Free Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls by Ann M. Martin Page B

door?”
    â€œOh,
those?”
replied Mary Anne. “Those are just … just … Actually, they were sort of a burglar alarm. I meant to put them away before you got home.”
    Kristy began to giggle. Charlie snorted.
    â€œAnd my stereo?” asked Kristy.
    Mary Anne demonstrated the back-door alarm, this time with the volume turned down.
    â€œIngenious,” commented Watson.
    â€œIt certainly looks as if David Michael is safe with you,” said Mrs. Thomas.
    Mary Anne nodded. She knew she was blushing furiously.
    â€œYou could start another business of your own,” said Sam. “Mary Anne’s Surefire Alarm Systems.”
    Mary Anne blushed even more furiously.
    â€œCome on,” said Kristy after Mrs. Thomas had paid Mary Anne. “I’ll walk you home.” And she did.

Boy trouble.
    So far, the Baby-sitters Club had managed to keep boys and boy trouble pretty much out of the meetings.
    But not on Monday, October twenty-seventh. At that meeting, we were trying to discuss baby-sitting problems, but the subject of boys kept coming up instead. Kristy started it.
    â€œDo you know what Alan Gray did to me today?” she asked, a look of pure disgust on her face.
    â€œWhat made you think of Alan Gray?” I asked. We’d been talking about Charlotte Johanssen.
    â€œEverything makes me think about him,” said Kristy, throwing her hands in the air. “He bothers me all the time, every single second of every single day.”
    â€œHe’s not bothering you right now,” said Mary Anne.
    â€œYes, he is. He bothers me just by living. Alan Gray is so horrible whenever he’s around me that he’s all I can think about.”
    â€œSo what did he do to you today?” asked Stacey.
    â€œHe hid my math homework, and then when it was time to hand it in and I couldn’t find it, he jumped up and said to Mr. Peters, ‘Excuse me, but I know where Kristy’s paper is. Her little brother ate it. Kristy wouldn’t give him breakfast, and he was starving.’”
    I giggled.
    Kristy turned on me, eyes flashing.
    â€œWell, I’m sorry, I think it’s kind of funny.”
    â€œYou would.”
    â€œOh, Kristy,” I said with a laugh. “Calm down.”
    â€œBut it’s not just that,” she went on. (I could see that Kristy was determined to be upset.) “I think he’s getting worse. On Friday, he hid my shoes. On Thursday, he called me a skinny pipsqueak in front of the class, and twice last week I caught him looking in my desk in the morning. Every day it’s something. He never stops.”
    â€œWhy don’t you talk to … to Sam about it?” suggested Stacey.
    â€œMy own
brother?
No way. Besides, he’d neverunderstand. He’s girl crazy. You should have seen who—or maybe I should say
what
—he took to the movies last Friday. She’s a freshman in high school, and she had spiky yellow hair with green stuff at the ends and these little lace gloves with the fingertips cut out. Now, what is the point of wearing gloves if—”
    Kristy stopped talking when she realized that the rest of us were staring at her.
    â€œWhat? What is it?” she finally asked. Then she noticed Stacey, who was sitting on my bed, gazing sadly down at her hands.
    â€œSam took a high school girl to the movies?” she asked softly.
    â€œYeah, I—Oh, no. Stacey, I’m sorry.” Kristy had forgotten all about Stacey’s crush on Sam. “I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything. He is interested in you. Really.”
    â€œThen what about that girl—”
    â€œTamara? You mean, why did he take her to the movies? Honestly, I don’t know. But she was so weird Sam’ll never be serious about her. I’m positive. I think he went out with her just to shake Mom up.”
    â€œI thought he liked me,” said Stacey.
    â€œHe does, he does,” Kristy assured