Chapter 2.

    "EvenFlo baby bottle liners!" cried Mal.

    "A bust-developer!" I crowed.

    "I think my brothers and sisters are truly looney-tunes," added Mallory. "Every last one of them." "How long have they been 'ordering stuff'?" I wanted to know.

    "For about a week." Mal and I were pedaling our bikes to Claudia Kishi's house, where the BSC meeting would be held. "It started when Adam was looking through the back of one of his comic books and found an ad for something called 'fool's gold.' The ad said he could order his very own piece of fool's gold - in a quality felt pouch with a drawstring - for just fifty cents. So he did. And he and the other kids have been ordering things ever since. None of it has arrived yet, though." We rode up Claud's driveway and chained our bikes to the lamppost. Then we ran along the front walk and let ourselves inside. (All the BSC members do that. The Kishis don't mind.) "Hello!" I called as we ran upstairs to Claudia's room.

    "Hello!" Claud's voice drifted back to us. Claud is the vice-president of the BSC, I'm the treasurer, and Mallory is a junior officer.

    Claudia Kishi is my very best friend in the entire world, and I am hers, even though we have only known each other since the beginning of seventh grade, when I moved to Stoneybrook for the first time. Like most best friends, Claud and I are practically twins in some ways, and true opposites in other ways. We are opposites in terms of our family situations and our looks. As you know, I have no brothers and sisters, and my parents are divorced. Claudia has an older sister (Janine the Genius) and her parents are happily married. Also, Claud has never moved.