Chapter 37: Mary

I stare at the crisp white grid printed on the eight-by-eleven sheet of institutional paper. The heading at the top reads: St. Jude Academy Autumn Festival Committees – Section A. My index finger, tipped with a flawless pale pink gel manicure, presses into the stock right below the third column.

The ink is perfectly dry, but the names written there look like an error.

Team 4: Anastasia Vancouve & Emmet.

The fury starts as a heat at the base of my throat and spreads upward, tightening the skin beneath the silk collar of my blouse. I pull my finger back, leaving a tiny crescent indentation in the...