Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn were seated on Claudia's bed. Stacey was propped on the edge of Claudia's desk, by the phone. Before I go any further, I should probably tell you a little about my BSC friends. After that, I'll explain how the club itself works.

    Since Mal is my best friend, I'll start with her. She has curly, reddish-brown hair, freckles, and wears braces (the clear kind), and glasses. (She's dying for contacts but so far her parents say she's too young.) Mallory doesn't consider herself pretty. She hates her nose in particular. But I think someday she'll be prettier than anyone imagines, and there's so much goodness inside Mallory that after you know her awhile, she starts to look pretty.

    Mallory comes from a huge family. She's the oldest of eight kids! There are the triplets, Byron, Adam, and Jordan, who are ten. Even though they're identical it's easy to tell them apart once you get to know them. And it helps that they don't dress alike. Next comes Vanessa. She's nine and shares a room with Mal. After Vanessa is Nicky who's eight, Mar go who's seven, and Claire who is five.

    Mallory complains that there is nothing but "utter pandemonium," at her house, but I like visiting there. It's always lively and fun. I'm not sure I'd want to live at the Pike house, though. Mal doesn't get much privacy and that's hard on her.

    Aside from all the usual reasons a person wants privacy, Mal has an extra need for it since she wants to be a writer. I should say she is a writer. One of her stories won the prize for "Best Overall Fiction" in the sixth grade during a Young Author's Day contest. Mallory dreams of someday writing and illustrating her own children's books. She's so creative that I'm sure she'll be great at it.

    Mallory and I have a lot in common. We're both in the sixth grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. We both love to read, especially stories about horses. We also like mysteries, but hate horror stories. You couldn't ask for a better friend than Mallory.