There was also something extremely suspicious about her. She had been married three times. All three of her husbands had died mysterious deaths.
Ms. Ruffinio talked for a long time. Mostly about rules of the school and what was expected of the students. After a while, she said, “Now a word from two of my favorite students. Welcome, Marylin and Beverly, the founders of the Charm Club!”
The auditorium exploded into applause. I looked at Lauren-Anne curiously. What was so special about these girls? I mean, sure, they were beautiful. But that was about it.
“See? I told you everyone loves them.”
I turned around to see Tiffany Thomas talking to Betty Rhodes and Judy Stipes.
Judy nodded. “We should try to sit with them at lunch.”
“Yeah, the thing about that is I told some new girl she could sit with us at lunch.”
“What?” Judy cried.
I turned back around when Betty glared at me, clearly telling me to mind my own business.
There was a new girl? We hadn’t had a new kid in town for years. If there had been a new kid everyone would have known. After all, there were only three schools in White Grimm. The elementary school, the junior high school, and the high school. And why would Tiffany invite her to sit with them? Tiffany wasn’t the kind of girl to invite anyone, let alone a new kid, to sit with her.
“Welcome back everybody and welcome freshmen.” One of the girls said. “For those of you who don’t know us, I’m Beverly, and this is Marylin.” She pointed at the girl next to her. “As you all know, White Grimm High School opened four years ago, my classmates and I were the first freshmen in the school. We had never been in a high school before, so it was up to us to shape this high school and make it the way we thought a high school should be.”
Marylin spoke next, saying, “During our first week of high school Beverly and I decided that we wanted to find model students. Students that showed how every high schooler should be. And that’s how we created the Charm Club. Girls in the Charm Club should have beauty, poise, grace, and be well-mannered.”
I tried not to laugh. Obviously, they didn’t have to be smart if they thought that poise and grace were two different things.
“We had students from every class joining. Everyone wanted to be a part of the Charm Club. However, we could only take in so many students.” Marylin pointed to a group of girls in the front row. They stood up and waved to the rest of the auditorium as she said, “These are the girls who joined us last year. And every year, after the seniors in the club graduate, we have room for new girls to join. This year we have four spots available. We’ll be taking applications all week, and on Friday night we will call you to let you know if you’re in.”
In unison, Beverly and Marylin said, “Thank you, and stay charming!”
Ms. Ruffinio took the microphone back from Beverly and Marylin and said, “Thank you, ladies. I see many wonderful young ladies in the sea of students this year, and I look forward to seeing you at the first meeting.”
I looked at Lauren-Ann. Ms. Ruffinio was in the Charm Club?
“Schedules are being handed out outside. Find the table serving the students whose last name starts with the same letter as yours. Thank you.”
As we got up to go find out what our schedules were, Lauren-Anne asked me, “What was that all about?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Chapter 2
Lauren-Anne
After I got my schedule I made my way to homeroom. When I walked in, I saw notecards taped to each desk. They were last names.
“Assigned seating in homeroom?” Someone whined.
“We didn’t have that last year,” Someone else said.
Since I was a freshman, I wasn’t sure if this was something I should be angry about. So, I kept my mouth shut.
I took my seat next to one of the girls I recognized from the Charm Club.
She turned to face me. “Hi, I’m Margaret. What’s your name?”
“Lauren-Anne,” I answered.
“Oh, that’s a pretty name. Are you thinking about joining the Charm Club? Because you should.”
“No.”
“Why not? You’re really pretty.”
I shrugged. “I’m not really into that kind of thing, you know?”
“You’re not into being the best that you can be?” Margaret asked.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll introduce you to Beverly and Marylin.”
Before I could tell her not to bother, the teacher walked into the room, abruptly ending our discussion.
Meg and I found each other at lunch, and I told her about my encounter with Margaret.
“That’s strange,” Meg told me. “Especially because I met another one of the Charm Club members in the hallway on the way here. She asked me for my name and said she’d send Beverly and Marylin to find me later.”
I thought that it was a little strange, but that was all I really thought of it.
Brittany
I hadn’t made any friends by lunch. Of course not. I was the new girl. The outsider. So, at lunch, I searched for Tiffany. When I couldn’t find her I started asking other kids if they knew where she was. No one did. After asking a few kids, I saw the Charm Club sitting at a table in the center of the cafeteria. They seemed nice enough, so I thought I’d ask them if they knew who Tiffany was and if they did, where she was.
“Excuse me?” I approached the table.
Beverly looked up at me. “Hi,
