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“Megan.” My voice was thin and strained and so pathetic that I hated myself. “What’s going on? Did I do something wrong?”
Her nostrils flared. “No, of course not.”
“Then why won’t you—”
“I can’t believe Carter and Zoe are together,” she said, studying her bracelet. “It’s so weird.”
I had to make a conscious effort not to squeeze my cup until it collapsed. “What?”
Finally, she looked directly at me. “He and Zoe Perry are kind of a thing now. It happened a week or two ago, I guess.…You didn’t know?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t know.” I took a sharp breath in and leaned back away from the table. Even though part of me had expected it to happen eventually, I hadn’t known it would feel like this—like being punched in the soul.
“Sorry,” Megan said. “I just figured you’d been to some of the parties and—”
“I don’t go to a lot of parties,” I said.
“But…you have a new boyfriend, right?” she asked. “That guy from my school?”
“Jared,” I said. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
Her lips pressed tightly together, and she looked around for an escape. “I’m sorry, Alexis. Truly. But I…I have to go. Maybe we’ll run into each other later.”
I nodded and forced a painful half smile, feeling the muscles in my jaw pull tight as she walked away.
Then, as if on cue, I glanced up at the door and saw them enter together: Carter and Zoe, her hand clenched around his. I was inordinately relieved that at least he’d cut his blond hair short, so she couldn’t reach up and touch his soft blond curls the way I’d always done.
A few short months ago, Zoe had been a shining, golden girl—all sweetness and smiles. Needless to say, that was before she took the oath and joined the Sunshine Club.
She’d come through the experience a little less su
With a jolt that felt like a zillion watts of electricity, Carter’s eyes met mine, and he snatched his hand out of Zoe’s. It felt like he’d done it for me, to protect me from having to see them together.
Part of me was grateful, but part of me—a much bigger part—felt like the knife, once it had pierced the surface of my heart, might as well go all the way through.
I checked the time on my phone. Eight thirty—still three and a half hours till midnight. I stared at the numbers for a moment and then sat back.
Megan seemed to be slinking around the edges of the party, staying as far from me as she could, and Kasey was planted in the center of a group of kids, a glittery gold party hat stuck on her head, and her eyes squinting shut as she laughed at something. I watched her, aware of how relieved it made me to see her having fun, being goofy. It was everything I wanted for her.
So I relaxed—minutely.
A figure came and stood in front of me, almost obscuring my view of my sister.
I sat up straight.
“Yawn,” Lydia said. With a flat smile, she swept her hand across the surface of the table. It passed through most of the dishes but caught on my punch cup, which clattered to the floor, spilling bright red liquid all over the pale floor tiles.
The room fell silent, and everyone looked at me.
“Whoops,” Lydia said.
A few seconds later, Pepper Laird came over with a roll of paper towels. The captain of the cheerleading squad kneeling to clean up my mess. I imagined it wouldn’t be long before Kasey’s invitations didn’t automatically include me anymore.
“Sorry,” I said, trying to help clean up, but more concerned with keeping an eye on Lydia.
“Sorry,” Lydia mimicked. “Still kissing up to the cheerleaders. Oh, Pepper, please forgive me. You make me sick.”
She disappeared, and I looked around frantically. There were easily a dozen former Sunshine Club members here. I didn’t want any of them to end up comatose like Kendra.
“No big deal,” Pepper said, but I could tell she was a
This whole night was a mistake. I grabbed my bag. “I’d better go. Thanks for letting me come. Sorry about the mess.”
Pepper had to get to the trash can before she got dripped on, so she couldn’t protest even if she’d wanted to, which, frankly, I don’t think she did. I got up and headed for the door, with Lydia walking backward in front of me.
“Leaving so soon?” She drew up all of her energy and bumped into a kid who was perched on a barstool. He grunted in surprise as he almost fell off, then steadied himself and shot me an irritated look.
“Pardon me,” I said. I turned around to look for Kasey. I had to tell her I was leaving, but I couldn’t risk going back through the crowd.
As I got to the front hall, the guest bathroom door opened and Megan came out. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes,” I said. “I have to go. Um…could you do me a favor and tell my sister?”
Megan’s forehead wrinkled. “Why don’t you tell her?”
“Megan’s looking well,” Lydia said. “Too bad she wasn’t the one who died. Then you might be the tiniest bit sorry.”
As she said that, she swung her arm at Megan’s forehead. I flinched as it went through and came out the other side.
“Oh, no…not another migraine.” Megan winced and rubbed her temple. “So listen. There’s this thing I’ve been doing at school—on Tuesday afternoons—it’s like a club.…”
I listened, trying to keep an eye out for Lydia.
“And I was thinking, if you want to come with me sometime, maybe…”
“Yes,” I said. “What time? Where?”
She half laughed. “Don’t you even want to know what it is?”
“No. I don’t care.”
For a moment she looked as if she regretted mentioning it at all. “Tuesday, four forty-five, at the Sacred Heart Community Hall. The entrance is on Poplar Street.”
“Great,” I said, glancing around.
Oh, jeez. Lydia was studying the giant tropical aquarium in the dining room.
My mere presence put every living creature around me in danger, regardless of species. I felt like a ticking time bomb. “I have to go,” I said. “Never mind about Kasey—I’ll just text her.”
“I can tell her if you need me to,” Megan said. I heard a razor-thin edge of judgment in her voice.
“No, don’t worry,” I said. “Bye.”
But as I reached the front door, I heard my sister shout my name. She was pushing through the crowd to get to me.
“You’re leaving?” Kasey asked. “What happened?”
I looked around before I stopped. Lydia was gone.
“Nothing,” I said. “Do you think maybe Keaton could drive you home? Otherwise I’ll come back and get you at one o’clock.”
“What?” Immediately, she was suspicious. “Where are you going, Lexi?”
“Nowhere. Away.”
“Why?” She pursed her lips, clearly not looking to take any of my nonsense.
“Because you’re a coward and a freak, that’s why,” Lydia said, popping out behind me.
“I just…” I gestured around the room, which seemed overpoweringly jammed with bodies. “There are too many people here.”
My sister followed me all the way out to my car, exhaling loudly through her nose to convey how a
“When is this going to end?” she asked, her voice breaking. “When are you going to let it go?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “Now get back inside. It’s about to rain.”
Kasey stared at me, on the verge of protesting. Then she stormed back up the front walk.
I watched her go, thinking, You have no idea how lucky you are.
The Sunshine Club ended up being an evil cult designed to feed on its members’ free will and life energy, but it started out as a scheme to become beautiful and popular. And maybe the craziest thing was—it had actually worked, kind of. Sure, the paranormal perks were gone, but the charm, the poise—all of the things that grew better with practice—that stuff stuck.