"BSC050 - Dawn's Big Date - Martin, Ann M" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Ann M)

"I agree," said Mal. "Ben Hobart has great eyes. He also has an adorable nose. I love his
nose." Mal has a super crush on Ben.
The one person not talking was me. I didn't have anything to add to the conversation. It's not that I wasn't interested in boys. I noticed the cute, nice ones. But so far, no boy had really made me go crazy. (I take" that back. Travis had, but he had turned out to be a big dud, as I explained earlier.) I was obviously doing something wrong.
As I listened, I was faintly aware of a strange sound. I stopped paying attention to the conversation and started concentrating on the sound. It was a scuffling noise. Were there squirrels or mice in the attic above us? No. The sound was coming from the bedroom wall. There was more scuffling and then Ч a
"What's the matter?" asked Kristy, noticing my expression.
Sliding off the bed, I put my finger to my lips. Everyone grew quiet as I crossed the room to the wall with the fancy molding. I reached up and pressed the cornef of the molding. The wall swung open.
There, in the entrance to the secret passage, stood Jeff, Adam, Byron, and Jordan. They were wearing their jackets, since they'd had to go out to the barn to enter the passage. "Arthur Feingold is so cute!" Jeff teased.
"Just adorable!" added Jordan, running into the room.
"You little pests!" cried Mal. She jumped up and threw a pillow, hitting Adam.
The boys laughed. Jeff bounced on my bed. "Claudia and Arthur sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" he sang.
"Oh, I just love Ben Hobart's nose!" Adam taunted his sister.
"Out! Out!" I insisted, grabbing hold of Jeff. "You four little snoops, get out of here!"
At the same time, all the girls picked up pillows and drove the boys from the room. They ran, still laughing and teasing, into the hallway and down the stairs.
"Anybody hungry?" asked Mary Anne. Of course, the answer was a rousing yes. We went down to the kitchen and began heating up the food we'd prepared. I had to admit that Mary Anne's little pizzas smelled good as they heated up.
Mr. Ramsey had left by then. Mom and Richard helped us with the hot food. We'd already set out snacks of popcorn and pretzels, soda and sparkling cider. We'd been given permission to eat in front of the TV. We turned it on and watched what was happening in Times Square, in New York City. There were crowds of people blowing horns and cheering.
Different rock bands played on an outdoor stage. "Boy, I miss the city at times like this," said Stacey, as she munched on a pretzel.
(By the way, Mary Anne and I tied in our food contest. Here's the score: Pizzas were a big hit; pigs-in-a-blanket were eaten by only half the group. Maybe because some of them burned slightly. My peanut butter logs were gobbled up instantly. But my soybean pie was only half gone. I thought it tasted like pumpkin pie. I guess not everyone likes pumpkin pie, though.)
Finally it was midnight. Mom and Richard came downstairs. Jeff and the triplets ran up from the basement, where they'd been playing. Mom poured everyone some sparkling cider. We toasted and yelled "Happy New Year!" as the silver ball on the TV screen came down at midnight.
"Come on, you kids, bedtime," Mom said to Jeff and the triplets. Surprisingly, no one argued. The boys put down their horns and blowers right away. I noticed they looked very sleepy as they followed Mom and Richard upstairs.
"Now what should we do?" asked Kristy.
"I have an idea," said Claudia. "Let's each call a boy and wish him Happy New Year! I'm calling Arthur."
"You wouldn't!" cried Kristy, aghast. "Sure," said Claudia boldly. "I think he likes
me."
Stacey's big blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Do you think I should call Pete Black?"
"Yes," said Mary Anne. "You should give him another chance. But don't stay on long, because I want to call Logan."
Kristy looked at me and Mary Anne. "Would it be totally weird if I called Bart?" she asked.
"The Bart-Man? Of course not! I think he'd be flattered," said Mary Anne. Kristy and Bart Taylor like each other, but they were at that early, not-completely-definite-yet stage.
"Sure, call him. Why not?" said Claudia, swept up in the excitement.
"Why don't you call Lewis?" Mary Anne suggested, turning to me.
I shook my head. "I'd feel too dumb. I've never even met him. I'm going to start cleaning up the kitchen."
Jessi and Mal volunteered to help. I guess they felt funny about calling Quint or Ben. As the three of us worked, I tried to chat cheerfully. But that wasn't really how I felt. I was mortified! It was okay for Mal and Jessi to feel shy about calling a boy. They were only eleven.
From the living room, I could hear the phone conversations. Silence, then squeals of laughter between each call.
"No fair! No fair!" I heard Stacey protest. "You can't just yell 'Happy New Year, Bart-Man!' and hang up." Okay, so Kristy hadn't made the most romantic phone call. At least she could think of someone to call. I couldn't.
We spent the next hour talking and listening to music. It was almost one-thirty before we settled down. Everyone was just beginning to get drowsy when Kristy sat up in her sleeping bag. "Hey, we forgot to make New Year's resolutions," she said.
"What's yours?" Mary Anne asked her, leaning up on one elbow.
"Hmmmmmm." Kristy thought. "I resolve to make Kristy's Krushers the winning team this year. I was too easy on those kids last year. How about you, Mary Anne?"
"I'm going to try to be less shy. Sometimes it's hard on Logan when I'm too shy to go to parties or go out with kids I don't really know."
"Has he been complaining?" asked Kristy.
"No," said Mary Anne. "But remember when he went on those few dates with Cokie while we were split up? I think he enjoyed the fact that she was so outgoing. And I want him to be happy."
"Ah, true love," said Kristy. "Claudia, you're next."
"I'm sleeping," said Claudia.
"No, you're not," scolded Stacey. "Come on."
"Okay," said Claudia reluctantly. "I suppose I should resolve to do better in school. Your turn, Mal."
"I resolve to stop worrrying about how I look in my braces. Might as well just grin and bear it, since I'm going to have them for awhile. Now you, Jessi."
"I resolve to do a ballotte," she said.
"What's that?" asked Stacey.
"It's an advanced ballet jump. Madame Noelle says it's too difficult, and that I should wait. But I want to, and I'm going to show her I can do it."
"Wow," said Stacey admiringly. "My resolution is to ... um . . . stop wishing I could eat the foods I can't have. I just drive myself crazy that way. Now you, Dawn."
The truth was, I had silently come up with a resolution. But for some reason, I didn't want to tell anyone. "I resolve to do something more interesting with my hair," I said quickly.
"Don't you dare! Your hair is gorgeous," Claudia said, half yawning.