#7: Claudia and Mean Janine (1987)
"Anyway, on that busy Wednesday morning, I finished dressing in my favorite art class outfit - black jeans, a giant bright blue t-shirt, and a snake bracelet that I wore above my elbow - and ran downstairs."
#6: Kristy's Big Day (1987)
"Claudia Kishi, our vice president and a junk food addict, was prowling around her room, trying to remember where she'd hidden a large bag of M&Ms. She was wearing one of her usual outrageous outfits: a black leotard and skintight red pants under a white shirt that was so big it looked like a lab coat. Claudia' s a wonderful artist and she had decorated the shirt herself, covering it with designs painted in acrylic. She had pinned her long, black hair back at the sides with red clips."
"Mimi knows how much I like to dress up. It's very important to me. I think clothes make a statement about the person inside them. Also, since you have to get dressed every day, why not at least make it fun? Traditional clothes look boring and are boring to put on. So I never wear them. I like bright colors and big patterns and funny touches, such as earrings made from feathers. Maybe this is because I'm an artist. I don't know. Today, for instance, I'm wearing purple pants that stop just below my knees and are held up with suspenders, white tights with clocks on them, a purple plaid shirt with a matching hat, my high-top sneakers, and lobster earrings. Clothes like these are my trademark."
"Recently I haven't felt quite as comfortable visiting Claudia as I used to. This year she had to go and start growing up faster than us. She's wearing a bra, and the way she talks, you'd think boys had just been invented.
She acts like all the guys in the seventh grade aren't the same goony boys they were last year. Last year, the boys were saying 'want some abc gum?' and then handing us the gum out of their mouths, saying 'it's already-been-chewed, get it?' and laughing hysterically. Last year, the boys were giving us noogies on our arms and throwing spitballs at us. Last year, the boys were pulling our chairs out from under us when we stood up to answer questions. This year (if you listen to Claudia), the boys are heroes. Personally, I don't see any change.
I rang the Kishi's bell. Claudia came to the door. She was wearing short, very baggy lavender plaid overalls, a white lacy blouse, a black fedora, and red high-top sneakers without socks. Her long black hair was carefully arranged in four braids. I felt extremely blah compared to her.
I was so used to seeing Claudia in outfits like that that I didn't bat an eye. What I did notices was that she was wearing makeup. There was blue stuff on her eyelids, gold stuff above her eyes, and magenta stuff on her cheeks.
'Claudia,' I gasped. 'Your face! You look like' - I couldn't stop myself in time - 'you got made up for the circus . . . I mean . . . it's so colorful . . .'
'Thanks a lot.'
'No, honestly Claud. You don't need makeup. You've got such a beautiful face . . .'
'Oh, you just think it's exotic,' said Claudia.
Well, maybe I do. Claudia's parents are originally from Japan. They came to the United States when they were very young. Claudia has silky, jet-black hair, dark eyes, and creamy skin without so much as a trace of a pimple. She's absolutely gorgeous. But she has this wild streak in her that makes her buy belts made of feathers and wear knee socks with palm trees on them. Makeup was something new, though."
I've retained a troubling amount of information about books I read during my childhood.
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