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39dd9f1
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What does RV stand for, anyway?" Mary Anne asked. "Ridiculous Vehicle," Watson said,"
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Ann M. Martin |
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be645a1
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Mallory's hand shot up. "As long as we're talking about Friday, Jessi told me to tell you that her new ballet class meets Fridays at 5:15." "Every Friday?" I asked. "Is that the only class she can take?" Mallory nodded. "It's level three, only one class per week. Jesse begged Mme Noelle to change the time. A few other kids didn't like it, either." "We could have our meetings at the dance studio," Abby suggested. "And feed the ballerinas jun..
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Ann M. Martin |
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e536de3
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The two-year-olds were standing over a pile of dirty forks and spoons, laughing hysterically. "They're okay," Claudia said. "No thanks to you," Mary Anne commented under her breath. "If you're so concerned, why don't you teach Marnie and Ryan to play Parchessi?" Claudia said, marching out of the room. "They're already making a silverware sculpture!" Mary Anne retorted. (Boy, was Mary Anne furious. She never talks like that)."
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Ann M. Martin |
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3770c02
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The whole club has been Abbified. Everyone had grown lazy while I was gone. Or maybe they weren't lazy. Maybe I was being too stubborn. (Hard to imagine, I know.) Sometimes you have to give a little to keep people happy.
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Ann M. Martin |
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0adb018
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Mary Anne took a deep breath, then she let Claudia have it, screamed at her, threw the easel to the floor and dumped plaster of paris on her head. Actually, that was what I would've done, but not Mary Anne.
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Ann M. Martin |
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fa525e0
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Don't let her sit near me," Mary Anne whispered. "Can't you guys just kiss and make up?" I asked. "Ask Claudia. She's the one who decided not to talk to me." "Well, you weren't exactly Miss Congealiality yourself." "Gene. Congeniality." "Whatever."
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Ann M. Martin |
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81bce4c
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Our clients depend on us," I shot back. "That's why they keep calling back. Our motto was, one call, seven sitters, remember? Not one call, four or five sitters who bothered to show up and a couple of others out shopping."
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Ann M. Martin |
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1d743bc
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All this BSC pressure was getting to me. I was forgetting how to be a good sitter. Or maybe I had never been one to begin with. Maybe that's why the club was falling apart. Maybe I needed to back off baby-sitting for a while. As I walked home, I felt about two inches tall.
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Ann M. Martin |
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711bf44
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Uh, excuse me, Kristy," Claudia said. "We know you're mad at yourself for messing up at the Rodowskys, but don't take it out on us." "This has nothing to do with the Rodowskys!" I shouted. "This has to do with all of you. What are we here for, guys? To sit around, do homework and talk about all our great activities?" "Souds like fud to be," Abby remarked. "Lots of fud, Abby," I said. "So who needs the meeting times and rules and stuff? Why ..
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Ann M. Martin |
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1916d7e
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Part of me had hoped my BSC friends had planned this whole thing as a huge April Fool's joke seven months early. We'd all have a big laugh and go back to the way we were, loyal and full of group spirit. But here's the other side: even though my mind was a mess, my body felt the strangest sense of calmness, as if I'd just taken a swim on a Hawaiian beach. I felt free. Free and peaceful.
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Ann M. Martin |
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2616c1b
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Stacey?" Kristy said. "You have a Chunky wrapper on your butt."
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Ann M. Martin |
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87917dd
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Well, what do you think about my idea?" Four open-mouthed stares answered me. My friends had become the Great American Gapers Association. GAGA." --
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Ann M. Martin |
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1f9634b
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What was going on here? Had the Baby-Sitters Club suddenly dropped to bottom priority? I wanted to jump up and scream at them.
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Ann M. Martin |
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0fc1835
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I knew when we changed our schedule, something like this would happen." Stacey rolled her eyes. "Kristy, one thing has nothing to do with the other." "Remember when Monday, Wednesday and Friday used to be untouchable?" I asked. "We set up our appointmnets and stuff around meeting times. Gladly. Because we knew we had to. That was why I didn't want to change Fridays. Once you do something like that, you're saying the club isn't that importan..
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Ann M. Martin |
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7a06c6c
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I pushed my chair back and stood up. "Look, I invented the Baby-Sitters Club. The whole idea was to work together, human-to-human contact, over the phone and in meetings. If you don't have that, you don't have a club. Period." "Kristy....," Mary Anne pleaded. But I'd heard enough. I picked up my tray and walked away. I had completely lost my appetite."
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Ann M. Martin |
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ab7eac8
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Jackie Rodowsky's private BSC nickname is the Walking Disaster. Abby says he has the Sadim touch. Sadim is Midas backward. Everything he touches turns into an accident.
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Ann M. Martin |
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87f26d7
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I was Jackie's sitter and I was responsible for him. Sure I warned him. Sure he was being obnoxious. But the bottom line was he was injured and I was not supposed to let that happen.
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Ann M. Martin |
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fe54c49
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I felt like a fool. A rotten sitter. Kristy the Careless. Everyone in town was going to see Jackie with his cane. Of course they would ask what happened and they'd find out the truth. He'd been left unsupervised by his sitter in his own backyard. If there were such things as sitting licenses, mine would be revoked.
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Ann M. Martin |
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75be2cf
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I said, who left the peanut butter open on the counter?" Now his voice was much louder. The boys didn't answer. I saw them draw closer together. I was so surprised that I couldn't say a word. "I'm going to ask one more time," said Mr. Nicholls, and then he began to shout. "WHO LEFT THE...." "I did," I said quickly. "It was me. I'm sorry. I was making us a snack when the doorbell rang and..."
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Ann M. Martin |
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0d93f50
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Something wasn't right in the Nicholls household, but what could I do about it? I hated to see two kids so unhappy, but if Mr. Nicholls had his rules, who was I to question them? It was his house. Joey and Nate were his sons.
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Ann M. Martin |
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9b71b11
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How did people deal with a situation like this? Maybe they'd make Mr. Nicholls promise never to do it again. Maybe he'd have to go to counseling. In any case, I knew things would start to change for the better as soon as Mom and Mrs. Nicholls talked.
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Ann M. Martin |
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3931e3a
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Dear Reader: In Stacey and the Bad Girls, Stacey and her friends get into big trouble when they go to a concert. I never went to a concert when I was Stacey's age. Instead, I went to my first concert when I was a junior in high school -- almost seventeen years old. I went to hear a local group called Bop Shoo Bop that played 1950s doo-wop music. This was the early 1970s, when the TV show Happy Days was popular. My friend Beth was old enough..
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Ann M. Martin |
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bdefa29
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Luv, Stace
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Ann M. Martin |
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28ff082
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Dawn has two holes pierced in each ear. (Mary Anne and I will never get our ears pierced.) The
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Ann M. Martin |
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58c137f
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There's more good news," Kristy said. "I hate to say this, but I'm afraid we're going to have to cancel the winter carnival."
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Ann M. Martin |
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189a47f
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I think Mallory Pike may secretly like being one of our younger members. That's because in real life she's the oldest of -- get ready -- eight kids. Can you imagine? Her brothers and sisters are Vanessa, Margo, Nicky, the triplets (Adam, Jordan, and Byron), and Claire. No wonder Mal's favorite pastimes are writing and drawing. They're things she can do alone. Mal's dream in life, by the way, is to be a children's book author and illustrator..
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Ann M. Martin |
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b43e9d3
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So wear a leotard or something," I suggested. "Do you think anyone would believe I sleep in my clothes?" she asked. "Probably not." Mary Anne sighed as she swept the pajamas off her bed and tossed them onto her desk. She threw herself down on her bed. "Well, I'm going to sleep in my clothing starting tonight and then it will be true," she said, folding her arms stubbornly. "Don't worry about it so much, Mary Anne," I said. "You'll figure so..
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Ann M. Martin |
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2cea90d
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Don't you see? The BITs aren't working out, either. They're just not ready, which isn't fair to us or our clients. And we're starting to resent the BITs, which isn't fair to them. You have to look at the whole picture. Firing them is the best decision for everybody. Just like your moving to California was the best decision. I mean, sure Jeff will be disappointed when you tell him.
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Ann M. Martin |
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1caa7f8
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and my earlobes have not been stabbed (er, pierced).
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Ann M. Martin |
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f82fa5f
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Taylor beamed at Suzi. "Hey! You're my sister!" "Mine,"
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Ann M. Martin |
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8b9a2f6
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We are going to meet Megan Rinehart tomorrow. It's worth all this work." When"
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Ann M. Martin |
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29ed28a
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Oh, I just hate you," she cried. "You're going to have so much fun without me." --
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Ann M. Martin |
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bac5653
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loops
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Ann M. Martin |