Baby-Sitters Club belong to Ann M. Martin

I was watching TV one afternoon when my cell phone rang as I answer.

"Hello," I said.

"Hi, would you like to go to the movies?" asked my boyfriend, Logan Bruno.

"Sure," I replied in a happy tone. "What time and what's playing?"

"Cam Geary's movie of Superman vs. Octopus man is out. It starts at 7:30 pm," replied Logan.

"Oh, that's right, it is. I've been dying to see his movie anyway," I said.

I'm Mary Anne Spier and I'm a thirteen-year-old resident of Stoneybrook, CT.

My mother died a long time ago from cancer and I don't remember her. I have a stepfamily as well. My stepsister, Dawn, and I are best friends. Her mom, Sharon, was Dad's old high school girlfriend.

That night, Logan and I had dinner before we went to the movies. We went to Friendly's. After we ate, we shared a double cone ice cream: I had chocolate and he had vanilla. Then, Logan and I went to the movies to see Superman vs. Octopus Man. Cam was playing Superman. He's an excellent actor. He's my all-time favorite movie star and he's cute (don't tell Logan that I told you). I would love to act with him one day. I would be on cloud nine.

Later, at home, I was very tired and went to bed at eleven-fifteen pm. The next day, Dad was about to give us an announcement.

"What's going on?" asked Dawn.

"Well, Sharon and I decided to adopt an orphan," said Dad.

"Really?" I asked.

I was getting excited.

"Yes," smiled Sharon.

"Sweet!" I exclaimed.

"We have room for that," said Dad. "We'll be start cleaning the attic sometime this week."

"How old should we adopt? Do you want someone your age or younger?" asked Sharon letting us choose.

"Someone our age makes sense to me. Jeff likes to be the youngest," replied Dawn.

"Can we adopt a boy?" I asked.

"Sure. Two girls and two boys is a great idea," smiled Sharon.

"So, we're adopting him a bit after we finish the attic?" I asked.

Dad nodded and added, "I'll be off all this week, so I can clean the attic while I'm at it."

"I have to work late all week," said Sharon.

"And, I have a sitting job with Mallory on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night, so I won't be home much," said Dawn.

"Looks like it'll be just you and me since I won't have a sitting job until Wednesday afternoon after school," I said.

"That'd be great," said Dad who was thrilled about that.

"This means on most nights, it would be father-daughter night," I said.

"That's right," smiled Dad.

"Swell! I love that part," I said. "When are you starting the attic?"

"Tomorrow," replied Dad.

"I can hardly wait," I smiled. "Do you mind if I do homework or should I wait until later?"

"I don't mind if you want to do homework first," said Dad.

I have someone in mind. I knew this boy for a few years. His name is Carlos Peters. In fact, we're good friends. He attends Stoneybrook Day School with Shannon. He plays sports against my school, Stoneybrook Middle School. He became an orphan when he was eight. He don't talk about it much. It gets him upset. I can understand. He told me that he wishes to have a family again. He lives at an orphanage. I visit him often.

After breakfast, I went to get dressed. I left my hair down with a blue headband. That afternoon, I was doing homework when I felt pins and needles in my writing hand, so I ended up taking a break. I never had pins and needles in my hand. Then I noticed it was swollen.

"Now what?" I asked myself.

That was when I noticed it was a splinter. No wonder why hand was sore. Don't ask how I got it. I got my tweezers and tried to get it out, but it was stuck, so I went to Dad.

"I was doing homework when my hand got sore. I was taking a break. That was when noticed I got a splinter on my hand," I said showing him. "I'm trying to use my tweezers, but it's too stubborn, and do you mind helping me?"

"Sure, I can help you," said Dad.

He did manage to get it out a few minutes later.

"Thanks. That's better," I said. "I don't even know how I got it."

My hand was red for the most of the day. I managed to finish my homework with my sore hand.

"How's your right hand?" asked Dad.

"It's still a bit sore, but I'll be alright," I said showing it to him.

"Do you want some ice to make it feel better?" asked Dad.

"That'll be great," I said.

I had ice on it and felt better.

"That's better. I'll see how it feels tomorrow," I said.

"If it's still sore, you don't have to help out to give your hand a rest. I don't want your hand to get sore even more," Dad told me.

"I thought about the same thing," I said.