BSC #51: Stacey's Ex-Best Friend

Tagline: Is Stacey's friend Laine super mature or just a super snob?

Stacey can't wait! Her best friend from New York, Laine Cummings, is coming to Stoneybrook for a whole week. Laine can spend a day at SMS, attend club meetings, and maybe even go to the Valentine's Dance.

But the minute Laine arrives, things don't go as planned. Laine thinks Stacey's sleepover with her friends is so childish. And she can't believe Stacey's still into baby-sitting. Laine's used to hanging out at high school parties. She even has a fifteen-year-old boyfriend!

Stacey doesn't want to lose her childhood friend. But Laine's growing up way too fast for Stacey. Is this the end of their friendship?

The book starts off with Stacey having a cozy winter day indoors. She reflects that since moving to the country, she likes snow and the quiet. As she's doing homework, Laine calls and tells Stacey that she has a week-long break coming up from school. Stacey gets super excited, and invites Laine to stay with her in Stoneybrook. Laine isn't too sure though, but eventually agrees to it. Stacey is super excited and tells all her friends. She plans a sleepover for Laine's first evening. Before Laine comes over, Stacey tidies up her bedroom, hiding anything that she thinks Laine will think is lame. Apparently lately Laine has been saying comments and calling Stacey by her full name, trying to sound more grown-up. Stacey doesn't think too much of it though, and leaves for the train station super excited.

Stacey spots Laine right away wearing a very chic outfit. Stacey is thrilled, but Laine is less than impressed. She wants to know where the town is! Stacey explains that they'll drive through it on the way home to the party Stacey's throwing, which causes Laine to perk up. However, after they drive through Stoneybrook, Laine is still confused, wondering how she could have missed the entire town. Stacey points out the library and the pizza parlour, but Laine wants to know what everyone does for entertainment. Stacey deadpans that they go to New York haha

Laine and Stacey briefly catch-up before the party. Laine tells Stacey all about her new boyfriend King, who is 15 years old and in high school. His hair is long and black, with purple tips, that he wears all spiked up and bushy. When Laine questions why Stacey doesn't have a boyfriend, Stacey says she's waiting for the right guy, which sets Laine off. They quickly put aside their differences though as the girls arrive.

It's clear that when Stacey said "party", Laine figured she meant something loud with boys and girls. The sleepover is definitely not impressing her. The girls are all having fun goofing with make-up and hair stuff, gossiping about boys. Laine keeps putting everyone and everything down, saying that all 13 year old boys are lame, she's on a diet (so no binging on junk foods), and making fun of their slang (Dawn says "dude"). Stacey then gets the bright idea to find Laine a date for the dance next Friday. Laine isn't sure she wants to go: after all, 13 year old boys are dumb and she wants to make sure King is okay with it. But when Stacey points out that Laine has nothing else to do on Friday, Laine is quick to remind them that they are lame. Luckily before things can spiral out of control, they find a movie to watch that even Laine likes.

Laine spends Monday being bored out of her mind while Stacey's in school, so Stacey gets permission for Laine to shadow her for the day. After Stacey explains that she misses having Laine be a regular part of her life, Laine goes for it. However, the day is less than successful. First, Laine makes fun of Stacey and Mallory for how they coordinate walking to school (white towel means Mal wants to walk with them, red means she's looking after her siblings), making Stacey feel embarrassed. Once at school, Laine questions all the school rules, such as them not being able to leave the building during school hours and only one student allowed to the bathroom at a time. Stacey's relieved once it's lunch time, because there are no rules (except for not being able to leave the building), so she figures there's nothing for Laine to critique. Stacey has even arranged it so that a bunch of her non-BSC friends sit with them, giving Laine variety. Among them are Pete Black, Rick Chow and Austin Bentley, which Stacey thinks Laine will like, since they're boys. However, it's clear that Laine thinks they're immature (they spend lunchtime building molecules out of pretzel sticks and prunes), while Pete spends the whole time crushing on Laine.

That night, Stacey and Laine talk about their day, more specifically Pete. Stacey thinks it would be awesome if Pete and Laine went to the dance together, but Laine is all embarrassed, saying that Pete is immature and what would people think? Stacey points out that the only people who would see them would be everyone who already likes Pete and actually thinks he's cool, and that besides, it'd just be for fun. Laine decides to call King first, and shoos Stacey out of the room. Stacey's a bit hurt, but figures whatever. However, when Pete calls to ask Laine out, Laine asks Stacey to stay, before kicking her out again to call King back. While in her bedroom, Stacey overhears snippets of Laine's conversation. Laine makes fun of Pete, and goes on about how "childish" something is. Stacey assumes that Laine is talking about their baby-sitting clients, but it's pretty clear to us readers that Laine is talking about Stacey and her friends. Even so, Stacey starts to feel like something weird is going on between her and Laine, and she doesn't know what to do.

Stacey decides to double-down on making Laine a part of her life, and brings her to the Club meeting on Wednesday. There, the girls all discuss the Valentine's Day Masquerade they're organizing for their clients. They speculate who has a crush on who, and think it's all very cute. Except for Laine. She thinks it's lame. She also wonders if any of the girls plan on getting real jobs for the summer. You see, Laine has a summer job lined up at an accessories store, so she'll be receiving a real paycheque. Stacey now realizes that her and Laine are living in completely different worlds.

Finally it's Friday, the day of the dance and Laine's last full day. Stacey isn't excited about Laine going home soon, but she's somewhat relieved. Still, she's going to give their friendship one last solid try and make the most of their time together. She rushes home to find Laine reading a large book, about an 18 year old who travels and falls in love; when asked what she's currently reading, Stacey is embarrassed to admit that she's reading Black Beauty. Stacey wants Laine's help in getting ready for the dance, but Laine doesn't seem interested. She's too busy thinking about her book and King; besides, it's just a stupid Valentine's Day dance and doesn't really count. Once Stacey picks her outfit (with no help from Laine, other than "it's lame to wear red specifically because it's Valentine's Day"), she tries to engage Laine in some popcorn and gossip, like the good ol' days, but Laine's on a diet and has just finished doing her nails (after making fun of where Stacey got the nail polish). Finally Stacey gives up, and they get to go to the dance.

Laine puts on a great outfit, and Stacey's mom tells them that they look like they're 15; Laine adds that usually she gets mistaken for 18. Despite the fact that Laine is wearing earrings that Stacey gave her (which warms Stacey's heart), Laine quickly takes back any goodwill by appearing horrified that they were meeting the guys at the school; didn't Stacey know that the boys were supposed to pick them up in their own cars? Stacey points out that the boys can't drive... and neither can King for that matter! When they get to the school, Laine is mortified that Kristy greets them with a "yo guys!" That quickly gets overshadowed by Pete's arrival though. Even though Pete's wearing a suit, he's still wearing his trademark converse sneakers, which of course Laine notices and judges him for. Then the poor guy is so nervous, he can't get the corsage he bought on Laine's wrist, and ends up dropping it, only for it to be trampled in the crowd! Laine doesn't care though, and acts dismissive of everything. She makes fun of the décor (to be fair, so did Logan, as it was quite pink, but Laine was definitely much more mean-spirited) and the fact that there isn't a live band playing (there will be, but while they set up, it's just a tape playing). The night doesn't get any better, as Laine insults all sixth-graders (one spilled a drink near her, not on her), insults the band, and then insults the food (heart-shaped cookies and punch are for kindergarten). The final straw comes when Pete asks Laine to slow-dance: she turns him down saying she was tired, only to immediately accept an invitation from some other guy (to Kristy and Claud's delight, a seventh grader!). Stacey has had enough.

She pulls Laine aside to tell Laine how rude she's been. Laine pretends that she doesn't know what Stacey is talking about, so Stacey starts laying everything out on the table. Laine interrupts, saying that she wants to go home. To New York. Immediately. So Stacey calls her mom, which prompts more fighting and arguing from Laine. On the way home, Stacey's mom tries to get the girls to talk, but this just causes more fighting. Finally, Laine reiterates the fact that she wants to go home to New York, so Mrs McGill calls Laine's mom. They get into a brief tiff over their daughters, but arrange for Laine to go home that night.

Stacey spends the rest of the weekend calling all her friends and apologizing for Laine. She also worries that because her friendship with Laine is over, things are over between Mrs McGill and Mrs Cummings; Mrs McGill reassures Stacey that everything is fine. Stacey still feels unresolved though. She spends a lot of time reflecting on her week with Laine, and their 8 years of frienship. Finally, with the help of Claudia, Stacey sees who her real best friend is, and writes Laine a letter, saying goodbye.

The subplot in this one is the Valentine's Day Masquerade that the Club decides to organize for their clients. The girls get excited planning decorations and activities for the kids, while the kids get excited to make Valentines for everyone. Nicky Pike has a crush on a girl in a younger grade. James and Matthew Hobart want to get all dressed up and bring carnations, and James even has a girl he wants to invite. Marilyn and Carolyn are also very excited: Marilyn likes a boy, and Carolyn says she likes a boy in an older grade. Eventually, the sitters deduce that Nicky and Carolyn like each other, and are super excited to see this go down at the Masquerade. However, they soon discover that Nicky likes Marilyn... he just keeps calling her Carolyn. Luckily for him, Marilyn likes him too. Carolyn and James on the other hand, are a perfect match haha

Random Thoughts:

• I think I've only read this one once or twice. I definitely have read it. I remember liking it a lot. But I also remember that it wasn't one of the ones I owned.
• I never understood why Stacey would think it was a good idea for Laine to come up for the whole week, when Stacey was still in school. Visiting someone else's school is definitely cool and fun and novel, especially compared to your own school... but it's still not as fun as vacation! Laine totally should have arrived Wednesday afternoon, attended school with Stacey Thursday during the day, and then Stacey could have taken Friday off and she and Laine could have had a long visit Friday and Saturday, and then Laine could have gone back home Sunday afternoon. I mean, I get that Stacey and Laine have been drifting apart and that they would have eventually had a falling out regardless, but it just seems like a waste of a vacation and a terrible idea to spend an entire week at school/alone at someone else's house.
• The girls are way too excited to watch To Kill a Mockingbird. The only 13 year olds who are excited to watch that movie are the ones who skipped a grade and find themselves in grade 9 studying it, and they're only excited because watching movies is better than reading books haha I like that movie and genuinely get excited when it comes time to show it in class, but even I wouldn't be revved up for it on a Friday night haha
• It's weird that we've had two books in a row where characters have had winter breaks and come up to visit the girls!
• We learn in this one that Mrs McGill and Mrs Cummings have been friends since college. That's crazy! I had always thought they met because of Laine and Stacey. Now I want to know more about them haha
• If I were Marilyn Arnold, I would be super pissed that Nicky didn't know me from my twin and had my name wrong. Especially now that they dress completely differently and have completely unique and individual styles. Nicky clearly knew them apart in terms of appearance and personality! It'd be no different than someone calling me "Callie" or "Casey" or "Kelsey" or something that was not my name. I mean, it'd be whatever if it was someone who didn't know me very well, but from someone confessing that they liked me? No way! Not even at age 8! haha
• James and Matthew Hobart's reaction to the Valentine's Masquerade just reinforces my idea that Australian boys are best haha even though I know that there are plenty out there who are rude and crude!
• Stacey and Mallory's towel code makes sense in a time where texting doesn't exist. Even though a quick phone call wouldn't take that long, there's always the fact that you have to wait for someone to answer, and what if someone was busy or in the shower, and didn't answer in time? Then you'd have to leave a message, or call back later, etc etc. The towel code is quick and easy: Mallory can throw correct colour up whenever she knows what the plan is for the morning, and Stacey can just look out the window whenever and see it. She can do this while making breakfast, brushing her teeth, packing her bag... all sorts of things that would be difficult to do while on the phone (especially since it doesn't sound like cordless phones were all that prevalent just yet). Of course, nowadays the girls would just send each other a quick text.
• Who the fuck would ever hire Laine for a real job? Except for maybe a paper route?? She's only 13! Is this a '80s thing, or is this a BSC-thing? Because yeah, the girls are always getting real jobs, and it's super weird. Here, most places need you to be 16 before hiring, and your options even then are fairly limited. 
• Laine's book sounds like a Danielle Steel novel haha I remember in grade 7, one of the grade 8s on my bus reading those novels, and thinking 1) damn, she's so grown up and 2) that book sounds really boring and not my style haha
• Do we ever hear about Laine again?

BSC #18: Stacey's Mistake

Tagline: Stacey has never been so wrong in her life!

Stacey's so excited! She's invited her friends from the Baby-sitters Club down to New York City for a long weekend. It's going to be perfect - a party and a sleepover Friday night, a big baby-sitting job on Saturday, and lots of sightseeing on Sunday.

But what a mistake! The Baby-sitters are way out of place in the big city. Mary Anne sounds like walking guide book; Dawn's afraid of everything; Kristy can't keep her mouth shut; and Claudia's jealous of Stacey's friends.

Does this mean Stacey can't be the Baby-sitters' friend anymore? Will the Baby-sitters Club fall apart?

So Stacey has been in New York for awhile, and even though she's glad to be back in the city, has her friends, and is getting all the baby-sitting jobs, she misses the Baby-Sitters Club. Luckily for Stacey, her apartment building decides to have a meeting regarding the homeless problem going on around their neighbourhood, and 5 different families need a sitter at the same time. Sounds like a job for the Baby-Sitters Club!

Stacey and everyone is all excited for a long weekend, but it immediately starts to go downhill. Despite Stacey having said nothing about going up any escalators, the girls end up getting lost in Grand Central Station. Then they have to do a detour back to Stacey's apartment to drop off their stuff because Claudia packed a ginormous suitcase. They go out for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, where Kristy orders the "fill-it mig-nun". Stacey is super embarrassed, and quickly tries to keep the group moving. They end up stopping by Bloomingdale's, where the girls continue to embarrass Stacey by loudly exclaiming their excitement and awe at everything. Furthermore, Mary Anne mistakes the cosmetic testers from the counter as free samples, and is stopped by store security. Stacey quickly ushers everyone out, and takes them back to her apartment to get ready for the party.

But first, they stop to meet all the children, who all live in Stacey's apartment building. The girls (well, not Stacey) are surprised and sad to see that despite being a gorgeous day, all the kids are playing inside. Stacey explains that despite living within walking distance of Central Park, it's not a place to go unsupervised until you're well into your double-digits. That's why the next day was going to be so great for everyone, because they'd get to go outside and explore. They then head back to Stacey's apartment for the party.

At Stacey's, things unravel further. Mary Anne insists on having Stacey spot-check everyone's wardrobe, much to everyone's dismay. Stacey insists that everyone is fine, and that they should just dress however they want and just be themselves. Mary Anne, being a total hypocrite, then turns down Stacey's dressing advice, which is unfortunate, because her choice of dressing up makes her look particularly quaint and small-town.

Laine arrives before the other guests to help Stacey and the girls set up for the party. Stacey is excited to have everyone meet her New York friends, but especially to have Claudia and Laine meet each other. Right away though, Claudia starts acting jealous and challenging Laine, bringing up past indiscretions. Not one to back down from a challenge, Laine immediately starts fighting back. Stacey is dismayed, but figures that with so many other people and things to do for the party, that it'll blow over.

The party goes disastrously. Mary Anne keeps boring everyone with all her random tourist-y facts about NYC, then acts incredulous when the kids who have lived there all their lives don't know them. Eventually, Mary Anne decides to fall back on the old social standard: gossip. She starts telling them about how terrified of NYC Dawn is, and how she over-reacts to things the NYC kids take for granted, like cockroaches and mice. Don't be so uppity, Mary Anne: you were freaked too (just not to the extent that Dawn was).

Stacey invited a bunch of dudes to her party so that it won't be all unbalanced and a total chick-fest. When she realizes that her two groups of friends aren't interacting, she quickly sets up Kristy with one of the more sports-oriented guys, and is happy to see them hitting it off and talking. Soon they even start dancing! Of course Claudia can't have that. She's used to being one of the girls who hangs out with guys, and being surprisingly shy, she decides that the only guy approachable is the one who has already been broken in by a Stoneybrook girl: the one Kristy is dancing with! Coincidentally, just as a slow song starts. Kristy is surprisingly meek about all this, and spends the rest of the evening sulking on the couch.

So now everyone is pretty mad at each other, and Laine wants nothing of it, so when the party ends, everyone goes home and Stacey splits the girls up. They need a good night's sleep since the next day is their baby-sitting job!

The next day, the girls still aren't talking to each other, but Stacey insists on calling a truce so that they can get through their baby-sitting afternoon together. They are sitting for 10 kids: Natalie and Peggy Upchurch (very posh and sophisticated girls), Dennis and Sean Delucca (normal boys), Carlos, Blair and Cissy Barrera (rambunctious boys and a tomboy), Leslie Reames (a very fussy, gluten-intolerant [before gluten-intolerance became cool!] little girl), and Grace and Henry Walker (two shy African-American little kids). With 10 kids and 5 sitters, they decide to divide into groups of 2+1 to go about their afternoon.

Their first stop is the American Museum of Natural History. Everyone immediately wants to go see the dinosaurs, especially Henry Walker. So it's no surprise when they move on to the sea life exhibit, they soon discover that they lost Henry. Of course, he's still up with the dinosaurs. Everyone's sufficiently scared, but they find him right away.

Afterwards, they head to Central Park. As they walk through, they stop and see all the things that Stacey and Laine usually just zip right past. The girls are happy to see Stacey still be able to marvel and look at things with fresh eyes. It surprises Stacey to realize that perhaps, she'd been taking her city for granted. They take the kids to the children's zoo, and soon start to head back home. One the way home, the kids start singing a song for the girls, and Stacey finds herself mortified and embarrassed. She then realizes that she has nothing to be embarrassed about: the kids are being nice and showing their love and appreciation, and the small amount of witnesses are all smiling at the sight. Stacey feels ashamed, having realized that she's starting to become too cool for school, and doesn't want to be like that.

Upon returning the kids to their parents, Laine calls Stacey with an incredible offer: her dad (a "big-time producer of Broadway plays") has managed to get them tickets to a Broadway show. He also managed to get them a limo, so the girls decide to be friends again and go out for a night on the town!

Afterwards, they head back to Stacey's and have a big sleepover, with everyone apologizing and becoming friends again. They stay up most of the night, and have to be pried out of bed the next morning. Stacey promises them an authentic New York breakfast, and presents them with fresh bagels, lox and the New York Times. Soon though, it is time for the girls to head back to Stoneybrook. They pack up and Stacey sees them off at the train station.

Random Thoughts

• This book is pretty self-contained. It's almost like a bottle episode. It takes place in one weekend, and all the drama unfolds and then wraps up. It's very fast. All killer, no filler. I have zero feelings about this book. It's not my favourite, but it's not my least favourite either.
• Mallory and Jessi aren't in this book at all. It's kinda weird. In the later books, you totes know we would be flashing back to Stoneybrook for some sort of subplot with the two of them. Part of me is kinda curious as to what they were up to, but I mostly know it's nothing and I'm glad they didn't try to shoehorn some subplot in.
• Stacey is strangely self-aware in this novel. Although she doesn't anticipate the problems ahead of time, when they do come up, she acknowledges that she should have seen it coming.
• Stacey is a bit of a snob though. She's easily embarrassed by her friends. This will be a recurring theme in the books.
• Part of me is incredulous that Mary Anne would think that the cosmetics at the counter were free samples, but I'm pretty sure I thought the same thing when I was just a couple of years younger, the first time I saw an open cosmetics counter like that.
• I like that Kristy hit it off with that guy, and I'm sad that nothing ever came of it, despite the fact that they exchanged addresses with the promise to write. Even Mary Anne still mentions Alex every now and then.
• I like the idea that Stacey and her friends "don't appreciate" what they have around them. They grew up in NYC! Of course they're not going to think twice about things that seem amazing to Mary Anne, or know random historical facts. I think most people take their hometowns for granted and don't know much about them. I'm that weird person who is always the only local in tour guide groups, like haunted walks haha
• Fun fact: the show the girls see, Starlight Express, was a real show! And it was indeed in NYC on Broadway at the time of this book's publication. I didn't realize that until just now, when I decided to look it up haha
• Random fact: my boyfriend is a total bagel snob, and refuses to eat pre-packaged bagels. He would prefer his bagels to be all fresh, New York-style, but since that's not feasible where we live, he at least insists on getting "bakery fresh" "bag-your-own" bagels at the grocery store. Reading the Sunday breakfast scene made me think of him, cuz that's totes what he'd ideally like to do every Sunday morning.
• This book just ends. It literally just ends.