Next I imagined Dawn packing. When I thought of her, I could picture Mary Anne packing in the next bedroom. Why are Dawn Schafer and Mary Anne Spier in the same house? Because they're stepsisters, that's why. See, Mary Anne's mom died when Mary Anne was just a baby. So she grew up with her father, who was sort of strict with her. Her life was lonely, I think. Thank goodness she used to live next door to Kristy. Kristy is one of her two best friends. (Her other best friend is Dawn.) Anyway, when Stacey/ Mary Anne, Kristy, and I were about halfway through seventh grade, Dawn, her mom, and her younger brother, Jeff, moved to Stoneybrook fromCalifornia . Dawn's parents were getting divorced, and her mom had grown up in Stoneybrook. Dawn and Mary Anne became friends pretty quickly. But they never imagined they'd become stepsisters. It all started when they discovered that Mary Anne's father and Dawn's mother had been high-school sweethearts years ago. Boy, were my friends surprised! But they were sneaky, too. They found ways to get their parents together every now and then, and before they knew it, Mr. Spier and Mrs. Schafer were dating (again). Now they're married. Mary Anne, her dad, and her kitten, Tig-ger, moved into the Schafers' farmhouse, where they live happily. Oh, except for the fact that Jeff isn't with them anymore. Jeff never adjusted to life inConnecticut , so he moved back toCalifornia and his dad even before Dawn and Mary Anne became stepsisters.

Let me see. Dawn, who's individualistic and pretty self-confident, would be packing her own personal style of clothes, which the rest of us think of as "Californiacasual." (In my opinion, Dawn would look good in anything.