Kristy's Great Idea: Classic Edition (The Baby-Sitters Club #1)
Mom calls it impulsive Sometimes she calls it trouble But she doesn't just mean trouble She means trouble And I was in trouble then I could sense it I've been in enough trouble to know when it's coming Mr. Redmont cleared his throat He was trying to think of a way to punish me without humiliating me in front of the other kids Things like that are important to him Kristy Mr. Redmont began and then he changed his mind and started over Class he said you have your homework assignments You may go Kristy I'd like to see you for a minute While the rest of the kids gathered up their books and papers and left the room talking and giggling I made my way up to Mr. Redmont's desk Before he could say a word I began apologizing to him Sometimes that helps Mr. Redmont I said I'm really sorry I didn't mean anything I mean I didn't mean I was glad school was over I meant I was glad I could go home Because my house is air conditioned Mr. Redmont nodded But do you think Kristy that it would be possible in the future for you to conduct yourself with a bit more decorum I wasn't sure of the exact meaning of decorum but I had a pretty good idea it meant not spoiling Mr. Redmont's day by jumping up and shouting hooray when the bell rang Yes sir I said Sometimes being polite also helps Good said Mr. Redmont But I want you to remember this incident and the best way for us to remember things is to write them down So tonight I would like you to write a one hundred word essay on the importance of decorum in the classroom Darn I'd have to find out what decorum meant after all Yes sir I said again I went back to my desk gathered up my books very slowly and then walked very slowly out of the classroom I hoped Mr. Redmont
was noticing the slowness because I was betting it was an important part of decorum I found Mary Anne Spier waiting for me outside the door to my classroom She was leaning against the wall biting her nails Mary Anne is my best friend We live next door to each other We even look a little alike We're both small for our age and we both have brown hair that falls past our shoulders But that's where the similarity ends because I can't keep my mouth shut and Mary Anne is very quiet and very shy Luckily that's only on the outside The people who know her well like Claudia and Stacey and me get to see the inside of her and the Mary Anne who's hiding in there is a lot of fun Hey I greeted her I pulled her hand out of her mouth and looked at her nails Mary Anne How do you ever expect to be able to wear nail polish if you keep doing that Oh come on she said with a sigh Nail polish I'll be seventy-five seventy-five before my father lets me wear it Mary Anne's father is the only family she's got Her mother is dead and she has no brothers or sisters Unfortunately her father is pretty strict My mother says it's just because Mr. Spier is nervous since Mary Anne is all he's got You'd think though that he could let her wear her hair down instead of always in braids or give her permission to ride her bike to the mall with Claudia and me once in a while But no At Mr. Spier's house it's rules rules rules It's a miracle that Mary Anne was even allowed to become a member of the Baby sitters Club We walked out of school and suddenly I began running I forgot all about decorum because I'd just remembered something else Oh my gosh I cried Mary Anne raced after me What is it she panted It's Tuesday I called over my shoulder So Slow down Kristy It's too hot to run I can't slow down Tuesday is my afternoon to watch David Michael I'm supposed to beat him home Otherwise he gets home first and has to watch himself
David Michael is my six year old brother My big brothers Charlie and Sam and I are each responsible for him one afternoon a week until Mom gets home from work Kathy this fifteen year old girl who lives a few blocks from us watches him the other two afternoons Kathy gets paid to watch him Charlie and Sam and I don't Mary Anne and I ran all the way home We reached my front yard sweaty and out of breath And there was David Michael sitting forlornly on the front steps his dark curls falling limply across his forehead He burst into tears as soon as he saw us What's wrong I asked I sat down beside him and put my arm around his shoulders I'm locked out he wailed What happened to your key David Michael shook his head I don't know He wiped his eyes hiccuping Well I said it's all right I got my own key out of my purse David Michael burst into fresh tears No it's not It's not all right I couldn't get in and I have to go to the bathroom I unlocked the door When David Michael gets like this it's best just to sort of ignore his tears and pretend everything is fine Mary Anne and I held the door open for him and I ushered him into the bathroom Our collie Louie tore outside as we went in He was frantic to get outdoors after being locked in the house since breakfast time While you go to the bathroom I told David Michael I'm going to fix us some lemonade okay David Michael actually smiled Okay I'm good with children So is Mary Anne Mom says so Both of us get lots of afternoon and weekend baby sitting jobs In fact I'd been
offered a job for that afternoon but I had to turn it down because of David Michael That reminded me Hey I said to Mary Anne as I turned on the air conditioning Mrs. Newton asked me to baby sit for Jamie this afternoon Didn't she call you after she called me Mary Anne sat down at the kitchen table and watched me put lemonade mix in a big glass pitcher She shook her head No. Maybe she called Claudia Claudia Kishi lives across the street from me She and Mary Anne and I have lived on Bradford Court since we were born We've grown up together but somehow Claudia has never spent as much time with us as Mary Anne and I have spent with each other For one thing Claudia's really into art and always off at art classes or else holed up in her room painting or drawing Or reading mysteries That's her other passion She's much more grown up than Mary Anne and I When we were little Mary Anne and I were always playing school or dolls or dress up but we practically had to brainwash Claudia to get her to join us A lot of the time we just didn't bother but Claud's always been good for a bike ride or going to the movies or the community pool As far as I'm concerned one of the best things about Claudia is that her father isn't Mr. Spier Mr. Kishi can be strict about Claudia's schoolwork but he doesn't faint if you suggest going downtown for a Coke or something Over the summer it had started to feel like Claudia was drifting apart from Mary Anne and me Even though we were all going into seventh grade Claudia suddenly seemed older She started caring about boys and had spent more time than usual adding to her wardrobe and talking on the phone We'd all made up at the end of the summer but it still felt like we were going in different directions sometimes David Michael came into the kitchen looking much cheerier Here you go I said I handed him a glass of lemonade as he sat next to Mary Anne Charlie came in then tossing a football around Sam got home a few minutes later with Louie skidding along behind him Charlie is
