Abby's Un-Valentine, #127

As stated in previous Abby posts, I never read any of hers because I had aged out of the series before she arrived (I say “aged out” like I’m not a 30-something mother of two who is currently reading these for pleasure in 2020).

So, Valentine’s Day approaches in the Brook (nope, not that one). We find out in our standard Chapter 2 bio of the BSC that Mallory is away at boarding school (I seriously need to read the books that lead up to that, because, what the what? What transpired in the Brook to make Mallory voluntarily leave the BSC to go to boarding school? Apparently there was some bullying? And how do the Pikes', with their near baseball team sized family, afford boarding school?). Anyway. So, Mallory, like Dawn, is now an honorary member, and Shannon has been coming to meetings to help fill-in. Abby gives us her family history as well - she has asthma and is allergic to practically everything (milk, shellfish, cat litter - I...I didn't know that last one was possible), while her identical twin sister, Anna, has no allergies whatsoever. They both wear glasses, but Abby tends to use contacts more often. Their favorite movie is The Parent Trap (the Hayley Mills version - this was pre-LiLo), and she states that they used to twin swap when they were younger. I'm sure that won't be significant at all later. Just forget I ever mentioned it.

So, at the BSC meetings, the girls are all discussing the upcoming Valentine's dance. Stacey is going with her 15 year old boyfriend from NYC, Ethan, who apparently is coming to Stoneybrook just for the dance. That guy must not have much of a social life. MA is with Logan, of course, and Claudia is with Josh, her boyfriend from when she was temporarily sent back to the 7th grade. Abby is not feeling the romantic spirit at all, thinks the holiday is lame and reeks of commercialism, and she has no desire to go to the dance, even just with her friends. She goes as far to state that she has no desire for a boyfriend yet (which, to give her credit, is mature for a 13 year old to admit, most girls, even if they weren't ready, would be caving to peer pressure to date at that age). Abs just want to focus on her true love: soccer. As she says, "invented by men, perfected by women". 

Megan Rapinoe approves.

So, cut to school the next day, and Abby is at her locker. Ross Brown, whom we have never heard about and likely never will again, approaches Abby and basically starts to flirt. Abby, clueless, just jokes around with him and goes to English class, where, of course, they are studying Shakespearean sonnets to go with the holiday. All the girls in class are waxing poetic over the poems being about love, while Abby is like, "love being compared to a summer's day means that it is nice, but summer doesn't last forever - you get winter, fall, storms, etc." The teacher rolls her eyes, while I'm over here secretly impressed at that. Ross, who is also in the class, speaks up to agree with Abby, and keeps doing so no matter what comment she makes in class (we can all see where this is going, right?). He continues to flirt between classes, then eventually asks her to the dance. Abby's response? "No". Short and simple, to the point.

At the next BSC meeting, when Abby shares her story, the girls (meaning Stacey, Claudia, and Mary Anne) immediately start getting on to her, saying that she should have said yes, even if she didn't like him like that, just to give him a chance, and she may change her mind (seriously, how many guys did we waste time on based on trash advice like this from our friends?). Abby repeats that she is not interested and won't be going to the dance, frustrated that no one is backing her up. Even back at home, she is not getting much support. Anna, who is depressed that she doesn't have a date to the dance, also thinks that Abby should give Ross a chance, because she thinks he is cute (*cough* foreshadowing *cough*). Abby goes over to Kristy's house on Saturday, even though they aren't close (Abs thinks Special K is too bossy), because Kristy is the only one not acting sappy about V Day. Kristy tells Abby about how she used to date Bart, but how she broke up with him when she realized that she only dated him because she felt pressure to be more like Mary Anne and Logan, and how she regrets that it ruined her friendship with Bart. She tells Abby to keep standing firm in her convictions, that she is doing the right thing. One of the few times I agree with Kristy over the rest of the BSC, mad respect.

At school on Monday, Abby finds a carnation on the floor leaning against her locker, with a poem attached:

"Although she cannot the sound of music hear, her name is music unto mine ear. And if roses make her sneeze, perhaps this carnation will then please. For Abby and the flowers are one, but she is the fairest flower under the sun."

Abby sneezes and shoves it into her locker. Ross continues to leave her gifts, including a book of New Yorker cartoons (just random for a 13 year old?). About this time, Abby has the realization that Ross fell for the wrong twin, that he has much more in common with Anna, but he still keeps pursuing her, even when she keeps saying no. At the next BSC meeting, when Abby is complaining about the whole situation, Stacey smugly tells Abby that she told Ross to buy the cartoons because she knew Abby liked them. Abs. Is. Furious. and asks Stacey why she would do that when Abby has made it clear that she doesn't like Ross. Stacey says that Abby is being ridiculous and should basically go out with anyone who asks. And that sets it off. I quote:

A: "I would never, ever, ever go out with someone just for the sake of going out with someone. I'll never be that desperate and dishonest."

Claudia and Stacey, furious. S: "Are you saying I do that?"

A: "If the shoe fits."

I can only hear that in Daveed Diggs' voice now.

Thankfully, the clock strikes six, and Abby escapes hastily. On the way home with Kristy, Abby asks K's brother Charlie's advice. Charlie says she should be completely clear with Ross and give back all the gifts she got, that way there would be no confusion. Abby decides to invite Ross over to her house for the Talk, but due to series of slapstick coincidences (Anna wears Abby's favorite shirt, Abby is wearing glasses instead of her usual contacts, yada, yada, yada), Ross walks in and immediately thinks that Anna is Abby. Neither correct him right away, and Anna and Ross immediately hit it off, talking about their mutual love of classical music (Anna plays violin). Ross gets pissed when he finds out they switched on him, but Abby and Anna apologize and Ross ends up asking Anna to the dance.

The next BSC meeting, Abby apologizes for snapping at the club (although it was very deserved), and Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne apologize for not listening to Abby in the first place. The day of the dance comes, and Abby decides to go out with Kristy for pizza and a horror movie (honestly, that sounds way more fun than a middle school dance to me, sign me up). 

Valentine’s Fashion!!

What Claudia wore: “Today she was dressed in ski-lodge mode. That meant a woolly sweater, long black tights with thick blue socks, and hiking boots. But those weren’t just any hiking boots - they were tied with little snowflakes on the ends. They’d also been decorated - by Claudia - with a motif of snow-capped mountains running along the outside of each boot. Claudia’s sweater was blue, white, and gray with a snowflake-patterned yoke. (What the hell is a yoke?) It was enormous, stretching almost to her knees. Her hair was pulled back in a long French braid. From one ear dangled a silver earring in the shape of a pair of crossed skis, and from the other ear a small silver polar bear.”

Stacey: “For today she was wearing a short dark brown leather skirt over pale stockings. She had on these cool boots that came to just above her knees. Her sweater was the color of butter, and it looked unbelievably soft. There were three pearl buttons at the collar, Stacey had left two of them unbuttoned. Her blonde hair was pulled into a French braid, and she was wearing what looked like real pearl earrings.”

Very Sabrina Spellman.

Welcome to the BSC, Abby, #90

My first official Abby book!! I've actually grown to like Abby in the books that I've read with her so far, she has an oddball/pun-tastic sense of humor that I can appreciate. Hey, someone has to have a sense of humor in the BSC. Abby's cover outfit looks totally like Mrs. Claus, by the way, kind of awesome. 

So this book is mainly Abby's introduction, with background info and personality reveals, with just a little bit of outside plot thrown in the mix. So let's meet Abby Stevenson, shall we? Abby is twelve years old, she is in 8th grade, just hasn't had her birthday yet, that is featured in a later book, I believe. She describes herself as outgoing, outspoken, and athletic, which almost seems like another Kristy, but she manages to speak her mind without coming across as bossy, which is refreshing. Plus, unlike Kristy, when Abby says "athletic," she means it literally, because she is on the SMS soccer team, even though she has asthma and suffers from severe allergies. And as mentioned above, she has a pretty good sense of humor, combination snarky/goofy. 

Ab Fab has a twin sister named Anna, who was also invited to join the BSC after Dawn moved back to Cali (apparently this happened at the end of the previous book, which I haven't read yet, because what's the fun of reading in order?). However, Anna turned down the BSC invite, because she wanted to have enough time for her violin lessons, and apparently her "sorry, not sorry" shocked the BSC, because who would turn down the chance to join the Stoneybrook Mafia? I wonder if Anna would still be allowed to eat lunch at the BSC table... The Stevenson family (Abby, Anna, and Mrs. Stevenson, dad died in a car accident when they were 9) moved to the 'Brook from Long Island, and live in Kristy's neighborhood. Mamma S works in NYC and takes to train every day there and back (which just baffles me, why would they move that far away from her job, that's a two hour commute one way - and I thought my 40 minute bus ride to work was bad, sheesh...). Basically, Mrs. S is rarely home, plus Anna is wrapped up in music and Abby in sports, so the family isn't particularly close at this time. Oh, and they are Jewish, which I guess was AMM's way of adding another element of diversity to the BSC.

So, in BSC land, Abby goes to her first meeting, and feels very much like an outsider. She describes the BSC as three sets of best friends (Kristy-Mary Anne, Claudia-Stacey, and Jessi-Mallory), and she knows that even Dawn was BFFs with MA as well, so that makes her feel a little lonely. I never really gave that any thought, how hard it would be for a new person to try to join that group, but I give Abby credit, she seemed to hold her own. Dawn calls during a meeting at some point, and she talks to Abby for awhile, which made Abby feel like she was finally a part of the club. However, she still refers to Kristy, in her own internal monologue, as "the supposed Queen of Great Ideas." Love the snark, Ab Fab, and love that you aren't intimidated by Kristy.

Anyway, Abs takes a sitting job for the Papadikas kids, but has a severe asthma attack while there. Linny, the oldest, runs inside to call an ambulance, and Hannie runs across the street to Kristy's house. Kristy comes over to finish the sitting job while Abby goes to the ER. She recovers just fine, but the next time Kristy sees her, she grills Abby about her condition, and even though Abby assures her that attacks that severe are rare, Special K still questions if Abby can handle babysitting with her asthma (she seemed much more accepting of Stacey's diabetes...). The next several meetings, Kristy assigns jobs to other sitters, even giving some to the associate members over Abby. Ab Fab gets pissed off, but then all of a sudden Kristy apparently decides that Abby has passed whatever mental game K was throwing at her, and starts giving her jobs again, without giving an explanation.

And in the other subplot, SMS is talking about cutting the music and art programs, so the community bands together to throw a carnival to raise money. Of course, the BSC has a booth, the BSC charges have booths, and each BSC family has a booth, and enough money ends up getting raised. Abby's mom even promises to catch an early train home to help volunteer, but when Abby is at the carnival, word starts to spread that the train from New York has derailed. They try calling Mrs. Stevenson's cellphone (this is the early days of cellphones, wonder if she had a Zack Morris phone), but can't get any response. Finally, Abby and Anna catch a ride to the train station, but still can't find out any news. At last, a train pulls in, and Mrs. Stevenson gets off. It turns out that the train right before hers derailed, and they were stuck behind the wreck, and she had left her cellphone at work. They have a heart to heart, and even talk about their dad, and all is well in the Stevenson household again. So much feels...

BSC Fashion presents...nothing. Not one single outfit description. In the words of Regina George, "Boo, you whore." So since Abby represented the Claus look on the cover, here is the best I can do: