We managed about twenty words between us during lunch. Nobody noticed. Emily would have, but now she sat with the Sunshine Club. They’d moved inside to a table in the center of the cafeteria—not the prime real estate by the window, but creeping closer.
Certainly not the Janitor’s Table or the Doom Squad’s courtyard exile anymore.
So we sat like a pair of cordial strangers. We’d never had a disagreement this serious before. Some small part of me kept trying to suggest that maybe he’d overreacted and it wasn’t my fault. But it was shouted down by the rest of me, the part of me that wanted things to go back to normal as soon as possible, even if that meant taking all the blame.
Because without Carter, I didn’t even have a normal to get back to.
WE WERE EARLY, so Megan parked a few doors down from the enormous, well-manicured Laird house, and we sat in the car with the windows down, listening to the contented sighs of the engine.
After about fifteen minutes, a group of happy-go-lucky girls, including Kasey, turned the corner, coming from the direction of the school. We watched from the safety of the car, like tourists on safari.
“Look,” Megan said. “They’re all wearing skirts.”
“Kasey told my mom they’re more flattering than pants,” I said.
“Only if it’s the right skirt,” Megan snorted, staring out the window. “But they all do seem to be wearing the right skirts.”
“They do everything right. Haven’t you noticed?”
Adrienne, Kasey, and Emily went up the front walk together, all shiny hair and teeth, and disappeared through the door.
Another girl crossed the street in front of the car. She looked familiar, but it took me a moment to place her.
“Megan!” I gasped. “Is that Lydia?”
For three years, Lydia Small had prided herself on being the gothiest goth ever to stomp through Surrey in her giant steel-toed boots. But this…this was…
“Impossible,” I whispered.
She was dressed like Jackie O., and her stringy black hair had been cut and blow-dried in a perfectly turned-under bob. She glanced at us, and I saw that she was fully made up, her eyebrow ring gone, her lips a demure pink.
“She wasn’t at school today,” Megan said. “I guess we know what she was doing.”
Lydia flounced over to the car and leaned on the window ledge.
“Alexis! Megan! Hi!” She ducked down to glance into the backseat. “Where’s Miss Kasey?”
“Hi,” I said. “Uh…she’s already inside. How’s it going?”
“Perfectly!” Lydia beamed, peppy as a 1960s soda-pop commercial. “How are you girls?”
“Super-duper,” I said.
“No kidding?” Lydia asked. “So. When are you two going to join the Sunshine Club? I’m telling you, you won’t regret it.” She assumed the saintly expression of a beauty pageant contestant talking about world peace. “It has totally changed my life.”
“Actually…today,” Megan replied. I was looking down at Lydia’s hand. Gone were her many skulls and plastic spiders and other assorted jewelry (a lot of which, I’m sort of embarrassed to say, were purchased on shopping trips with yours truly, back in the day). The only thing on any of her fingers was a single, gleaming gold ring.
“Lovely!” she cried.
“Yes,” I said. “Lovely.”
“Do us a favor?” Megan said. “Don’t tell Kasey you saw us. We want to surprise her.”
Lydia’s face lit up. “No way! So fun. Of course.”
She mimicked zipping her lips shut.
If only that could be a permanent setting.
Lydia flashed us another smile and bounded away, up the rose-bordered sidewalk toward the house.
“What…on earth…was that?” I asked.
“That,” Megan said, “is what the Sunshine Club is all about.”
We were the last ones inside. Pepper sat in the kitchen, eating a banana and keeping a suspicious eye on the front door. When she saw Megan and me, her jaw dropped. “What are you guys doing here?”
I shrugged. “We’re going to the meeting.”
Pepper dropped her peel in the trash. “Megan? Explain?”
Megan smiled, like the whole thing was a lark.
“Whatever.” Pepper grabbed her car keys. “I’m going to Kira’s.”
Megan knocked lightly on Mimi’s bedroom door, and Adrienne pulled it open.
“Oh my God!” she squealed. “Hi!”
Behind her, I saw my sister’s face turn white. But Megan and I pushed our way in, and there was nothing Kasey could say in front of the other girls.
The ten of us fit in Mimi’s bedroom with room to spare. It was pristine, like an ad in a decorating magazine—the perfect backdrop for the array of immaculately dressed girls, wearing blissful, self- satisfied smiles, legs crossed at the ankle, posture perfect.
The whole room fell silent when Adrienne went to her bag and lifted out a large object wrapped in midnight-blue velvet. She set it on the dresser and unwrapped it, then held it in front of herself while everyone in the room sat perfectly still.
You had to admit—it was quite a book.
Ten inches wide, sixteen inches tall. The cover was leather, densely embossed with runes and symbols—stars, moons, vines, Celtic knots.
For a moment, I considered just grabbing it and taking off, but then Adrienne spoke.
“We protect your dwelling with our blood and our lives,” she said, in the vague drone of a pod person.
“We protect your dwelling with our blood and our lives,” everyone repeated.
Megan and I glanced at each other. They did not sound like they were kidding.
Even if I did manage to wrench the book out of her hands, there were five girls between me and the door. Self-defense training or no, odds were I’d never make it.
Adrienne broke into a smile. “I’m thrilled to announce that Alexis and Megan are joining us today! Alexis was one of the first upperclasswomen I met at Surrey, and she was so nice to me, even though she’s popular and has a boyfriend and I was a gross loser. And of course, Megan is well-known for her leadership.”
The way Adrienne talked about herself, you’d think she was dishing on some sad reject—not the sweet, well-meaning girl she’d been a few short weeks before.
“Megan and Alexis.” Adrienne could hardly speak through her giant smile. “Please stand.”
Stand? I glanced at Kasey, whose face was buried in her hands.
Suddenly I felt like maybe we should have thought this whole thing through a little more.
I got to my feet, my heart beating as if I’d climbed ten flights of stairs. Megan stood next to me.
“Please put these on your ring fingers.” She passed each of us a thin gold ring. I slipped it over my finger. Adrienne looked into my eyes, her gaze as smooth as a polished stone. “Place your right hand on the book, and repeat after me.”
Megan blinked with alarm and obeyed. Angling my body, I lifted my left hand and set it against the underside of the open book, hoping Adrienne wouldn’t notice. And if she did, I could just pretend I was confused.
But she didn’t notice.
“Geallaim dílseachta…”
“Geallaim dílseachta…”
She went through a whole long spiel of words that were nothing but nonsense—to us and to her, I could tell. I repeated as well as I could.
“A tu, Aralt,” Adrienne said with finality.
“A tu, Aralt,” we repeated.
My nerves felt like a writhing bundle of live wires.
Adrienne gently closed the book and leaned in to give us a kiss on each cheek.
“Our sisters,” she said.
Everyone clapped politely. A path cleared back to my seat on the bed, and I sank down, trying to figure out if I felt different. I felt on edge, somehow, but that was probably adrenaline. After all, I’d taken an oath in a language I didn’t understand to a supernatural being I knew nothing about.
An o
ath. Why hadn’t Kasey said anything about an oath?
It occurred to me that maybe she’d planned this all along. She had to know that Megan and I wouldn’t just leave the subject alone…just because we’d said we would.
No. She’d been shocked to see us. And she didn’t look happy. She really believed she could fix this herself.
But an oath…
I caught sight of myself in the mirror over Mimi’s vanity and was struck by how dumpy and unkempt I looked, especially in contrast to the perfection surrounding me. My forehead and nose gleamed with oil. I raised my sleeve to try to wipe my face.
Someone gave my arm a gentle pat, and I looked up to find myself staring into Lydia’s untroubled eyes. She smiled reassuringly.
“What a joy,” Adrienne said. “Now, sisters, let’s get down to business. Does anyone feel called to start off Betterment?”
Betterment?
For a moment, no one said anything, and then a hand rose. “Monika?” Adrienne said.
The girl she’d called on, a tall brunette, stood up. “Everyone looks wonderful today,” she said, her glance traveling quickly past me. “But I noticed at lunch that some girls were eating very large portions. Small meals in public, and then eat in the bathroom if you’re still hungry. You know we want to appear our best, inside and out.” She sighed and continued with a mournful it has to be said air. “I’m talking about Emily and Paige.”
For a few long, uncomfortable seconds, everyone stared at Emily and Paige, who ducked their heads and gazed at the carpet.
It went on for another ten minutes, girls being called out for infractions of an extremely strict and meticulous behavior and dress code. Even Adrienne was chastised for the length of her skirt—more than three finger-widths higher than her kneecaps.
Megan looked at me, her eyes asking when we were going to make our move. Then I watched as her gaze traveled to the mirror, and her eyes narrowed in distaste.
I didn’t understand—she looked fine. Just as good as any of the other girls, maybe better. I was the ugly one.
After bettering each other through the magic of nitpickery, we listened to Adrienne give a pep talk about the qualities of a successful young woman.
It was fine, I guess, if you wanted to spend every waking hour at constant attention, never relaxing, never letting down your guard. But how could a group of teenage girls keep it up? By the end of the hour, I felt like we’d been through a self-help seminar at a religious cult.
The thing was, for the time being, Aralt only seemed to want his Sunshine Club girls to be pretty, fashionable, thoughtful, and well-spoken.
It was kind of twisted—but was it evil?
“All right, everybody, that’s it,” Adrienne said, closing the book and setting it on the dresser. “Stay sunny!”
With the meeting over, all of the girls wanted to welcome Megan and me personally. There would have been no way for us to grab the book without being noticed. They held our hands and looked into our eyes and said sweet and encouraging things, like something out of a sorority in the 1950s.
“I can’t wait to see you…after,” Emily said, giving my hands a squeeze.
“After what?” I asked.
Her smile faltered. “Well…after…”
“Remember: the only people we’re called to judge are ourselves,” Lydia said. “Except during Betterment, obviously.”
Emily hurried away, leaving me alone with Lydia.
“Welcome, Alexis,” she said, touching my shoulder.
“Thanks.” I tried to act like the other girls were acting, a peculiar blend of eyes-down modesty and utter self-consciousness about the way they held themselves and moved.
“I know you don’t totally get it yet,” she said. “But it’s only your first meeting. Let me tell you—I didn’t even really want to join.” She lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “I thought the whole thing was a joke.”
“No kidding.”
“Then I took the oath, and suddenly it all made sense.”
I was starting to feel like I’d had enough of this for one day. “I’m so glad for you.”
“Anyway, you have to let me do your hair.”
I’d been drifting, but that snapped me back to attention. “Do what to it?”
She laughed. “Fix it. You can’t leave it all…pink and…unfinished. A real lady doesn’t need flashy clothes or dyed hair.”
“Or eyebrow rings?” I asked.
“Exactly!” Lydia grinned like I’d finally gotten it. “She has poise, charm, and intelligence.”
“I think…I’ll just wait a few days,” I said.
Lydia’s joy evaporated. “Why would you do that?”
Obviously I couldn’t tell her that I intended to destroy the book that night, thereby removing any need to try to impress Aralt.
“You represent us now, Alexis,” Lydia said. “You’re not a single person anymore. You’re one of many.”
“Good point,” I said. “I just can’t tonight. I have a huge project to finish.” I smiled apologetically. “Gotta keep those grades up!”
“I guess.” She tried to hide her displeasure but did a pretty bad job. “Well, I’m around, as soon as you’re ready.”
Over by the bed, Megan and Kasey were busily talking to Adrienne. I edged closer to listen to them.
“And I’m excited about all the meetings and the improving and the—Alexis!” Megan said, turning to me. “I’m telling Adrienne and Kasey how much I look forward to growing and improving!”
It was totally obvious to me that she was acting. And Kasey was just as manic. But Adrienne was so delighted by their gushing enthusiasm that she just looked from one to the other while they fluttered around her like a couple of hyperactive fruit flies.
Then I saw what Megan and Kasey were doing as they talked: packing up their book bags.
Megan kept pushing. “I’m just so elated! Aren’t you, Alexis? I’m, like, beyond…”
Beyond sanity, I thought. But I had to pull my own weight. “Yeah,” I said. “Totally. I’m totally, I mean…I can imagine that this is going to be a great opportunity to…uh…grow. And, like, improve.”
“Yes!” Adrienne said, practically glowing. “Totally!”
“Okay, that’s everything!” Kasey said. “Let’s go.”
“Oh—” Adrienne said, looking around. “My bag.”
“I packed it for you,” Megan said. “I wanted to help! I love helping! I love being part of a sisterhood!”
Adrienne blinked a couple of times. There might have been a tear glinting in her eye. “Wow…thanks, Megan.”
“Yay!” Megan said, giving Adrienne a hug. I thought she was kind of laying it on a little thick, but Adrienne was loving it. She “yayed” back and stared dazedly at Megan, like a little kid presented with the most magnificent birthday cake in the world.
“We should drive Adrienne home,” Kasey said. “It’s a long walk.”
Adrienne blushed and self-consciously adjusted the hem of her pink blouse. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Oh my gosh, of course we do!” Megan squealed. “We’re sisters!”
As soon as Adrienne disappeared inside her house, Megan flopped back against her seat.
“Holy buckets,” she said. “I feel like my eyes are about to pop out of my skull.”
“‘I love helping?’” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
Megan shot me an annoyed glance. “We got the book, didn’t we?”
I turned to see Kasey sitting in the backseat, staring out the window. “Thanks a lot, by the way,” I said. “Love the thing with the oath. Really appreciate you mentioning that. It was great. Just marvelous.”
Her face contorted with indignance. “You said you’d let me take care of it!”
“You should have told us the whole truth!”
She sat up. “You didn’t even tell part of the truth, Lexi!”
“Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t,” I said. “If you didn’t know enough to k
now that the oath was, like, the most important detail of the whole thing, you could never have figured it out on your own any-way.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Megan said. “We’re going to trash the book, and it’ll be a nonissue.”
My sister leaned forward, her face between the two front seats. “Maybe I didn’t bring it up because I knew you guys would butt in if I did!”
“Hey!” Megan snapped. “Stay sunny!”
Kasey folded her arms and slumped back.
I distracted myself by switching on the radio and searching for something good. Or at least loud.
I briefly considered telling them about how I’d foiled the oath with my left-hand switcheroo, but what would be the point?
A wave of foreboding passed through me, almost like a premonition of danger.
But danger was what we were avoiding, by destroying Aralt’s power center. We’d be getting rid of him before he could come collecting on whatever promises the Sunshine Club had made.
“So let’s make an actual plan for destroying the book,” I said, as Megan made the turn into Silver Sage Acres.
“If it’s not waterproof ink,” Kasey said, “we could dump it in the hot tub by the community pool.”
“That would ruin the hot tub.” Frankly, I was more afraid of the homeowners’ association than of Aralt. “We need an incinerator.”
“A grill?” Megan asked.
“Yeah, that would work,” I said. “We can use the one near the playground.”
We sent Kasey inside to make a snack tray—really, we just needed her out of the way—while Megan and I looked for grilling supplies in the garage.
I hoisted the bag of briquettes over my shoulder and turned to go. “I’ll carry the charcoal and the book,” I said. “Can you bring the lighter fluid and ask Kasey for matches?”
I walked across the street to the tiny park and spread the charcoal out in the grill. Then I delicately set the book, velvet wrapper and all, on the metal surface.
Staring at it, a beautiful piece of handcrafted artistry, I felt a sudden twinge at the thought of dousing it in lighter fluid and setting it on fire.
But then I remembered the way, the previous year, Kasey’s evil doll almost convinced me to hide it and kill my family to keep it safe.