kristy began to cry. Then Dawn. Then Mary Anne. Then Claudia and me.
"I'm going to miss you!" wailed Dawn.
"I'm going to miss you and be bored!" added Kristy.
"I've never been away from home alone before!" cried Mary Anne.
We all began hugging each other. Kristy handed out tissues. As soon as we'd calmed down, Dawn moaned, "Two whole weeks," and the hugging and crying started again.
A few minutes later, Claudia, Mary Anne, and I climbed into the backseat of the Kishis' car. We sniffled all the way to Bradford Court.
I was miserable . . . until I got to my room and looked at my new bikini and began thinking of sunshine and the ocean and cute boys in bathing trunks and the boardwalk the Pike kids were always talking about. A little flutter of excitement crept into my stomach and pushed away the stone of misery. By the time I went to bed, I was so excited about Sea City, New Jersey, that I couldn't sleep.
Chapter 2.
There is nothing like ringing the doorbell at the Pikes' house. If the kids are at home, there is an actual stampede to get to the door.
Mary Anne and I stood on their front stoop the next afternoon. "Brace yourself," 1 said.
I rang the bell.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. Feet were running toward us.
Thump, thump, thump, thump. Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Crash.
The inner door was flung open. There stood Claire, Margo, Nicky, Vanessa, and Jordan. They looked flushed and breathless.
"Hi!" squealed Claire. Claire is the youngest Pike. She just turned five. Margo just turned seven, Nicky is eight, and Vanessa is nine. Jordan is ten, but he's not an ordinary ten-year-old Ч he's a triplet. Byron and Adam are his identical brothers. The oldest Pike is Mal-
lory, who's eleven. She's a really good kid and usually gives us baby-sitters a hand. She even helped out at our play group last month.
I opened the screen door, and Claire grabbed my hand. "Come inside," she said urgently, tugging at me.
Not to be outdone, Margo grabbed Mary Anne's hand. "Yeah, come on in."
Vanessa, who is usually quiet, began jumping up and down. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, we go to Sea City!" she cried. "We'll see the beach and the shells so pretty."
Nicky rolled his eyes. "Do you have to rhyme everything?" he asked.
"Yes," replied Vanessa. "Because I'm going to be a poet."