Chapter 1: The Letter

I coughed violently over the yogurt I was eating.

"You want me to what?"

"I think you're ready for public school, honey." Mom said, putting a bag of tomatoes in the fridge. You'd have thought we were talking about the weather. I tossed my spoon into the sink and kept the yogurt.

"I don't want to go."

"I can't continue teaching you at home."

"Why not?"

"Your teachers can teach you better."

"I'm fine right where I am." I crossed my arms. Mom put another carton of yogurt in the fridge and straightened up.

"I've enrolled you in Ivy High. Now, please get the raspberries out of the fridge. I'm making creme brulee for dessert." she turned away and got the potatoes out of a sack then began to scrub them. I got the raspberries out of the fridge and slammed them down on the counter, then stormed up to my room. I sat down hard on my bed crossly. After fifteen minutes of cooling down, Mom came up to my room to get all the excess phlegm out of my throat that could choke me in the night. While she was pumping my back, my best friend, Jake, came in. He sat down on the bed and watched me hack up loads of phlegm before tossing me a pack of skittles. He brought me daily treats like these. I ate a few and twisted the top of the bag shut, tying it shut with a rubber band. Mom left the room and I pushed myself off the carpet and sat down on the bed beside Jake.

"Hey, Addy."

"Yes?"

"I heard you're joining Ivy High."

"I don't want to."

"I'll be there."

"As if I care! You're only my best friend."

"Hilarious. Just don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine."

"Oh… alright. Want to stay for dinner?"

"What are we having?"

"Baked potatoes with string beans and either pot roast or meat loaf, with raspberry creme brulee. I'm making the jam."

"Poison my share?"

"'Course. Like I always do."

"Let's go down and help." Jake got up and headed out the door, and I followed. Mom was downstairs, pulling out the ends of string beans, dropping them into a pot of boiling water. I washed the raspberries and tossed them into a bowl, along with a bit of sugar, and started mashing them up. Jake examined the meat loaf and started cutting it up. I ran to fetch my phone and turned on 'Cherry' by Harry Styles. The soft acoustic guitar matched the vibe of the kitchen. Jake pulled the potatoes out of the oven. Mom laid the table as I made the cream in the creme brulee and spooned jam on top, then stored it in the fridge. We sat down at the table with glasses of fresh lemonade and started eating dinner. It was delicious, as well as the creme brulee. Jake started home early, since we lived a few miles away from the big city. I brushed my teeth and hair and hopped into bed. Mom came up to say goodnight.

"I still don't want to go." I said to her.

"It's for the best." Mom kissed my forehead. "Go to sleep." Mom closed the door, but I couldn't sleep, so I sat up. My phone pinged, as if someone had been watching and waiting for me to sit up. I slipped out of bed and padded to my phone. There was a note on it from an anonymous person.

Look under your bed.

**

I knelt and peeked under my bed. There was a small box. I pulled it out and sat by the window. There was a glossy cream envelope in the box, on a surface of crushed white satin. The envelope was sealed with a wine-colored wax seal. Carefully sliding my pinky under the seal, I broke open the envelope and unfolded the creamy letter.

Congratulations!

You have been accepted into The Society for Daring Girls. Bring the flower pin to the warehouse behind the woods the day after tomorrow, January 3. It will be your pass in. Everything else will be explained in the meeting.

**

I sat back and picked up the pin. It was delicate, polished ivory, with a sparkly rose-gold rose and a diamond in the center. I picked up my phone and texted Jake.

Me: Nice try.

Jake: ??

Me: The box? The dumb letter?

Jake: What are you talking about? Was your lemonade spiked?

Me: Oh, playing dumb, are you?

Jake: What the hell are you talking about?

Me: Hah! As if you don't know!

Jake: Don't do anything dumb.

Me: I don't need you to tell me.

I turned off my phone and threw it onto my bedside, then clambered back into bed. I still couldn't sleep, wondering if Jake could've been telling the truth. I picked up my phone again and texted him Sorry. You're telling the truth, right? But he didn't respond. I'd screwed up. Sighing, I flopped back onto my bed and shut my eyes.

The next morning, Mom looked at me closely but didn't say anything. I glanced in the mirror and noticed I had dark purple circles under my eyes. I sat down at the table and picked at the gluten-free waffles Mom served me, watching until they got soggy under the maple syrup. I was incredibly jumpy and nervous for the rest of the day. If Mom noticed she didn't say anything. The next day went by like a blur, until nighttime. I was anticipating the meeting. When the house was dark, I slipped out of my bed and pulled on leggings and a form-fitting sweater, along with sneakers, and yanked my hair back in a sloppy ponytail. Slipping the pin and letter into my pocket, I looked out my window. Not a far drop to the ground. Carefully locking my bedroom door and placing a bolster under my comforter as a precaution, I slid open the window and lowered myself out. I made sure the window is open at least a few centimeters before slipping across the lawn. I threw myself onto my bike and pedaled toward the city.

I'm at the destination. I awkwardly clambered off my bike and hid it under a patch of leaves before trekking toward the building. It was dark and silent, but the door opened easily. I tiptoed inside, but huge industrial lights snapped on, nearly blinding me. A crude sign painted with red paint that looks suspiciously like… nevermind- points up a creaky, twisted steel staircase. I nervously mounted the staircase and climbed carefully, cautiously looking down at the flimsy metal.

I reached the top safely and shuffled along to the door in front of me. It was thick metal, with a scary-looking big metal band on it. I gave it a light push and it swung open noiselessly, revealing four other girls sprawled around in a room. One had milk chocolate skin and blonde hair with blue eyes; another had blueish black hair in a shag hairstyle and dark blue eyes with a armfull of tattoos; another had soft brown hair and clear, almost cat-like greenish blue eyes, one had dark brown hair and eyes and the last one had sparkling blonde hair and blue eyes. I took my place, sitting on the edge of the window seat. The girl with the brown hair in the ponytail cleared her throat.

"I guess we should all introduce ourselves. I'm Hayley Evers."

"Avae Chan." the girl with the blue-black hair grunted.

"Thea Lane." the second blonde girl said.

"Leilani Kahale." the dark-skinned blonde said.

"Adelaide Karlsson." I said.

"Emma Ross." The dark haired- girl said solemnly. We all nodded silently at each other. Then Hayley stood up.

"Give me your letters and the pin so we all know we have been accepted into The Society for Daring Girls." we all tugged out our pins and letters and handed them to Hayley, who examined them and nodded in approval. Then she looked around the circle.

"The letter says- mine, anyway, not to tell anyone about this. We'll meet this Saturday night for the first challenge."

"Right." the girls stood up.

"Wait." I interrupted. "Isn't this awfully dangerous? Like, what if the challenge is to kill someone else? What if we're going to be kidnapped by some weird slave traders when we go for the challenge?"

"Don't be so panicky, princess." Avae snarled. "I've been kickboxing since I was four."

"And I have a collection of knives on my left thigh." Thea added.

"I've been trained in jiu jitsu from the cradle." Leilani said to me.

"So I think we're pretty much prepared for an attack." Hayley summarized, smiling at me.

"All right." I gave in, smiling at the girls. We all dispersed and went home. I slipped back through the window and lay down on my bed, soon falling asleep.