"What?" asked Dawn. "No way. She must be up for some academic prize, and she's trying to impress her teacher."

"Maybe she has a boyfriend," said Mallory.

I looked at Mallory and snorted. Stacey laughed, too. The idea of Janine in love was pretty ridiculous.

We talked about my sister until Kristy interrupted us to bring the meeting to order. Then we talked about her some more, between phone calls. But we could not figure out what was making Janine act so weird. And the mystery was beginning to drive me crazy.

Chapter 7.

Stacey had tried to interest the boys in some kind of activity; a walk, a trip to the playground, an art project. But they vetoed every idea she came up with.

"It's been a long week," said Derek, sighing, "Now that it's over, I just want to relax."

Stacey couldn't -help giggling. Derek sounded like some forty-five-year-old guy with a job and a mortgage on his home.

"What?" he said, when he noticed her laughing.

"Nothing. But I would think school would be a breeze after the way you work when you're in L.A."

"School, a breeze?" asked Derek, raising his eyebrows. "Not for me! I mean, I like it okay and all, but boy, these Stoneybrook teachers give a lot of homework."

"Hmm. Well, do you have any this weekend?" Stacey asked. "Maybe I could help you with it."

"Uh, no," said Derek quickly. "That's okay. Really."

Stacey frowned. She noticed that Derek and Todd kept exchanging glances, whenever they thought she wasn't looking. She decided to ignore their mysterious behavior and just hope it would stop soon.

"So, how about if I fix us a snack, you guys?" she asked. She was pretty sure they wouldn't turn down food.

"Sure!" said Todd. "Can I have a Popsicle?"

"He won't eat anything but Popsicles anymore," said Derek. "Really! That's practically all he eats."

Stacey looked at Todd. He seemed healthy enough. "Well, if that's what you want, that's what you'll have," she said to him. "How about you, Derek?"

"Maybe a bowl of cereal. But I can get it myself."

Stacey led the boys into the kitchen. "What flavor do you want?" she asked Todd.

"Blue!" he answered.

Stacey laughed. "Is blue a flavor?" she asked. "Or a color?"

"Both," said Derek. He was pouring milk into a huge bowlful of Cheerios. "Those Popsicles don't taste like any certain flavor. They just taste blue."

Stacey hadn't had a Popsicle in years (because of her diabetes) but she kind of remembered what Derek meant. "I guess you're right. One blue popsicle, coming up!" She opened the freezer and found the box. Just then, the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" cried Todd.

"No, I will!" shouted Derek.

"You're both wrong," said Stacey. "I'll get it." When we're baby-sitting, we try to be the ones to answer the phone, so we can take a message, if necessary, and also so little kids don't tell strangers that "mommy and daddy aren't home."

"h.e.l.lo?" Stacey said, panting a little. She'd had to race the boys to the phone. "Oh, hi, Byron. Sure, he's right here. Hold on." She handed the phone to Derek.

"I knew it was for me," said Derek. He put the phone to his ear. "Hi, what's up?" He listened for a minute. Then he turned to Stacey. "Can those guys come over?"

"Which guys?" asked Stacey, teasingly. "Donatello and Michelangelo and Raphael and Leonardo?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Stacey! You know who I mean. Byron and Jordan and Adam and Nicky. Can they come?"

Stacey hesitated. If the Pike boys came over, she'd be in charge of six kids altogether.

"We're just going to hang out in my room," Derek said. "I promise we won't get rowdy." He gave Stacey his most adorable Waldo-type look.

"Oh, okay," said Stacey.

"Yea!" yelled Todd, throwing his hands in the air. His blue Popside flew across the kitchen.

"Come on over," said Derek into the phone. He ducked as the Popsicle flew by him. "And don't forget to bring you-know-what." Then he hung up and grinned at Todd.

Stacey picked up Todd's Popsicle and rinsed it off. "Here you go," she said, giving it back to him. "Derek, why don't you finish your cereal before they get here?" She was curious about what "you-know-what" might be, but she knew better than to ask directly. She was already fairly certain that the reason Derek and Todd hadn't been interested in any of the activities she'd mentioned was because they'd had some sort of secret plans with the Pike boys. She .decided to wait and see what happened.

Derek had just taken the last bite of his cereal when the doorbell rang. "They're here!" he said. He jumped up and ran for the door.

"Hold on," said Stacey. "I'll answer the door." She knew the Pikes were ringing the bell; she also knew it wasn't a good policy to let kids answer the door. When she reached the door, with Derek and Todd close behind her, she checked out the side window first. She couldn't see anybody. Our club has had some scary times with people who ring doorbells and then disappear. Then the bell rang again, Stacey looked more closely, and there stood the Pike boys. She opened the door. "Come on in, guys," she said. "How are you?"

"Fine," mumbled Jordan, squeezing past her. He seemed to be hiding something under his jacket.

"Fine," echoed Byron, Adam, and Nicky.

"See you!" said Derek, as all six boys took off for his room.

Stacey shrugged. She decided to let them enjoy being mysterious, as long as they played quietly. She figured she'd check on them every once in a while, just to make sure they weren't burning down the house. Meanwhile, she could sit on the couch and look through some of the extremely cool-looking fashion magazines that were arranged on the coffee table. We don't often get to take it easy during a baby-sitting job, and Stacey was only too happy to take advantage of the situation.

Stacey had relaxed for about five minutes when she heard the door to Derek's bedroom open and close. A second later, she saw Nicky tiptoe into the kitchen, holding a slip of paper. Then she heard him lift the phone off its hook and speak in a voice so low she couldn't hear what he was saying. He didn't talk long. After he'd hung up, he began to tiptoe back to Derek's room.

"Nicky," called Stacey. "Are you guys making phony phone calls?"

"No!" said Nicky. "No way. We've gotten into trouble for doing that before. We'll never do it again."

He sounded so positive that Stacey believed him. She also knew that if they were making phony calls, the other boys would be gathered around the phone while Nicky spoke, giggling and acting silly. (You might wonder how Stacey knew this. / wondered, when she told me about her day at the Masterses'. She wouldn't tell me, but I had a feeling she knew from experience.) Anyway, Stacey let Nicky go back to Derek's room. And five minutes later, guess what happened? The same tiptoe-to-the-phone routine, only this time Adam .was carrying the slip of paper and making the call. Stacey didn't even bother to question him, but she resolved to keep a closer eye on the boys.

She waited for a few minutes after Adam had returned to Derek's room. Then she snuck toward the closed door. She heard whispered conversation, but couldn't make out any actual words. However, the boys sounded awfully excited.

Stacey tapped on the door, and then opened it before they could answer. "Just a minute!"

Derek called out, but he was too late. Stacey saw Jordan shove something under the bed.

"What was that?" she asked. "Listen, you guys, I need to know what you're up to. I wouldn't want you to get yourselves in trouble." She bent down and looked under the bed. "A phone book?" she asked.

"Yeah!" said Adam. "It's just a phone book, that's all."

Stacey pulled it out. "This says 'Pike' on it."

"That's because it's ours," Jordan told her. "I brought it over."

Stacey remembered the bulge beneath his jacket. "What for?" she asked.

"Just to get some phone numbers," muttered Derek.

"For Becca and Charlotte!" cried Todd. Then he put his hand over his mouth. "Uh-oh," he said, looking guilty.

"That's all right, Todd," said Derek. "They're coming over, okay?" he asked Stacey.

"Well, it sounds as if you've already invited them, so I guess it's okay," said Stacey. "But next time you want to have a party, maybe you should let me - and your mom - know in advance."

Becca and Charlotte showed up soon after, and the kids moved into the rec room. Stacey tried to relax on the couch again, but the giggles and shrieks she kept hearing made her nervous. Finally, she pulled Todd out of the room and wormed the truth out of him.

"Lessons," explained Todd, after Stacey had grilled him for ten minutes. "Derek's going to give us kissing lessons, and Becca and Charlotte are going to help him dem - dem - "

"Demonstrate?" suggested Stacey. She wanted to laugh, but she realized she should control the urge. "I'm not sure that's such a great idea." She wondered what would happen if the kids' parents found out. She knew some adults might not think the situation was as hilarious as she did.

Stacey marched back to the rec room with Todd in tow, and broke up the party. "Okay, guys," she said. "And girls. Enough of this for today, I think. How about a game of Crazy Olympics instead?" She knew that the Pike boys, especially, could never resist that game, which they'd kind of invented. It involved coming up with all kinds of wild events, like the Pillow Jump, and then awarding prizes to whomever did them best.

The kids seemed to accept the change of plans. And Stacey couldn't help noticing that Derek looked especially happy - and relieved.

Chapter 8.

I couldn't believe it. It boggled my mind. It flipped me out just to think about it. I never expected this to happen, not in a million years. Not to Janine.

Janine got grounded.

Perfect Janine, obedient Janine, Janine the good sister.

I knew I was wrong to feel happy about it. I tried not to show how I felt. But part of me was bursting with pure, wild joy. For once, I wasn't in trouble. For once, I could be the good sister.

Let me start from the beginning, since it will be a pleasure to tell the whole story again!

On Thursday morning, I was in the kitchen eating cinnamon toast. I was dressed and ready to go to school, so for once I could take my time eating breakfast. (I was wearing a royal-blue sweatshirt dress I'd just bought the day before.) I was talking to Mom about my plans for the weekend (sitting for the Perkins girls Friday night, going to the movies with Stacey and Dawn on Sat.u.r.day night), and Mom was washing the dishes.

Then Janine came downstairs, wearing one of her new outfits - a gray wool skirt (one of her old ones, which she'd hemmed to a much more interesting length), a pink oxford shirt, which she must have bought recently, and my red sweater, which she seemed to have claimed as her own. Her fingernails were still orange. The pink and the red and the orange clashed just a little .bit, but I didn't want to upset Janine by mentioning it. I had decided to encourage her fashion-wise and not pick on the little things.

When she sat down at the table, I could see that she'd also done her best with putting on some makeup. Her mascara was a little clumpy, and her blush wasn't blended as well as it could be, but overall she looked good. I gave her the thumbs-up sign, and she smiled.

She reached for a piece of toast and started to b.u.t.ter it. "Good morning, Mom," she said.

"Morning, hon," said my mother, who was still washing dishes.

"Where's Dad?" asked Janine.

"Oh, he had to leave early this morning."

Janine took a bite of toast and looked at Mom's back. "I won't be home for dinner to- night," she said quickly. "I'm going to be studying late again. I'll be at the college library, with a friend."

"Okay," said my mother. "It's all right for you to miss dinner now and then, as long as you tell us ahead of time. We just worry when we expect you and you don't show up."

Boy, Janine gets all the breaks. I'm sure I'd never hear the end of it if I wanted to miss dinner. Of course, I wouldn't be missing it in order to study. I'd probably be missing it because there was a special sale at the mall or something. And my parents just don't accept shopping as an excuse. I was all wrapped up in my thoughts, so I barely noticed when Mom asked Janine if she'd like to ask her friend over for dinner some time when they didn't have to study. "We'd love to have her," she added.

"Uh, sure," said Janine. "I will. Ask her, I mean."

It occurred to me then that Janine had been acting strangely throughout the discussion of her plans for the evening. I can't say exactly what tipped me off; maybe just the tone of her voice, or the way she was tapping her fingernails on the table. But all at once I knew Janine was hiding something.

My mom didn't notice. For one thing, her back was turned to Janine. For another, she just a.s.sumes Janine is always honest and re- liable. But I knew. I hate to gloat, but I knew something was up. So I wasn't all that surprised at what happened a few days later.

It was Sat.u.r.day. I was helping Mom with some yard work, which is not my favorite activity in the world. Mom was clipping the gra.s.s around the flower beds, where the mower doesn't reach, and I was following her with a rake. "You know," I said, "I saw this story in a magazine about these people who never, ever mow their lawn. It looks really cool - like a meadow. Why couldn't we do that?"

My mother sat back on her heels and wiped her forehead. "I never thought of that," she said. "It does sound like a perfect solution. But your father would not go for it. He kind of enjoys mowing the lawn."

"Just think, though," I said, beginning to imagine the possibilities. "We wouldn't have to rake leaves in the fall, because they wouldn't even show up in all that tall gra.s.s. And we'd probably find gorgeous wildflowers growing everywhere."

My mom shook her head. "It wouldn't work out," she .said. "The neighbors would be furious with us."

"About what?" somebody asked. I looked up and saw Mrs. Braddock, who lives nearby. She had walked into our yard, carrying a big basket. "It's hard to imagine being furious with the Kishi family," she went on.

Mom laughed. "Don't worry, we were just daydreaming," she said. She stood up and dusted off her knees.

"I brought you some bread," said Mrs. Braddock. "Haley and Matt and I have been trying to learn how to bake, and we ended up with more than we could ever eat."

"Isn't that nice," said Mom. I knew she didn't just mean it was nice of Mrs. Braddock to bring the bread. She also meant it was nice that she was spending time with her kids, learning how to bake bread together.

The Braddocks are a neat family. Our club baby-sits for them fairly often, so we know the kids pretty well. Haley is nine, and her brother Matt is seven. Matt is deaf. He can't hear at all. He communicates with sign language, which all of us club members have tried to learn. Jessi is especially good at it, but none of us is as good as Haley. She's fluent in it, and can have long, fast, complicated conversations with Matt. It's fascinating to watch them "talk." Their hands fly all over the place. In fact, they talk with their entire bodies.

"I haven't seen Matt and Haley for a long time," said my mom. "How are they?"

"Oh, just fine," said Mrs. Braddock. "And I can see that your kids are doing well, too.