CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

By Apologiesqueen

YOU'RE INVITED!

What: Graduation party!

Where: Thomas-Brewer residence, 1210 McLelland Road

When: Saturday, June 16, 5 PM – ?

RSVP: Kristy, 642-1258 (cell)

Watson will have the grill set up, and we'll provide the food and soda. Feel free to bring your own special snacks or drinks.

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After what seemed like an impossibly long four years, Stoneybrook High's seniors were finally about to graduate. On a Tuesday morning two weeks before graduation, Claudia and Stacey found the invitation to Kristy's graduation party in their lockers. Kristy was still friendly with Mary Anne and Abby, so she delivered their invitations by hand, as well as Logan's, since they ran into each other sometimes at their sports practices after school. She asked Mary Anne to pass on the word to Dawn, who'd be graduating from Vista a week earlier than Mary Anne and would be flying from California to attend Mary Anne's graduation. Kristy snagged Shannon one afternoon when she saw her in the neighborhood walking her family's dog, Astrid. She left invitations for Mallory and Jessi with their families, since Mallory would be coming home for the summer from Riverbend, the boarding school in Massachusetts she'd attended since the sixth grade, and Jessi would be home from the ballet academy in New York.

It had taken Kristy what seemed like forever to draw up the guest list for her party. Watson, her stepfather, was a millionaire, so the number of people she invited was only limited by the size of the family's (rather large) backyard. The names of some of the guests she wanted to invite immediately came to mind: her softball teammates, of course, plus Emily Bernstein, the SHS newspaper editor and a girl Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne had been friends with in middle school, and Pete Black, a guy who'd always kind of teased Kristy and her friends during their SMS days but who had turned out to be a smart guy with a wickedly sarcastic sense of humor. He and Kristy ended up in at least one class together every year.

Since she was still relatively friendly with Mary Anne and Abby, it made sense to invite them, and she liked Anna, Abby's twin sister, a lot, so she was on the list. But what Kristy couldn't decide was whether to invite her old Baby-sitters Club friends. Not long after they'd started high school, Claudia and Stacey distanced themselves from the others, and gradually, everyone's interest in baby-sitting on a regular basis waned as they got involved with new activities and new friends. As the BSC grew apart as a unit, a few other individual friendships stayed intact, though. Mary Anne and Logan remained friends after they dated during the first part of high school, and Kristy and Shannon ran into each other around their neighborhood. Still, it wasn't the same as it had been in the BSC days. Plus, with Dawn, Mallory, and Jessi attending schools in other states, things had definitely changed.

It was Kristy's mom who suggested that she invite all of the original BSC members to the party. "You all have so much history, it seems a shame not to invite everyone to spend one last moment together before you go your separate ways. We're happy to have them if they'd like to come," Elizabeth said.

Back in the BSC days, Kristy had been as nostalgic as her other friends. Her mom's words struck a chord with her. The other original BSC members must have felt the same way. All nine of them showed up the afternoon of the party, Stacey in a sundress with Manolo Blahniks, and Claudia in what could only be considered a true Claudia creation—a dark blue fringed off-the-shoulder top with yellow short-shorts, red patent leather platform sandals, and a pink and purple headband she'd made herself, while Kristy wore a Stoneybrook Annual 10-K Run tee-shirt and jeans with her Converse high tops. Dawn arrived with hummus she'd made herself and some veggie burgers. Just like old times, Kristy thought to herself, and smiled.

Eventually, as the evening went on, guests began heading out. Some of them had other graduation parties to attend or were expected home for dinner. As the crowd thinned, the only guests that remained were the old BSC members and Anna.

"Hey, Abbers," Anna called out, as she approached Abby. "I think I'm headed home. I told Mom I'd watch a movie with her tonight. Are you coming?"

Abby looked at her watch, then at the familiar faces gathered around her. "Nah, I think I'll stay for a while longer. Tell Mom I'll be home before it gets too late, OK?"

Anna nodded and said her goodbyes. Looking around the group again, Abby realized it was the first time they'd been assembled as a group in. . . well, a long time. True, Dawn had come from California to attend the prom that year with Mary Anne, but it had been a while since some of them had seen Shannon, Mallory, and Jessi.

"So. . ." Abby said. "Looks like we're the only ones left."

"It's like old times!" Jessi exclaimed.

Kristy almost expected Claudia or Stacey to roll their eyes, but they didn't. In fact, they were the first ones to agree.

"Yeah!" Claudia said, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

"Wow, there are so many memories," Stacey said.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Kristy suddenly piped up.

"Oh, Kristy…" Mary Anne, Logan, and Mallory said, laughing.

They were all quiet as they considered their favorite, or in some cases, most meaningful, high school memory. Since they still had two years of high school to go, Mallory and Jessi didn't have as much to choose from, but they were eager to share their stories as well.

It took a while to figure out who would go first, but it was Abby who came up with the idea of going from oldest to youngest. "You just want to have more time to think of your memory, since your birthday's in October," Shannon teased.

"Nope, I'm just trying to be fair," Abby said as solemnly as she could manage.

"Well, I'd be first, right?" asked Logan. "My birthday's in January." Looking around, everyone nodded.

They all listened as Logan began his story.