Claudia and the Middle School Mystery

by Ann M. Martin

  “That’s okay, Mr. Zorzi,” I said. “As long as you believe me now.” I was impressed that he had apologized so directly.

  Then the bell rang and everybody got up to leave. “Just a minute,” said Mr. Zorzi. “Shawna Riverson, please stop at my desk.”

  Uh-oh. I stood to one side. I figured I had a right to hear what happened next.

  “Shawna,” said Mr. Zorzi. “Claudia has just retaken the test she was accused of cheating on, and she has passed it with flying colors.”

  Shawna looked at me for a second, and then back at him. “Yeah?” she asked. “So what?”

  “I believe she’s demonstrated that she did not, in fact, cheat on the test,” said Mr. Zorzi. “I’m going to have to ask you to prove the same thing.”

  Shawna turned white.

  “You don’t have to stay late today,” he said. “You may take the test tomorrow morning during homeroom.”

  Wait a minute, I thought. That didn’t seem fair. That would mean that Shawna would have time to study for the test. But it turned out that it didn’t matter.

  “I — I can’t!” said Shawna. Now her face was red.

  “What do you mean?” asked Mr. Zorzi. “Aren’t you going to be in school tomorrow?”

  “No!” said Shawna. “I mean, yes — I’m going to be in school. But I can’t take the test.” She rubbed her hands together anxiously.

  “Shawna, what are you saying?” asked Mr. Zorzi.

  “I can’t take it because I don’t know the material. I don’t know it, and even if I studied all night I wouldn’t pass the test.” Shawna looked like she was about to cry. “I did it! I copied off of Claudia’s paper!”

  My mouth dropped open. I never expected her to actually confess.

  Mr. Zorzi’s mouth was open, too. Just for a moment. “Why, Shawna?” he asked. “Why did you cheat?”

  She told him the story — how she’d stretched herself too thin with her activities and clubs and all. “So I just didn’t think there was any other way,” she finished.

  “And you let me believe that Claudia was the one who had cheated?” Mr. Zorzi asked, frowning. “I think you owe her an apology.”

  Shawna looked at me and mumbled something I barely heard. I didn’t care. I’d done it! I’d stuck this thing out and I’d proved my innocence. With Janine’s help, the mystery had been solved. Now everybody would know who the real villain was. I felt like a tremendous weight had fallen from my shoulders.

  Shawna, the cheater, was in tears. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

  Mr. Zorzi sent her straight to the principal’s office, and I found out later that she got suspended for two days. Plus, she got an F on that test. Poor, poor Shawna.

  That’s what Kristy said when I finished telling the story in the cafeteria. “Poor, poor Shawna.”

  “I knew everything would work out,” said Mary Anne.

  Stacey just smiled and gave me the thumbs-up sign.

  I felt terrific.

  It was later that same day. I’d been in my room all afternoon, putting the finishing touches on my collage. I hummed along to the radio as I worked, and occasionally I burst into song. (I’m tone deaf, but as long as I’m sure nobody’s around to hear me, I love to sing at the top of my lungs.) I was in a great mood.

  I hadn’t looked at the clock for awhile, so I was totally amazed when I checked the time. It was 5:29 — and Kristy hadn’t shown up for our meeting yet. Kristy’s always so punctual. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t already sitting in the director’s chair.

  I shrugged, turned up the radio, and went back to my collage. I knew everybody would start to straggle in within a few minutes.

  Just as I was in the middle of belting out a really romantic love song, the door to my room flew open.

  “SURPRISE!!”

  I almost jumped out of my skin. What a shock! There were all my friends, plus Janine, crowded around my door. They were loaded down with bags of chips and huge bottles of Coke. Jessi was holding a platter of chocolate chip cookies. All of them were grinning at me.

  I grinned back. “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “We wanted to do something special for you,” said Mallory.

  “We’re proud of you,” added Stacey. “You really hung in there!”

  “And Kristy had the idea to make this meeting kind of a party,” said Dawn. “What do you think?”

  What did I think? I was overwhelmed. It’s not too often that Kristy bends the rules and changes the form of a club meeting.

  “I think it’s terrific!” I said. “And I think you are the best friends in the world.”

  Then I saw Janine. She was hanging back shyly, trying to blend into the woodwork. She must have felt out of place. “And Janine is the best sister in the universe,” I said, gesturing to her. “C’mon in, Janine. I’ve got something for you.”

  I grabbed the collage and held it behind my back for a minute. “I wanted to give you something to show you how grateful I am for all your help,” I said.

  “Oh, Claud,” she said. “You don’t have to do that! I enjoy helping you study.”

  “Well, even if you do, I know you have lots of other things you could use that time for,” I said. “And anyway, it’s not just the study help. If you hadn’t talked to the principal for me, I might never have gotten a second chance on that test.” I showed her the collage. “I’d like you to have this,” I said.

  Janine looked at it and smiled. “It’s beautiful,” she said. She held it up for everyone else to see. “Thank you, Claudia,” she said. “I’ll hang it in my room with pride.”

  Just then, the phone rang. I’d totally forgotten that this was our regular meeting time! Kristy took the call.

  “Baby-sitters Club,” she said. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Pike.” She listened for a moment. “Oh, of course,” she said. “I’ll call you right back.”

  “Mrs. Pike needs a sitter for the younger kids on Saturday afternoon,” said Kristy. “She said she and Mr. Pike are taking the triplets to a movie matinee, to celebrate their ungrounding.”

  “They’re going to take them out for ice cream, afterwards,” said Mallory. “I think she feels kind of bad about how long they were stuck inside. I’d watch Nicky and my sisters myself,” she went on, “but Jessi and I are going to the mall on Saturday.”

  Mary Anne checked the record book to see who was free, and Stacey got the job. After Kristy had called Mrs. Pike back, Mal filled us in on the rest of the story about the triplets.

  “You wouldn’t believe how happy they are to be free again,” she said. “They’re acting human — it’s a pleasure to be around them.”

  “Are they going to get their allowances back?” asked Stacey.

  “Well,” answered Mallory, “my parents realized that if the boys had to give up their allowances until the window was paid off, they’d be broke until they went to college!”

  The Pike kids get pretty tiny allowances — I guess because there are so many of them.

  “So Dad made a deal with the boys,” continued Mal. “They’re going to work off their debt by doing chores around the house. You know, raking leaves, cleaning out the basement — that kind of stuff.”

  “That’s great!” said Dawn.

  “Yeah, they’re pretty thrilled about it,” said Mal. “Now they can get back into some serious baseball-card collecting.”

  (The triplets don’t collect baseball cards like some boys do — as investments. They just collect the cards of players they really like. That way, it doesn’t cost as much — and they’re just as happy.)

  “That’s good news, Mal,” I said. “I’m glad everything’s settled, for them and for me.”

  “That’s right,” said Mary Anne. “We’ve got a lot to celebrate. By the way, did Mr. Zorzi tell you what your grade would officially be?”

  I smiled. “Yes, it’s true, sports fans,” I said, pretending to speak into a microphone. “Claudia Kishi will go down in the record books for this one. She really earne
d that A–!”

  “All right, Claud!” said Dawn.

  “I’d like to propose a toast,” said Kristy. Everybody scrambled to make sure they had some soda. (Dawn and Stacey were drinking plain old club soda.) Kristy held up her cup. “To Claudia,” she said. “Congratulations! Nancy Drew would be proud of you. You solved the mystery, and you aced the test!”

  “Yea!” yelled Jessi and Mallory together.

  “Congratulations, Claud!” said Stacey.

  Everybody clinked their cups together (or pretended to clink them; plastic doesn’t clink very well) and grinned at me.

  I was blushing. “Okay, you guys,” I said. “Let’s get down to some serious pigging out!” I opened up the chips and passed around the cookies.

  “Claudia,” said Janine. “There’s just one thing I want to ask you.”

  “Yes?” I said.

  “Aren’t you glad that Jessi made these cookies — instead of Gertrude?”

  I laughed. Then I explained the joke to my friends, and we all broke up. That day’s meeting was one of the best we’ve ever had.

  * * *

  At dinner that night, Janine told my parents what had been going on. They’d already heard that I’d gotten my A– back, but they didn’t know the details. (Janine didn’t tell them everything, for which I’m grateful.)

  “Claudia, honey,” said my mother. “I’m so proud of you! You really stood your ground.”

  “Well,” I said. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me. I knew I had to make sure my record was clear.”

  “Your record is always clear with us,” said my father.

  “I was worried that if I didn’t do well in math you would make me quit the Baby-sitters Club,” I confessed quietly.

  “Oh, Claudia,” said my mother. “From now on, just make sure you let us know when you need help. Janine,” she went on, “can you please give me a hand in the kitchen for a moment?”

  The two of them disappeared into the kitchen, carrying our empty plates. My father jumped up from the table and went to the hall closet. When he came back, he was holding his camera.

  I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then my mother and Janine reappeared. Janine was carrying a huge cake, with pink roses all over it. My dad started to snap pictures as they walked toward the table.

  “What’s that for?” I asked. Had I forgotten somebody’s birthday?

  “Look at it, Claud!” said Janine. “Read what it says!”

  I looked more closely at the writing covering the cake. CONGRATULATIONS, CLAUDIA! it said. What a shock! In our family, it’s usually Janine who gets the cakes and has fusses made over her — whenever she wins another prize or award. But this time, the cake was for me.

  I looked around the table at the faces of my sister, my mother, and my father. They were proud of me! And, I had to admit it — I was pretty proud of myself.

  * * *

  Dear Reader:

  As you can tell in Claudia and the Middle School Mystery, Claudia is not a great math student … and neither was I. I squeaked through math. My grades were okay, but I had to work very hard to pass. Numbers just don’t make sense to me the way letters and words do.

  I was very embarrassed when my teachers suggested to my parents that they find a math tutor for me. But after I started working with my tutor and doing better, math wasn’t so bad anymore. My tutor was Johnny Valentine. He lived across the street from me. He was six years older, and I thought he knew everything. Guess what — Johnny used to be one of my baby-sitters.

  As a baby-sitter, you can help your charges with their homework if they need it. If the kids are struggling, you can lend a helping hand. But remember, don’t do their homework for them; just show them how to do it themselves. They’ll really appreciate it, just like I appreciated the help Johnny gave me.

  Happy reading!

  * * *

  About the Author

  ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.

  There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.)In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.

  Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.

  Copyright © 1991 by Ann M. Martin.

  Cover art by Hodges Soileau

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First edition, January 1991

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-69033-1