ster fade into the background as I thought about my friends.

My best friend is Mary Anne Spier, the secretary of the club. (I am the president.) I used to live next door to her until Mom married Watson. Before I moved to Watson's, Mary Anne and I had grown up together. I lived with my mom and my brothers and my father — until he moved out. But Mary Anne lived with just her father, since her mother died when Mary Anne was really little.

Mr. Spier was very strict, raising Mary Anne on his own. He made up all these rules for her, but as Mary Anne has grown up, he's relaxed a lot. Maybe because her father was so strict, or maybe just because it's her nature, Mary Anne is shy and sensitive and cries easily. (She's just the opposite of me. I'm outgoing and have a big mouth, and it takes a lot to make me cry.) Mary Anne is also romantic and, although she's shy, she's the only one of us to have a steady boyfriend. His name is Logan Bruno, and he's funny and understanding, but I think he and Mary Anne have been having some problems lately.

Believe it or not, Mary Anne and I sort of look alike. We're both short (I'm the shortest in my class), and we both have brown hair and brown eyes. Mary Anne used to dress like

a baby, since she had to do whatever her father said, but now that he's loosened up, Mary Anne's clothes have changed from little-girl to, well, not exactly sophisticated, but maybe almost trendy.

In the last few months Mary Anne has gone through some BIG changes, which I'll fill you in on, but first I have to tell you about Dawn Schafer. Dawn is what we call the club's alternate officer, and she is Mary Anne's other best friend. Dawn, her younger brother, Jeff, and her mom moved to Stoneybrook last year when we were in the middle of seventh grade. They moved because her parents had gotten a divorce, and Mrs. Schafer wanted to come back to the town where she'd been raised. This was fine for her, but not so easy for Dawn and Jeff, who had grown up inCalifornia . Dawn missesCalifornia but likes Stoneybrook okay. With Jeff, the story was different. He never adjusted to his new home, so after several months he moved back toCalifornia to live with his father. Dawn misses that half of her family terribly and visits them as often as she can. However, she now has a new father and a stepsister. And guess who her stepsister is — Mary Anne!