“You two go on upstairs.” My mom said. “But remember, Meg, it’s a school night, so you have to be in bed by nine o’clock.”
“Mom,” I groaned. I couldn’t believe she was doing this to me.
Tiffany and I went up to my room.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I need to borrow an outfit,” She told me.
“Why? We went over outfits at Beverly’s house yesterday.”
“Yeah, but I spilled punch on my outfit for tomorrow.”
I stared at Tiffany for a moment. “Beverly and Marylin won’t like the fact that we did this behind their backs.”
“Meg, I don’t know what else to do! Help me, please!” Tiffany cried.
“Alright, alright, I’ll help you.”
Tiffany grinned. “Thank you so much! What do you have?”
I walked over to my closet. I opened the door.
“Wow!” Tiffany started taking things out of the closet. “How come you never wear any of this stuff? It’s all great.”
“I borrowed all this from Marylin and Beverly.” I explained. “They made Lauren-Anne and me throw away all of our clothes.”
“Well, no offense, but you guys had terrible clothes.”
“I don’t have to help you, you know,” I reminded her.
“You kind of do. We’re both part of the Charm Club.”
“Yeah, but Marylin and Beverly aren’t going to like the fact that you changed an outfit without consulting them. And they especially aren’t going to like the fact that I helped.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “They aren’t the bosses of us.”
“They are. They’re in charge of the Charm Club.”
Tiffany shrugged. “But they’re weird. What’s up with Ms. Ruffinio being part of the Charm Club? And I tried to quit, but they wouldn’t let me.”
“Who wouldn’t let you?”
“Who do you think? Marylin told me that I’ll never be able to quit.” She grabbed a dress out of the closet. “This is perfect. Where can I try it on?”
“The bathroom is across the hall,” I said.
Tiffany left the room, leaving me with my thoughts. Marylin wouldn’t let Tiffany quit? What? She couldn’t make us stay in the Charm Club. Neither could Beverly. Tiffany had to be lying. The whole thing was just too weird to be true.
Tiffany came back into my room. “What do you think?” She asked, twirling around.
I smiled. “You look great.”
“Let’s go see what Graham thinks.”
“Why do you want to see what my brother thinks?”
“I need a boy’s opinion.”
I frowned. We weren’t supposed to dress for boys. We were supposed to dress for ourselves and each other. It was one of the Charm Club rules.
Tiffany hurried down the stairs.
My parents weren’t in the living room. They must have gone to bed.
“Graham, how do I look?” Tiffany asked.
Graham looked shocked. I think he was as confused as I was. “You look nice,” He said simply.
“But do I look cute?”
“Um, sure.”
Tiffany smiled as she sat down on the couch, next to Graham. “Do you have any plans for this weekend?”
“Actually, I do. Brittany and I are going out on Friday night. You guys are friends, right?”
I stood there in disbelief. I might not have liked Graham and Brittany going out, but Tiffany was trying to sabotage Brittany. That was definitely against the Charm Club rules.
“Tiffany, it’s time for you to go,” I said.
Tiffany stood up. “Thanks for the dress, Meg. I don’t need the clothes I wore over here. You can bring them to school tomorrow.” When she got to the door, she turned around. “Bye, Graham.” She said, waving to him.
I slammed the front door and hurried into the kitchen, where the phone was. I dialed quickly and impatiently waited for someone to pick up.
On the third ring, someone answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, this is Meg White. Is Beverly there?”
“Yes, hold on one moment.”
I waited, tapping my foot.
“Meg?” Beverley said. “What’s wrong?”
“Tiffany was just here.” I told her. “I have a few things to tell you.”
Chapter 6
Lauren-Anne
“Brittany, how excited are you for your date tonight?” Evelyn asked.
Brittany turned away from the mirror, putting her make-up brush down. “I can’t wait. Graham said he’s taking me to Penny’s Diner. I heard it’s really good.”
It had been strange referring to Evelyn by her first name and holding conversations with her at first, but now it felt totally normal.
Evelyn smiled and clapped. “That’s great! Only the serious couples go there.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes as she spoke up from her corner in Marylin’s room. “That’s so cliche.” She had been sulking all week since Beverly and Marylin yelled at her for wearing an outfit she didn’t have permission to wear, and for trying to steal Graham from Brittany.
“It’s better than the movies,” I said.
Marylin smiled at Brittany. “I think that sounds like a lovely date.”
Beverly nodded in agreement. She couldn’t talk. She had a bunch of bobby pins sticking out of her mouth as she tried to do Brittany’s hair. She turned Brittany’s head, forcing Brittany to stare straight ahead. After doing a few things, she clapped her hands once and stepped away from Brittany. “Perfect,” She said.
Brittany stood up and turned around.
Everyone in the Charm Club clapped, except for Tiffany and Meg. Meg hadn’t come to Marylin’s that night since she didn’t approve of Brittany and Graham dating. But everyone else clapped. Brittany looked great.
A car honked outside. I looked out the window. “It’s your mom,” I told Brittany.
Brittany grinned. “I should get home right before Graham gets there to pick me up. Wish me luck, everyone.”
We all wished her luck as she closed the bedroom door behind her.
We all started chattering excitedly. Brittany was the first Charm Club member to be going on a date this year.
Shortly after that, I walked home. I felt bad for Meg. Her brother was dating one of her friends. Even though I was happy for Brittany, I still understood how weird that must have been for Meg. So, I called her.
“Hello?” She picked up on the first ring.
“Hey. It’s me.”
“Hi, Lauren-Anne. What is it?”
“Do you want to do something tonight? I don’t want you moping around all night.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on. That Joan Crawford movie that came out last month is still
