supposed to be boxes full of toys, games, and activities for kids. (Kristy thought of the idea, and kids really do love them.) Mine, though, is filled with art supplies. It's more of an Art-Kit.
Slate Street was silent. This is unusual, because the Pikes live there. The neighbors must have been in shock.
Claire Pike, who's five, answered the door.
"Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" she squealed, jumping up and down.
"Come on in, Claudia!" Mallory Pike shouted from the den. Mal's the oldest Pike (eleven). She's the BSC member I mentioned. "We're having story time." Claire raced into the den ahead of me. She sat on the floor next to her triplet brothers, Adam, Jordan, and Byron Pike.
Yes, ten-year-old boy triplets. Yikes! Can you imagine? And that, of course, is just the beginning of the Pikes. The others are Vanessa (nine), Nicky (eight), Margo (seven), and Claire the Jumping Bean.
And they were all, all, staring quietly at Mal-lory and a hairy monster.
The hairy monster looked suspiciously like Ben Hobart, with a mask. (Ben is Mal's boyfriend, more or less.) "And so the horrible Oogly Oogly Beast searched high and low for his missing toothbrush," Mal read from a spiral notebook. "He had not brushed his teeth for days. ..." "Ewww," Byron Pike said. "Bad breath!" Behind Mal, Ben the Beast put his hands on his hips and tried to look angry.
Mal went on, and I listened. With her reddish-brown hair pulled back into a thick ponytail, and her big, round glasses, she looked older than eleven. Her story was about a monster who was obsessed with being clean. (Mal is a great writer, and she wants to be a children's author/illustrator someday.) I sat on the floor and started doodling. I tried to make some illustrations for Mallory's story, but they looked kind of stupid. So I watched.
"... So the Oogly Oogly Beast slooooowly approached the campers. Drool dripped from his mouth and onto his white fur. Then, bursting into the campsite, he shouted — " Mallory paused. Ben froze in an attack position.
"What? What?" Vanessa demanded.
Mallory's eyes widened threateningly. Then she said, " 'Uh, excuse me, does anybody have a Wash'n Dri?' " The kids cracked up.
Mallory grinned at Ben. I could hear him laughing behind his mask.
The two of them were very cute. And all of a sudden I had another reminder of why I was feeling rotten.
Boylessness.
Mary Anne had Logan. Mallory had Ben. Kristy (sort of) had this boy named Bart. Sta-cey, my ex-best friend, had a boyfriend named Robert.
Claudia? Zilch.
Not that I'm boy-crazed. It's no great tragedy not to have a boyfriend.
But, hey, it's no great honor either.
I've tried. I even placed an ad in the personals column in the Stoneybrook Middle School newspaper. I was running the column at the time, but that didn't help. The only people who answered my appeal for the "Perfect Boy" were Alan Gray (the class geek) and Stacey McGill. (Yes, Stacey. She was feeling sorry for me.) Sometimes I wish I were still working on the newspaper. At least I'd be meeting people.
"Waaaaahhhhh!" Ben was crying now.
"Poor, poor Oogly," Mallory said. "All those teeth and nothing to brush with . . ." Poor, poor Claudia, I thought.
"No bathtub, no towel . . ." No boyfriend, no best friend, no activities . . .
"So sad and lonely . . ." So sad and lonely.
Puh-leeze. Get a grip, Kishi.
I stood up and left the room. I tried to look nonchalant about it.
But boy, was I feeling sorry for myself.
By the time I reached the kitchen, I had made up my mind. I needed a change. I was going to do something new with my life. Something interesting. Fun. Different.
By the end of the day, I, Claudia Kishi, was going to turn my life around! Chapter 2.
I lied.
My life was exactly the same, right through to the next day, Wednesday.
But I'd been trying. After I left the Pikes, I mentioned my problem at home. Janine suggested taking computer programming. Dad brought up stamp collecting. Mom's response was, "Don't you have homework?" Big help.
So I sat down and
Slate Street was silent. This is unusual, because the Pikes live there. The neighbors must have been in shock.
Claire Pike, who's five, answered the door.
"Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" she squealed, jumping up and down.
"Come on in, Claudia!" Mallory Pike shouted from the den. Mal's the oldest Pike (eleven). She's the BSC member I mentioned. "We're having story time." Claire raced into the den ahead of me. She sat on the floor next to her triplet brothers, Adam, Jordan, and Byron Pike.
Yes, ten-year-old boy triplets. Yikes! Can you imagine? And that, of course, is just the beginning of the Pikes. The others are Vanessa (nine), Nicky (eight), Margo (seven), and Claire the Jumping Bean.
And they were all, all, staring quietly at Mal-lory and a hairy monster.
The hairy monster looked suspiciously like Ben Hobart, with a mask. (Ben is Mal's boyfriend, more or less.) "And so the horrible Oogly Oogly Beast searched high and low for his missing toothbrush," Mal read from a spiral notebook. "He had not brushed his teeth for days. ..." "Ewww," Byron Pike said. "Bad breath!" Behind Mal, Ben the Beast put his hands on his hips and tried to look angry.
Mal went on, and I listened. With her reddish-brown hair pulled back into a thick ponytail, and her big, round glasses, she looked older than eleven. Her story was about a monster who was obsessed with being clean. (Mal is a great writer, and she wants to be a children's author/illustrator someday.) I sat on the floor and started doodling. I tried to make some illustrations for Mallory's story, but they looked kind of stupid. So I watched.
"... So the Oogly Oogly Beast slooooowly approached the campers. Drool dripped from his mouth and onto his white fur. Then, bursting into the campsite, he shouted — " Mallory paused. Ben froze in an attack position.
"What? What?" Vanessa demanded.
Mallory's eyes widened threateningly. Then she said, " 'Uh, excuse me, does anybody have a Wash'n Dri?' " The kids cracked up.
Mallory grinned at Ben. I could hear him laughing behind his mask.
The two of them were very cute. And all of a sudden I had another reminder of why I was feeling rotten.
Boylessness.
Mary Anne had Logan. Mallory had Ben. Kristy (sort of) had this boy named Bart. Sta-cey, my ex-best friend, had a boyfriend named Robert.
Claudia? Zilch.
Not that I'm boy-crazed. It's no great tragedy not to have a boyfriend.
But, hey, it's no great honor either.
I've tried. I even placed an ad in the personals column in the Stoneybrook Middle School newspaper. I was running the column at the time, but that didn't help. The only people who answered my appeal for the "Perfect Boy" were Alan Gray (the class geek) and Stacey McGill. (Yes, Stacey. She was feeling sorry for me.) Sometimes I wish I were still working on the newspaper. At least I'd be meeting people.
"Waaaaahhhhh!" Ben was crying now.
"Poor, poor Oogly," Mallory said. "All those teeth and nothing to brush with . . ." Poor, poor Claudia, I thought.
"No bathtub, no towel . . ." No boyfriend, no best friend, no activities . . .
"So sad and lonely . . ." So sad and lonely.
Puh-leeze. Get a grip, Kishi.
I stood up and left the room. I tried to look nonchalant about it.
But boy, was I feeling sorry for myself.
By the time I reached the kitchen, I had made up my mind. I needed a change. I was going to do something new with my life. Something interesting. Fun. Different.
By the end of the day, I, Claudia Kishi, was going to turn my life around! Chapter 2.
I lied.
My life was exactly the same, right through to the next day, Wednesday.
But I'd been trying. After I left the Pikes, I mentioned my problem at home. Janine suggested taking computer programming. Dad brought up stamp collecting. Mom's response was, "Don't you have homework?" Big help.
So I sat down and
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