“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 oath. 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.