Claudia and the New Girl by Ann M. Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

Kristy.
    "I don't know. It has to do with that sculpture show."
    Kristy, mumbling and grumbling, began pawing around my bed, lifting up my pillow
    and comforter, and finally sliding off the bed headfirst and peering underneath it.
    "What are you doing?" asked Dawn.
    "Looking for Claudia's Bazooka bubblegum. I know she's got some stashed somewhere."
    Mary Anne entered my r6om then, followed by Stacey. "What are you doing?" she asked Kristy. (Everyone seemed to want to know.)
    "Looking for Claudia's bubblegum."
    "It's in her hollow book," said Stacey, pointing to the bookshelf. "Where's Claudia?"
    "Three guesses," replied Kristy, biting off the words angrily. She pulled the hollow book from my shelf. (It's my best, most clever hiding place ever.) Then she reached in, pulled out two pieces of gum (one for her, one for Mary Anne — Dawn and Stacey won't touch the stuff), and began chewing.
    "I only need one guess," said Stacey, "and it isn't a guess. It's a 'know.' She's with Ashley again."
    "Right."
    "Ha." Stacey flumped onto my bed. "Ashley was wearing bell-bottoms today. Everyone was talking about her."
    "She is so weird," said Mary Anne. "She doesn't talk to anyone but Claudia. I think she's stuck-up."
    Ring, ring.
    My friends were slower than usual in answering the phone. Stacey picked it up after three rings and arranged a job sitting for Jamie and Lucy Newton. Then Dawn's mother called needing a sitter for Jeff one evening.
    "How are things going with Jeff?" Mary Anne asked Dawn after she'd finished talking with Mrs. Schafer.
    Dawn shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Mom had a conference with his teacher and told her what's going on with Jeff at home. Then Ms. Besser told her what Jeff was doing in school. Like, not working, not bothering to raise his hand. All these nots. They've decided that they're just going to try being very firm with him and not letting him get away with a thing. And really praise him for the good stuff he does. That doesn't sound like much to me. I thought they were going to talk about bigger things, like whether Jeff should move back to California to be with Dad. But I guess you start with something small and hope it will do the trick."
    "Sure," said Mary Anne. "It's like giving a sick person a pill instead of going ahead and doing a whole huge operation."
    The girls had to laugh at Mary Anne's comparison. The idea of Jeff on an operating table
    having his bad humor removed was pretty funny.
    "But," Dawn went on thoughtfully a few moments later, "Mom and Dad have been talking a lot lately."
    "About Jeff?" asked Stacey.
    "Probably. The only reason I know is because I was in Mom's desk the other day looking for Scotch tape, and the phone bill was right on top of a pile of stuff. I didn't even have to snoop to see all the calls that have been made to Dad's number. It was a whole long list of them. All from the last few weeks, and most of them late at night. I guess they're talking at night because they don't want Jeff and me to know what they're discussing. Which means the subject must be Jeff. What else could be so important to both of them? They're sure not going to get remarried or anything."
    "What do you think they're saying?" asked Mary Anne in a small voice.
    Dawn shook her head. "I ... I don't know. ..."
    The phone rang and Dawn leapt for it, as if she were glad for the chance to avoid Mary Anne's question. "Hello, Baby-sitters Club," she said. "Yes? . . . Yes. . . . Okay. . . . Okay. . . . Until eleven? Well, I'll check and get back to you. . . . Right. . . . 'Bye."
    Mary Anne, always organized and ready, was waiting with the record book in her lap by the time Dawn hung up the phone. It was open to the appointment pages. "A night job?" she asked, her eyes shining. We all love babysitting late at night, even though sometimes we get scared.
    "Yup," replied Dawn.   "At the Papadak-
    ises'."
    "When?" asked Mary Anne.
    Dawn told her.
    "Well, let's see. Kristy, you're free, and so's Claudia," said Mary