The Invisibles by Cecilia Galante

realizing she wasn’t going to talk; and so far, there was no one she had even considered wanting to get to know at school. This was the biggest thing that had ever happened to her. This was everything. She glanced over at Grace, hoping she would say something first, but Grace seemed to be enthralled with the inside of her wrist again.
    â€œFew ground rules before you decide if you want to join,” Ozzie said. “You have to bring a stick and something of your own to every meeting.”
    â€œA stick?” Grace looked up. “Like from a tree?”
    â€œYes,” Ozzie said. “A stick from a tree, Grace.”
    Grace slit her eyes again. “What do we need a stick for?”
    â€œYou want to be part of the group?” Ozzie stood up and put her hands on her hips. The edges of her fingernails were threaded with dried blood.
    â€œMaybe.” Grace tossed her head. “I haven’t decided yet.”
    â€œThen bring a stick.” Ozzie headed for the door. “And something of your own. It should be something that shows off a talent of yours.”
    â€œWhat kind of talent?” Nora wrote.
    â€œWhatever you want,” Ozzie answered. “Monica’s a really good cook, so she always makes a snack.”
    â€œI’m thinking something with chocolate for tomorrow.” Monica blushed.
    â€œAnd I’m a good joke teller,” Ozzie continued, “so I always start with three great jokes. It can be anything. As long as it’s yours and nobody else’s.”
    Nora stared at Grace one last time. She wondered what Grace had that nobody else in this room did. She already knew what she would bring. It was all she had.
    She lifted her pencil one last time. “Okay,” she wrote. “I’m in.”
    â€œGreat.” Ozzie grinned and looked over at Grace. “What about you, Queenie?”
    â€œOh.” Grace leaned back, letting her head fall between her shoulder blades. “I don’t know.”
    â€œDon’t strain yourself,” Ozzie said.
    Grace lifted her head again, perusing the group of them with her blue eyes. “All right,” she said slowly. “I guess I’m in, too.”
    N ora didn’t panic as she followed Ozzie’s slow ascension through what looked like a chimney in the attic of Turning Winds the following night; despite the narrowness of it and the fact that it smelled like a dirty diaper, she already trusted Ozziefor a reason she could not put her finger on, and she knew—she could feel it in her bones—that she wanted to go wherever this girl was going to take her now.
    â€œAlmost there,” Ozzie said over her shoulder. “Hold your breath until we get all the way through. It stinks.” Nora nodded. She wished Ozzie would keep her voice down. It was after midnight and the other four girls in the house were asleep, but God only knew what would happen if one of them woke up. Then there was Elaine, who worked the night shift at Turning Winds, drowsing downstairs in front of another episode of The Twilight Zone . Elaine was large and thick, like a tree, and she wore loud T-shirts with sayings on the front like KEEP TALKING; I’M RELOADING. An apple tattoo with an arrow shot through the middle of it adorned her upper arm, and she drew in her eyebrows with a black pencil. Since they were in school for most of the day, Elaine was the one who had the most contact with the girls, but it was quick and brusque, as if she did not want to get to know them very well. “I’m not here to be your friend or your mother,” she’d told Nora the first day she’d arrived. “My job is just to make sure you stay out of trouble.” Nora hadn’t been too sure what kind of trouble she was referring to, but she would bet money now that climbing to the roof in the middle of the night would qualify.
    They emerged all at once into fresh air, and it swept over Nora’s face