apple cider. [claudia kishi.]

the truth about stacey.

"NEED A SITTER? i came up with that!" kristy scoffed.

ava stared at mary anne's ipad for a few more seconds, recognizing the face of whoever that annoying blonde girl was from the video.

kristy moved from her usual chair near the phone, crossing her arms. her face contorted in irritation.

"those girls are definitely in high school." claudia started. "why don't they loiter at the mall like normal teenagers?" she emphasized on 'normal.'

"wait," ava interrupted. "that... that's the girl we gave a flyer to!" her eyebrows furrowed in disdain.

"no one's gonna hire them instead of us, right?" mary anne asked, concerned for their business. she looked over at her blond friend. "stacey?"

stacey hesitated to answer for a moment then shook her head, "no, definitely not."

"madam secretary," kristy called. "will you please read our upcoming jobs?"

mary anne read the contents on her google docs. "stacey is sitting for charlotte johanssen thursday, claudia is with the three youngest pikes, i'm with the marshalls saturday and sunday, ava's with the jacksons later," mary anne looked up at the group. "plus the newton's new baby is on its way any minute!"

everyone smiled and squealed, geeking over the newborn baby newton. the girls overlapped their chatter, while ava stared at claudia's wall full of her given butterfly origamis to claudia. honestly, it made her room prettier by how colorful they were.

the girls continue to clamor then kristy realized that they're getting off-track. she cleared her throat to get the attention of her group.

"kim said last month that she's really gonna rely on the club to watch jamie in the early days." mary anne informed.

"so then we're thriving! the baby-sitters agency doesn't stand a chance. it's just proof of our success. they're trying to get a piece of our action, so we need to differentiate ourselves from the competition." kristy went quiet as she thinks of an idea.

her eyes widened, standing up in realization. "kid kits."

everyone stared at their president, confused.

""oh, kristy, what's a kid kit?" well, i'm so glad you asked." she sarcastically said, she grabbed a box from under claudia's desk. "mary anne, why do i love going over to your house so much?"

"'cause you're together?" ava blurted out quietly, assuming the two were together. the rest heard that, kristy and mary anne stared at each other. the braided-haired girl looked away, her cheeks heating up.

claudia nudged ava, "aves!"

"what?" ava looked confused and innocent. "i mean, they are bestfriends. natural for them to be together." she defended, totally not because there's a hidden meaning.

"...because it doesn't smell like a teenage boy?" mary anne replied to kristy's question, uncertain about her answer. claudia and stacey laughed at that.

"fair, but no." kristy grabbed a bunch of claudia's belongings, putting them on the box. "because your dad has every board game known to man! and, stacey..." she looked over to her blond friend, "well, actually, i've never been inside your house before. but i'm sure you've got loads of great stuff." she quickly reassured.