In Between by Jenny B Jones

give it up for clear skin any day.
    Knock. Knock.
    Sigh. I’m betting it’s not Maxine, ready to apologize.
    “Katie—”
    The door opens and James and Millie walk in. Millie sits beside me on the bed, where I’m flipping through a magazine with a lot of gusto. Page twenty-three, “Ten Things You Never Knew About Boys” . . .
    “Katie, you just have to take Maxine in stride. You can’t let her get to you.”
    “James is right.” Millie smiles. “And he would know.”
    “She preys on weakness,” James says under his breath.
    Millie clears her throat. “We’ve decided to let you spend the night with Angel and her friends.”
    Page twenty-four, “Sassy Skirts for Dreamy Dates.” Page twenty-five—
    Wait, what?
    “I can go?” I drop the magazine.
    “Yes. You can. But we’re giving you my cell phone, and you are to call us if you need anything or if you want us to pick you up. Do you understand?” Millie’s hand hesitates before she smoothes the bangs from my face, like she’s waiting for me to swat her hand away.
    “I understand.”
    James has his serious face on. “The reality is, Katie, we haven’t known you even a week yet. We are going to trust you to behave in a manner we would be proud of. But should something go wrong, you are to call. Got it?”
    “Yes, sir.” This is so awesome. My first sleepover! My first friends at In Between High! “There’s not going to be any trouble. You’ll see. This is going to be so great!”

Chapter 18

    “P ssst! Katie, wake up.”
    I am rudely jostled awake by Angel, who apparently doesn’t realize how much I value my beauty sleep. “What time is it?”
    It’s pitch black in the Nelson living room, where Angel, Danielle, and few other girls and I are camped out.
    “It’s 3:30. Come on, get up.”
    “We just went to bed.” I roll over, desperate to get away from the little flashlight Angel so rudely shines in my face.
    “Come on, Vincent will be here any minute. We’ve got to get dressed.”
    What?
    “Angel, what are you talking about?” I pull the sleeping bag over my head, give the zipper a yank, and cocoon myself in.
    “Fun. That’s what I’m talking about. We’re gonna go out for a little bit. Come on, you don’t want to miss this.” Angel tugs on my sleeping bag.
    “Yeah, actually I think I do.”
    “Look, if you’re not mature enough to hang with us, then you shouldn’t have come.” This from Danielle.
    “I’m not coming out of this sleeping bag until you tell me what we’re doing.” Or until I’m out of air. I think I’m in one of those sleeping bags you take with you when you’re sleeping in an igloo.
    “We’re gonna visit a haunted theatre.”
    “A haunted theatre? You woke me up to see a ghost who’s into show tunes?”
    “What’s the matter, are you scared?”
    “I’m not breaking into any theatre, Angel.”
    “We wouldn’t be breaking in. It’s an abandoned building. Girls, I think she’s scared.”
    “I am not scared.”
    “Really? Then maybe you’re just too good for us then, huh? I thought you were one of us.”
    I unzip my sleeping bag and sit straight up. “Look, I don’t think I’m too good for anybody, and I’m not scared.”
    “Then get dressed. We’ll just be out an hour or so. We’ll be back before our sleeping bags get cold.” Angel, I notice, is already dressed. She’s wearing jeans and a black T-shirt.
    “Look, this doesn’t sound good. I promised the Scotts I wouldn’t get in any trouble.” And nothing good can come from going out with the kind of bed head I get.
    “There isn’t going to be any trouble.” Angel tosses my jacket at me. “Everyone in town visits the old haunted theatre. It’s like a rite of passage. You should be grateful that we’re showing it to you. But maybe you don’t belong here. Maybe you don’t belong with us.”
    “Everyone does this?”
    “Everyone.” Danielle pulls on her jeans. “I don’t know what you’re afraid of. We’ll go,