But one called over his shoulder, "See you later . . . Crocodiles!" Jessi and the younger Pike kids went home that afternoon feeling both triumphant and embarrassed.

But Mal barely felt a thing. Her mind was in outer space.

Chapter 6.

"Hello, Baby-sitters Club. How may we help you?" I was at another BSC meeting. It had just begun and I had just taken the first call of the day.

"Oh, hi, Mrs. Prezzioso," I said. I rolled my eyes at my fellow dub members. Jenny, the Prezziosos' only child, is not exactly our favorite kid to sit for. We like almost all of our sitting charges - a lot - but when Mrs. P. calls, most of us moan and groan. That's because Jenny is a spoiled brat. "Saturday?" I repeated. "From ten until three? Okay, I'll check it out and get back to you. 'Bye." I hung up.

"Mrs. P. needs a sitter on Saturday," I told my friends.

"I hope I'm busy," said Stacey, who was sitting on the bed this time, while Dawn sat in the desk chair.

We laughed. Then Mary Anne checked the appointment pages in the record book. "You are," she told Stacey. "So are Jessi, Claud, and Kristy." Stacey, Jessi, Claudia, and I breathed sighs of relief.

Mal, Dawn, and Mary Anne looked pained.

Then they all started saying things like, "You take the job, Mal. You're saving up for that set of books." Or, "You take it, Dawn. Babysitting for Jenny will be ... character-building." "Thank you," said Dawn, "but I have enough character already." Finally Mary Anne said, "Oh, I'll sit for Jenny. I usually end up with the Jenny-jobs. I can handle her." So I called Mrs. P. back to tell her Mary Anne would be sitting. Then the seven of us waited for the phone to ring again. It didn't, and finally Claud said, "Tell us more about Susan, Kristy." I had sat for Susan twice since I'd first met her on Friday, so there was a fair amount to tell my friends.

"Autism," I began, "is so strange. It's like Susan is keeping a secret from the world.