Then Becca left.

I sat on my bed and felt depressed for awhile. Then I did what I always do in a tough situation.

I called my best friend, Mallory Pike.

Ring, ring went the Pikes' phone.

"Hello?" said a voice. It was Nicky, Mal's brother. (Mal has seven younger brothers and sisters.)

"Hi, Nicky. It's Jessi. Is Mal home?"

"Yup."

"Well, can I speak to her, please?"

"Maybe."

"Nicky."

"Okay, okay, okay. . . . Oh, wait a second.

1 just remembered. Mal isn't here after all. She

went to the store with Mom."

"Could you have her call me back, please?"

1 asked. "I really need to talk to her. This is a

matter of life and death . . . sort of."

"Life and death?" repeated Nicky. "Gosh." We got off the phone. I went back to my

room. 1 closed the door. Then 1 opened my

door again and hung a sign on it that I'd made.

The sign read (in big bold letters):

77//J

Mallory thinks the sign is dumb. She says that if you want people to stay out of your room, you should put up a sign that just says: STAY OUT OR ELSE.

I think one reason Mal is my best friend is because I like her family. The Pikes are very open and loose. There are not too many rules in the Pike house, even though there are a lot of kids. Here's who's in Mal's family, besides Mal and her parents: Byron, Adam, and Jordan, who are identical triplets (they're ten years

old); Vanessa, who's nine, very dreamy, and wants to be a poet; Nicky, who's eight, and gets pushed around by -his big brothers; Margo, who's seven, and likes to tease; and Claire, who's five, the baby of the family, and seems to be stuck in a silly stage. She calls everybody "silly-billy-goo-goo."

At the Pikes', something is always going on.