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

"You didn't rhyme that," Nicky pointed out maddeningly, and Vanessa stuck out her tongue at him.
"Mo-om!" yelled Nicky. "Vanessa stuck her tongue out at me!"
We were standing in the narrow front hallway. Mary Anne and I were pinned against a closet door.
"Okay, kids," called Mrs. Pike, as she ran in from the kitchen. "Give Mary Anne and Stacey some breathing room."
The Pikes backed off.
Mrs. Pike had invited us over that afternoon
to discuss the trip and to explain our responsibilities. She ushered us into the living room and shooed the children outdoors. Then she began talking.
"Mostly," she said after a while, "you'll just be giving Mr. Pike and me a hand since, of course, we'll be there, too. But we would like some time to ourselves. So there will be afternoons or evenings when we'll go off to do things on our own. Then you'll be in charge."
Mary Anne and I nodded. I was beginning to think that "mother's helper" was a pretty funny term, since Mary Anne and I were going to be helping Mr. Pike as much as Mrs. Pike. Maybe we should be called parents' helpers.
"Have you ever been to the Jersey Shore?" asked Mrs. Pike.
"Nope," said Mary Anne.
"Once," 1 replied.
"Well, Sea City is a medium-sized town. There's a lot to see and do and you'll be perfectly safe on your own. Just keep a careful eye on the children. There's traffic to watch for, but there's also the ocean."
Mary Anne and 1 nodded again.
"As you know, Mr. Pike and I don't believe in making rules for the children or forcing them to do things they don't want to do. But we do make one beach rule which we expect everyone
to stick to: Absolutely no going in the ocean Ч not even wading Ч before nine A.M. or after five P.M. Between nine and five the lifeguards are on duty, unless ifs raining. Then you can swim as much as you want as long as you stay in front of the lifeguard station. Is that dear?"
"Yes," we said.
"I don't mean to sound harsh. It's just that the ocean can be so dangerous. But believe me, there are plenty of other things to do in Sea City. There's Trampoline Land and miniature golf. There's the boardwalk with an amusement park. There's a movie theater and shops and so many places to eat you can smell Sea City before you see it!"
I giggled.
"It's a great place for kids," Mrs. Pike added. "We've been going there for nine years. I know you'll have a good time."
Mrs. Pike went on to tell us about the house they always rented, food shopping, dividing up chores, and stuff like that. Then I told her about my diet and about the injections of insulin I have to give myself every day. Although the Pike kids don't know I have diabetes, Mr. and Mrs. Pike do, and they wanted to be sure I'd feel comfortable on the trip, and
that they had the right kind of foods on hand for me. It was very nice of them.
Mrs. Pike had had to do a lot of fast talking to convince my parents to let me go to Sea City. It would be the first time I'd been away from Mom and Dad longer than overnight since I'd gotten diabetes almost two years ago. They didn't even think about letting me go until they'd looked up a couple of doctors in Sea City and spoken to them over the phone.
Mary Anne and I left the Pikes' that afternoon practically crackling with excitement. We were to leave at eight o'clock the next morning. It was time to go home and pack.
"I already packed," Mary Anne confided. "I couldn't wait. I'm scared, but I'm really looking forward to this. If s my first time away from my father, my first trip to the beach Ч and my first bikini! Dad said I could get one as long as the bottom part was decent."
Mary Anne's father used to be really strict with her. He's still a little strict, but he's much better. It's because Mrs. Spier died a long time ago and he's raised Mary Anne by himself. He loosened up a lot, though, when Mary Anne finally began standing up to him.
When I got home, I went to my room, opened
my suitcase on my bed, and began carefully laying my clothes in it Ч last year's bikini, the new bikini, two bright sundresses, sandals, shorts, tops, a nightshirt. Then I snuck over to my bottom bureau drawer, removed a bottle labeled SUN-LITE, and buried it under my clothes. I was determined to come home with lightened hair. My hair is already blonde, but I wanted it Sun-Lite blonde. However, if Mom saw the bottle, I'd be dead.
I hid it just in time, because the next thing I knew I heard my mother's footsteps on the stairs.
"Honey?" Mom called.
"In my room," I replied. "I'm packing."
Mom came in and perched on the edge of my bed. She watched me toss things into the suitcase. "Do you have everything?" she asked.
"I think so. Mary Anne and I asked Mrs. Pike about clothes and stuff this afternoon. She said no one dresses up in Sea City. A sundress would be fine if we went out to dinner."
"Do you have something to do down there?"
"Something to do?! I've got eight kids to watch."
"I know, but I'm sure you'll have a little
time to yourself. Do you have a book or some needlepoint?"
I held up both Ч an Agatha Christie mystery, and this swan I'd been needlepointing for about five years.
Mom nodded. "What about stamps? Do you have stamps so you can write postcards?" She was looking more and more nervous.
"No. But I'm sure there's a post office in Sea City."
"I'll get you some stamps," Mom said suddenly. "Be right back." She dashed into her bedroom and I could hear her rummaging around in her desk. When she returned, she handed me a strip of postcard stamps.
"Thanks," I said. I tucked them into my purse.
Next Mom asked about toothpaste. But I knew what she really wanted to ask me. She wanted to know if I'd been responsible enough to get together everything I'd need for two weeks of insulin injections. Finally I gave in and showed her. I opened the special travel kit she'd bought for me.
"See?" I said. "Everything's there."
"What about Ч "
"The doctors' numbers are in my purse. Mrs. Pike wrote them down, too. And she
knows all about my diet. We talked about it today."
"Oh, Stacey/' said Mom suddenly. "I'm so worried. I'm going to worry for the next two weeks."
"You really don't have to," I told her. I sat next to her on the bed. "The Pikes have a phone, remember? You can call if you want. And Mrs. Pike would call you if anything did happen Ч not that it's going to," I added quickly. "And don't call a lot, okay? I don't want the Pike kids to think I'm a baby. Then they'd never listen to me."
Morn looked at me for the longest time. Finally she opened her arms. I leaned over and we hugged. Mom cried. I cried a little, too. It's awfully hard helping your parents grow up.