Chapter 8.
After spending the afternoon baby-sitting for the two older Kormans, Dr. Kristy still couldn't come up with a diagnosis for their problems. She said that after only two hours, she felt as if she'd been there for two days. Even Mrs. Korman seemed to be discouraged.
"No matter what Bill tells you, he is still grounded," Mrs. Korman said to Kristy as she bundled Skylar into a jacket and prepared to leave.
It had been almost a week since the pushing incident. Kristy was surprised that Bill was still grounded. Her surprise must have shown on her face, because Mrs. Korman went on to explain, "Last Saturday was the worst incident, but he seems to be unable to say one positive word to his sister." "Sometimes he has to stay in his room the whole evening," Melody said.
"Skylar and I will be gone for an hour or so," Mrs. Korman said, opening the door to the garage. "You have my cellular phone number if you need anything." " 'Bye, Skylar. 'Bye, Mom." Melody gave each of them a kiss.
Kristy looked up the stairs as the door closed. "Maybe I should say hi to Bill." Melody shrugged. "He's not going to say anything to you. And if he does, it will be mean." After listening to the reports about Bill's behavior from Mrs. Korman and Melody, Kristy wished she didn't have to go upstairs, but she knew she should at least tell Bill she was there if he needed anything.
Melody followed her up the stairs but hung back when Kristy knocked on Bill's door.
"What do you want?" he asked, flinging open the door.
"Hi to you too, Bill," Kristy said.
"Hi, Kristy," he answered in a slightly nicer tone. "The brat isn't with you, is she?" "If you're talking about Melody, no. But we did want to know if you wanted to come downstairs and play Yahtzee. In fact, I challenge you. I need to make up for the last time you beat me." "Yahtzee? You and me?" Bill asked, his frown disappearing.
"And Melody," Kristy added.
Bill's expression grew sullen again. "If I have to play with her, then can David Michael and Karen come over?" "You're grounded," Kristy reminded him.
"But that only means I can't go anyplace." "I don't think so. Your mother said you were grounded, and she didn't say you could have friends over." Bill's eyebrows formed a single line above his eyes.
"Then may I invite David Michael and Karen over?" Melody asked from behind Kristy.
"David Michael and Karen won't want to come over if they have to be in the same room with doggy breath," Bill said. He started to close his door, but Kristy moved her foot so he couldn't.
"They will too. They like me as much as they like you," Melody cried, tears welling in her eyes.
"Call them and see," Bill said.
"No one is calling David Michael or Karen or anyone else to invite them over here. You're grounded, Bill," Kristy said firmly. "Melody is trying to be nice and figure out a way to go around the rules, but it isn't going to work." "If David Michael was here, we could play in my room, and Karen and bug eyes could play in her room. I wouldn't be talking to her at all," Bill pointed out. "In fact, I promise not to say one bad thing if David Michael comes over." Kristy shook her head. "That's not the way it works. You show me you can be decent to Melody, then you'll be able to have friends over again. You can start right now by telling her you're sorry for the things you've said just now." Bill stuck out his tongue at his sister. "You 80 ruin everything," he yelled, and closed his door.
Kristy removed her foot just in time to avoid having it crushed by the door.
"I don't ruin everything," Melody said.
"You shouldn't take anything he said seriously." Kristy put her arm around Melody.
"But Bill has had to stay home for almost a week now." "That's a long time isn't it? Sometimes words hurt as much as pushing. But the words 'I'm sorry' can ease a lot of pain." Kristy raised her voice to make sure Bill heard what she was saying.
"I'm not going to apologize to her, so you can save your breath," Bill yelled through the door.
Kristy sighed. She needed to talk to the BSC members about this one. Maybe seven minds would be better than one. "Come on, Melody. You want to play Yahtzee?" Chapter 9.
First Bill tried to talk me into letting Karen and David Michael come over to play even though he was grounded, then he said terrible things to Melody, then he refused to apologize." As soon as she called the meeting to order, Kristy had asked the rest of us what we thought was going on at the Kormans'.
"It sounds like a replay of what happened on Saturday. Although, that was physical. Bill pushed Melody and could have hurt her that day," Abby said.
"This was just words, but that can still be painful," Kristy reminded her.
At Kristy's comment, Mal looked up, then back down quickly. Words certainly could hurt, and Mal knew it.
"I'm supposed to baby-sit for Bill, Melody, and Skylar on Sunday afternoon," Mary Anne put in.
"Maybe what they need is something that forces them to work together," Jessi suggested.
The rest of us nodded in agreement. But what? I wondered.
"We have until Sunday to come up with something. We'll all work on it and call you if we have any suggestions," Stacey said to Mary Anne.
"Great," she replied, sounding relieved.
I looked around at my friends, then cleared my throat. "How would you guys like to come to a party?" I asked.
"A party? Where?" asked Stacey.
"For what?" asked Jessi.
"What kind of party?" said Abby.
"Who'll be there?" Mal wanted to know. Everyone but her had sat up a little straighter and looked a little brighter when I asked the question.
"Right here, Saturday night, starting at seven and lasting until nine-thirty or so. Remember when I was trying to think of a way that you guys could get to know my seventh-grade friends a little better? That's what it's for." "Sounds like fun," said Stacey.
"I've already talked to Shira, Joanna, and Jeannie. And Josh," I added. "They've all said they'll be here. I was waiting for the meeting to invite you guys. Do you think you'll be able to come?" "Logan and I were planning to watch a video on Saturday night at my house," said Mary Anne. "Could he come too? I mean, you don't want Josh to be the only boy." "That's a good idea. Do you want to call him or should I?" "I'll talk to him tonight," said Mary Anne.
"Have you told Shannon about the party?" asked Kristy.
"I'll call her." I picked up the list I'd been working on ever since Janine had said yes, and I added call Shannon after rent a video and order pizza.
"What about Anna?" Abby asked.
"Sure. Ask her," I said. "I'm leaving the asking up to you guys." This would bring the total number of people to what? Ten or eleven? That was still a small group.
At six, everyone except Mary Anne and Stacey left. "Your parents agreed to let you have a party when they're out of town?" Stacey asked.
"They didn't say I couldn't, and Janine said it was okay," I replied.
"Janine said what was okay?" My sister stuck her head inside the doorway.
"That I could have a party tomorrow night," I said.
"I thought it sounded like fun." Janine stepped inside the room and sat down in the director's chair. "Don't you guys?" Mary Anne and Stacey nodded.
"I'm thinking about the food. What do you like to eat? I know Claudia will say chocolate, but what about everybody else?" Janine asked.
"I thought we'd have pizza," I reminded her.
"We can have pizza too, but what about dessert?" Janine said.
"You seem to have things pretty much under control," Stacey said, slipping her arms into her denim jacket and grabbing her backpack.
Mary Anne stood up too.
"But I could use help planning games. I wouldn't usually have games, but since the whole idea is for people to get acquainted, I thought games would be a way to break the ice," I said. I didn't want Stacey and Mary Anne to leave. They kept glancing at Janine, as if waiting for her to leave first. But Janine seemed to be glued to the chair.
"Games?" she mused. "I could develop a trivia game, perhaps. Something challenging but not too challenging." "I think I may have enough games after all," I said quickly.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Stacey said to me. "Casual?" "Definitely." "And I'll invite Logan," said Mary Anne.
"Thanks. See you later." As Mary Anne and Stacey walked out of the room, the telephone rang. Janine and I reached for it at the same time, but she pulled back.
"Hi, Claudia. It's Peaches," my aunt said. "How are things going?" "Good." "Are you eating dinner?" "Not yet. The BSC meeting just ended." "BSC meeting? Even with your parents gone? Oh, well. I'm sure they thought of that before they left. Janine was home, wasn't she?" "Yes, Janine was home." I looked at my sister and rolled my eyes. What had happened to my fun-loving aunt Peaches?
"Russ and I thought the two of you might like to join us tomorrow evening for dinner," Peaches continued.
"Dinner? Tomorrow? Saturday?" I stammered. "Urn..." "Claudia, ask Janine how she feels about coming over," Peaches said.
"It sounds like fun, but," I paused, "Janine and I were planning something . . . special. A sister thing." Janine's head snapped up and she smiled at me, nodding and giving me a thumbs-up.
"You and Janine? A special sister thing?" I could hear the disbelief in her voice. Peaches and Mom are as different as Janine and I are.
"That's right. Me and Janine." "That will be nice," said Peaches, sounding doubtful. "Have a good time. And be sure to..." "... call if we need anything," I said, finishing her sentence for her.
"All right. 'Bye." I hung up the phone. "That was Peaches," I told Janine. "She wanted us to come over tomorrow night. I didn't think she needed to know about the party." "I think you're correct. And the special sister thing sounded nice." Janine's eyes gleamed. "I'm feeling very excited about both your party and the special sister thing. What did you have in mind? Perhaps a sister slumber party?" "Maybe," I said, not wanting to commit myself yet. "But Janine, let's concentrate on the party." "Yes, first things first." She sailed out of the room.
I decided not to worry about what she might expect on the sister front. I had a party to plan. I needed to come up with some games. I wanted people to talk to one another, get acquainted. I could see how easy it would be for Josh, Shira, Joanna, and Jeannie to end up on one side of the room and the BSC members on the other - like boys and girls at sixth-grade dances. So how could I make sure everyone mixed?
I had some stickers in my desk. What if everyone received a sticker when he or she arrived and had to match it to a group of others? I found hearts, a page of animal stickers, and some stars. Three groups would be enough. All the hearts could be one team, the animals the second, and the stars the third. But what would each team do? If Janine really wanted to make some special food, she could create a giant cookie for each team to decorate.
Also, I could make up a list of facts about everybody at the party and people could try to match each fact to a person. That would be a start.
I started writing down facts: I talk in my sleep. (Mal) I live in a haunted house. (Mary Anne) Carolyn Keene is my favorite author. (Me) I love those Mets. (Logan) This could be addictive, I thought as I wrote faster. By the time I finished, I had enough facts to keep everyone talking for days.
At dinner, Janine agreed to be in charge of the giant cookies. She suggested that we use some of the grocery money to buy decorations. She also said she'd type the facts (without the answers) on her computer and make copies for everyone the next day.
By the time I finally turned off my light and crawled into bed, I was so tired I thought I'd fall asleep immediately. But I couldn't. I was too excited. I looked at my clock. Only nineteen or so more hours until party time.
Chapter 10.
"Claudia! You're not dressed yet." Janine came into my room wearing a pleated skirt, loafers, and a sweater. She moved toward the bed, then changed direction and lifted a pile of clothes off my desk chair, tossing them onto the bed.
"I'm still deciding," I said. "But at least I'm changing clothes." "I changed," Janine replied, sounding hurt.
It was hard to tell with Janine. She had plenty of clothes, but most of them looked the same to me. Maybe she'd had on a navy skirt earlier and changed to black for this evening. Her sweater had a little bit of red trim and the one she had on earlier in the day had been a solid color. It wasn't a big change. On the other hand, I'd taken out several outfits, tried them on, and decided they weren't quite right for a hostess. I wished I had more time. I could have put together something special. All I had time to do now was choose from what was in the closet. .. and in the dresser ... and on the bed ... plus the few things on the floor.
"Our guests will be arriving in a short while," Janine informed me, looking at her watch.
Our guests? "Janine, did you invite any of your friends to stop by?" I asked, thinking maybe I'd missed something.
"Of course not. This is a party for your friends, so that they may become better acquainted with one another. It will also give me an opportunity to get to know them better," she said. She picked up a red mohair sweater and laid it alongside a pair of black jeans. "Look, I have on red and black too. If you wear this, they could be the official hostess colors." "But I'm the official hostess," I told her.
