reason Rose or her dad could imagine.
“What?” Her mom’s cheeks flushed. “I mean, of course. Whatever. Just don’t be late, okay Rose?”
“Okay.” Four words total. Almost her record. Her dad waved her out the door, his dark eyes fixed on her mom as she sat at the table hunched over her phone.
Rose had a feeling there was another argument brewing, something more complicated than a new roof. But shecouldn’t worry about that now. She grabbed a sweatshirt and stuffed the Gregorys’ files back in her satchel before heading out the front door. If she walked fast she could get there in ten minutes.
The sun was making its final descent along the horizon, the surrounding sky grey and pink in its wake. A breeze shifted leaves on the trees hugging the sidewalk, and Rose quickened her steps, wondering if it would rain. She finally felt like she could breathe again without the heat wrapping its sticky fingers around her neck. Maybe she’d even start sleeping like a normal person again.
The smell of freshly cut grass and lush magnolias made her sneeze exactly ten times, her cue that she was getting close to the Club. Rose was a serial sneezer, and nothing brought it on quite like Hawthorne Lake’s carefully manicured lawns.
After she pulled open the Club’s impressive double doors, she kept her eyes trained on the floor and raced in the direction of the parlor. She’d need the room to be empty so she could access the hidden entrance. Of course, she heard a muffled voice trailing out from behind the door. A man she’d never seen before stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, a phone gripped to his ear, his voice clipped and strained. He glanced at her irritably. After a few awkward moments, he rolled his eyes at her and left in a huff. When she finally scrambled up to the attic, she was sweating like a tourist, all pit stains and pleated shorts. Honestly, she didn’t even blame the girls for the disgust on their faces. Plus, she was late and they’d been busy. The attic was lit with at least thirty candles and they had old yearbooks and newspapers scattered all over the floor.
“Nice of you to join us.” Madge nodded toward the empty seat next to her. “The yearbooks and newspapers are courtesyof some sorry excuse for a first-year who was entirely too easy to pay off. So far we’ve learned that Trip was voted Class Clown, huge shocker there, while James was elected Darcy-In-Training. I suppose his air of asshole made him quite the object of affection at Pemberly Brown.”
Rose sat in the chair across from her.
“Right, so our current plan is to destroy them using a hilarious, modern-day Elizabeth Bennet,” Lina added. “Surely their heads will explode.” She rolled her eyes and examined an old issue of a school newspaper.
“Um, didn’t Willa kind of already do that?” Sloane’s tone was innocent. Clearly she didn’t mean to be an insensitive moron, but the fire in Madge’s eyes was enough to force Rose into tipping her hand.
“I’ve got something,” she offered. The girls turned to her. What if they thought her idea was ridiculous? Or what if she’d misread the papers in the file? This was going to end in disaster, she just knew it. And who the hell had decided that candles were a good idea for an attic at the end of July?
“Spit it out, Rose,” Lina grumbled. “You’re not paying dues like the rest of us, so you better have something good.”
Rose swallowed and forced herself to speak. “Their trust fund has this weird morality clause where they lose their inheritance if they don’t conduct themselves to the Captain’s standards. If they’re convicted of a felony or even if they so much as get a speeding ticket, they’re totally cut off.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Lina’s eyes narrowed. She glanced at Madge. Sloane started shaking her head.
“No, really, it’s all right here.” Rose placed the papers in the center of the circle.
All three girls crawled
“What?” Her mom’s cheeks flushed. “I mean, of course. Whatever. Just don’t be late, okay Rose?”
“Okay.” Four words total. Almost her record. Her dad waved her out the door, his dark eyes fixed on her mom as she sat at the table hunched over her phone.
Rose had a feeling there was another argument brewing, something more complicated than a new roof. But shecouldn’t worry about that now. She grabbed a sweatshirt and stuffed the Gregorys’ files back in her satchel before heading out the front door. If she walked fast she could get there in ten minutes.
The sun was making its final descent along the horizon, the surrounding sky grey and pink in its wake. A breeze shifted leaves on the trees hugging the sidewalk, and Rose quickened her steps, wondering if it would rain. She finally felt like she could breathe again without the heat wrapping its sticky fingers around her neck. Maybe she’d even start sleeping like a normal person again.
The smell of freshly cut grass and lush magnolias made her sneeze exactly ten times, her cue that she was getting close to the Club. Rose was a serial sneezer, and nothing brought it on quite like Hawthorne Lake’s carefully manicured lawns.
After she pulled open the Club’s impressive double doors, she kept her eyes trained on the floor and raced in the direction of the parlor. She’d need the room to be empty so she could access the hidden entrance. Of course, she heard a muffled voice trailing out from behind the door. A man she’d never seen before stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, a phone gripped to his ear, his voice clipped and strained. He glanced at her irritably. After a few awkward moments, he rolled his eyes at her and left in a huff. When she finally scrambled up to the attic, she was sweating like a tourist, all pit stains and pleated shorts. Honestly, she didn’t even blame the girls for the disgust on their faces. Plus, she was late and they’d been busy. The attic was lit with at least thirty candles and they had old yearbooks and newspapers scattered all over the floor.
“Nice of you to join us.” Madge nodded toward the empty seat next to her. “The yearbooks and newspapers are courtesyof some sorry excuse for a first-year who was entirely too easy to pay off. So far we’ve learned that Trip was voted Class Clown, huge shocker there, while James was elected Darcy-In-Training. I suppose his air of asshole made him quite the object of affection at Pemberly Brown.”
Rose sat in the chair across from her.
“Right, so our current plan is to destroy them using a hilarious, modern-day Elizabeth Bennet,” Lina added. “Surely their heads will explode.” She rolled her eyes and examined an old issue of a school newspaper.
“Um, didn’t Willa kind of already do that?” Sloane’s tone was innocent. Clearly she didn’t mean to be an insensitive moron, but the fire in Madge’s eyes was enough to force Rose into tipping her hand.
“I’ve got something,” she offered. The girls turned to her. What if they thought her idea was ridiculous? Or what if she’d misread the papers in the file? This was going to end in disaster, she just knew it. And who the hell had decided that candles were a good idea for an attic at the end of July?
“Spit it out, Rose,” Lina grumbled. “You’re not paying dues like the rest of us, so you better have something good.”
Rose swallowed and forced herself to speak. “Their trust fund has this weird morality clause where they lose their inheritance if they don’t conduct themselves to the Captain’s standards. If they’re convicted of a felony or even if they so much as get a speeding ticket, they’re totally cut off.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Lina’s eyes narrowed. She glanced at Madge. Sloane started shaking her head.
“No, really, it’s all right here.” Rose placed the papers in the center of the circle.
All three girls crawled
Similar Books
