From Bad to Cursed

I walked the line of portables until I heard muffled coughing coming from a set of back stairs. I found Megan on the steps, head bent between her legs. When she heard me, she jumped to her feet. For a moment, it seemed like she was going to charge me, but then she backed down. “Oh, Lex,” she said. “It’s just you.”

She was drenched in milk, and her face wore four fingernails’-worth of fresh red gashes. Her sweater was ripped and stained, and her nose was bloody. When she spat, a splotch of pink liquid stained the sidewalk.

She tried to wipe the dark tearstains off her skin with the sides of her hands. “I’m not being unsu

I let out a shaky breath. “Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh,” she said, lowering herself back to the stairs. She lifted a hand to her abdomen. “She got in a few serious kicks, though. Might have broken a rib. No big deal, though.”

“It’s a huge deal! You just got in a fight,” I said. “Over a sweater. You could be in major trouble. Not to mention that you could have really gotten hurt.”

She gave me a so what look. “I’m not turning myself in,” she said matter-of-factly. “I can’t go to the office looking like this.”

I heard footsteps approaching. We both tensed, but it was just Kasey, clutching a handful of napkins for Megan.

“I don’t even know what happened,” Megan said, blotting her cheek. “I got so mad all of a sudden. I mean, I did tell her I was going to wear this sweater today…Whatever. I guess I should go home.”

“You have to go back in,” Kasey said. “They know it was you.”

“Never mind that,” I said. “She needs to get out of here. And it’s probably best to keep her away from Adrie

I hoped Aralt was still looking out for us enough that this incident would be overlooked.

“I guess,” Megan said, looking skeptical. “I’m not even mad anymore. It’s just a sweater, you know?”

Yeah, I knew. We all knew. And that was what worried me. Even the most fashion-obsessed Sunshine Club member would know that making that kind of scene in public was way worse than wearing the same sweater as somebody else.

We weren’t supposed to fight. Just like we weren’t supposed to cough. Or flip out and burn ourselves. Or completely lose it in the middle of an important interview.

Kasey went back for our bags while I herded Megan in the direction of her car, keeping an eye out—mostly for Adrie

Someone stepped into our path about thirty feet ahead, and I made an abrupt left. But the sounds of ru

It was Carter. “Lex? What are you doing?”

He hurried to catch up with us.

“I heard something about a fight—was that you? Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine—it was Megan and Adrie

For the first time, he turned to Megan, who looked like she’d been through a cage match. Her face was stained black, like she’d smudged a gallon of mascara on her cheeks. She gave him a red-toothed smile.

He grabbed me by the sleeve and half-pulled me across the hall, out of her earshot.

“We have to talk about this,” he said, casting a freaked-out glance at Megan. “About a lot of things. Seriously. Like, a real talk. Can I come to your house after school?”

“No,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the park.”

“Lex,” Megan called, “can you hurry? I’m getting blood in my eye.”

Carter backed away, a horrified look on his face, and I kept walking with Megan out to the parking lot.

The campus police officer watched us drive away without batting an eye.

I sat in the grass, watching for Carter, and got to my feet when I saw him coming down the path, watching as he headed for the footbridge that crossed the murky drainage ditch.

“Hi,” he said, enfolding me in a half-hug. Every impulse in my body longed to turn the half-hug into a kiss, but Carter held back, so I did, too.

We ended up sitting about two feet apart, facing the brook, not each other.

“How’d your interview go last night?” he asked.

“Great,” I lied.

“Now, please tell me what’s going on.”

I shook my head. “It’s compli—”

“Yeah, I get that it’s complicated, Lex. But some people consider me highly capable of complex thought.” He leaned closer. “I want to help you.”

“It’s nothing like that,” I said, picking up a pine needle and twisting it. “I don’t need help.”

Carter leaned away again. Birds sang and insects buzzed, and the wind bullied its way through the leaves. In the past, sitting in silence like this would have been completely comfortable. Now it felt like something was missing.

“Megan’s okay?” he asked, the tiniest bite to his voice.

“Yes. Fine,” I said. The pine needle, nearly shredded, fell from my fingers.

Carter picked it up. “I saw Zoe at your lunch table. I didn’t know you guys converted her.”

“We didn’t convert her,” I said. “That’s not how it works.”

“Lex, I really don’t care. If Zoe wants to be a Sunshine Girl, that’s her decision.” He paused. “I just think…if there’s something else going on…I mean, people are getting hurt—the fight today—and there are these weird rumors about Emily…The whole thing is either dangerous or insanely stupid. Or both.”

It wasn’t that I totally disagreed with him. In fact, we were pretty much in complete agreement.

But when he calls the Sunshine Club stupid, he’s calling me stupid.

The thought pissed me off. “Okay,” I said. “Whatever you say.”

He grabbed my hand. “Lex, look at me.”

I looked at him.

“Is it drugs?”

That made me snort. “Drugs? Oh, please.”

“This isn’t fu

“Because,” I said. “It’s a club. If you think it’s dumb, then fine. Think that. But you can’t just insult me and expect me to dump my sister and all of my friends because you said so.”

“No,” he said. “Not because I said so. Because something is happening. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t go within ten feet of those girls.” He drove his fist lightly into the grass. “I know you don’t see it that way—but maybe that’s because you can’t.”

But I could see. I could and I did, and all I had to do was tell him, and he’d stop thinking I was brainwashed, and I could stop pretending everything was great. But then what would happen? He’d insist that we go to the authorities. Call Agent Hasan. Get Kasey shipped off to who knows where.

“You know, that girl Tashi—she doesn’t go to All Saints. I asked my friend Dave, and he said—”

“Are you kidding?” I asked. “I can’t believe you’re checking up on my friends.”

This wasn’t going right. We were supposed to reconcile, forgive each other, admit we belonged together—not fight.

Joining the Sunshine Club was a huge mistake.

The words came into my head like a line in a script—Aralt’s irresistible whisper, back when I needed it most.

No. No. No. I couldn’t.

But—it wasn’t like I would embrace the whole thing. Only the parts I needed. Just enough to keep Carter from freaking out.

“I don’t even know why I bothered trying.” Carter shook his head and started brushing off his pants. He was mad. He was going to leave me there.

This one time, and then I’d stop. I’d never do it again.

I turned to him, putting my hand flat against his chest to keep him from standing up. “Joining the Sunshine Club was a huge mistake.”

He looked down at my hand and squinted, like he was trying to remember something.

Whispered words flooded my head. But it means so much to Kasey and Megan that I have to see it through.

Carter watched me warily as I repeated everything the voice told me.

It’s a short-term thing. It’ll be over soon.

For a moment he glanced away, but then his expression turned hazy.