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I topped a small hill, and immediately saw what Chris meant about the beach being a popular hangout spot.  Despite the sun being hidden away by a few clouds, every square foot of the beach was packed with people.  It was even busier than the cafeteria had been earlier today.  It seemed like everybody who arrived at Oliver today was already down there.

I looked around, but couldn’t see Liz or the other girls anywhere.  I went along the single path leading to the water, propelled by the stream of other kids heading the same way.  Down there, I looked around again, but still wasn’t able to find any of the girls I had met before.  Maybe they had already left?  I wasn’t sure I would be able to pick them out among the sea of people.  At the same time, it was a bit of relief not to see any of them yet.  I still had too much on my mind.  Getting my thoughts in order would happen only in the serenity of the private beach.

I edged myself through all the people, and was just about to get to the part where the sand shifted to rocks when I heard a shrill voice behind me.

“Tracy!”

I looked back, and saw Madison running toward me.  Somehow, she had found time to change since leaving the cafeteria, and was now wearing a tiny white skirt and an equally skimpy top.  Her hair hung freely around her shoulders.  Again, I was struck by just how much she resembled Liz.

“Hey!” she said as she came up to me.  “I thought you would come eventually.  Wait! Where were you going?”

“Oh, hey,” I greeted her with a casualness I did not feel.  “Just over this way, I was uh, looking for you guys.”

“Well, we’re back over there,” she said, pointing in the opposite direction.  “No wonder you missed us!  You were looking in the wrong place.”

“Yeah,” I answered half-heartedly.  I was looking forward to getting some time to myself.  Now the possibility had disappeared.

“Anyway, we were actually just about to leave, when I saw you,” Madison continued.  “It was nice here, but way too busy.”

“Oh,” I said, instantly feeling a flood of relief.  Maybe I’d get the time to myself after all.  “Where are you going?”

“Don’t know yet, but somewhere less busy.  I actually might go back to my room.  I haven’t had a chance to unpack yet, and I know the other girls have to do so as well.”

“Oh, so you guys aren’t all hanging out then?”

Madison shook her head.  “Probably not for much longer.  Otherwise, I’d ask you to come along.”

“That’s fine.  I actually wanted to take a look around the island for a bit, and I don’t think you guys would be interested in that anyway.”

Madison made a face.  “Nah, we’ve all seen pretty much all there is to see here.  But that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh?  Why then?”

“Actually, Liz asked me to tell you about a party going on tonight.  Sort of a welcome back thing to kick off the new year.  You in?”

“Uh, maybe,” I answered.  The way Madison emphasized the word ‘party’ made it seem like it was going to be the highlight of the year.  There was also something… sinister… about the way she said it.

“Maybe?”  Madison looked scandalized.  “That’s not good enough.  You
have
to come.  Otherwise, you’re totally going to miss
everything
that goes on here!  Anyone who’s anyone is going to be there.  Trust me.  That’s where you
need to be
to fit in on campus.”

“Sure, alright,” I agreed. 

“Great!  The party starts at ten.  But, we’ll come by your room at eight to make sure you’re ready.  Give me your phone number, just in case plans change.”

I did.  Madison punched it into her phone and skipped off.  I turned and continued toward my intended destination.  The party tonight was just another thing I’d need to mull over.   

Chapter Eight – An Invitation

I was in my room, and the feeling of anxiety in the pit of my stomach grew as the minutes ticked closer and closer to 8:00 p.m.  I still hadn’t heard anything from Madison, or anybody else, about the party tonight.  What Madison said earlier about the party being important started to weigh on me.  I didn’t want to start the year off behind in the social scene.  Apparently that would be the inevitable outcome if I missed tonight.

I flipped open my phone for what seemed like the hundredth time, only to find exactly the same thing as before: nothing.

Although I knew all the girls – and everyone in my grade – lived in this building, I didn’t know
which
particular rooms any of them were in.  So, it wasn’t like I could walk down the hall and meet all of them just like that. 

I leaned back on my bed, my anxiety and uncertainty increasing.  What was taking Madison so long?  Maybe she’d forgotten about inviting me?  I hoped that wasn’t the case.  And what would the party be like, anyway?  Who would be there?  Would Rob?

The only solace was that the party apparently wasn’t supposed to start until 10:00 p.m..  But at the same time, if none of the girls I met earlier today showed up to take me there, it wouldn’t matter at all when it began. 

The minutes stretched by slowly.  What made it worse was that I had nothing to do but sit and wait.  I had already showered and dressed in a fresh outfit: a pair of new jeans with a bit of glitter down the sides and a bluish-black, matching blouse.  I didn’t know what people wore to parties over here, so I elected to choose something relatively conservative, but sufficiently dressy for the night. 

Where
was
everyone?  Outside my window, I could hear kids walking along the courtyard.  Every once in a while, I caught a whoop or a shout.  That only served to increase my anxiety.  People out there were having fun.  Why wasn’t I?

Of course, the answer to that was that I was waiting to
go
somewhere that would apparently be fun.  Or, it might not be at all, but it still seemed like something I shouldn’t miss.  Least of all after Madison’s warning.

I flipped over, and looked at the time on my phone.  It blinked 8:02 p.m.  Madison was late and not responding to my texts.  I had nothing to do but lie back and wait.

A part of me wished I was still at that little private beach.  The sun would be going down shortly, and its rays on the horizon would be quite a sight.  I had stayed there for nearly the entire day today, feeling completely at ease in the tranquility of the space.  It was one of the most relaxing, most therapeutic, extended moments of my life.  Chris wasn’t there, and didn’t show up at any point.  I had been hoping he might, but I would have still gone there again in a heartbeat knowing that.  Staying there gave me time to think, about Chris, about Rob, about Liz and the other girls, about my feelings regarding this new school, and a whole bunch of other things that needed to be figured out.

One of the most important revelations I made had to do with Liz and her friends.  I had decided, pretty unequivocally, that I wanted to do my best to be accepted as one of them.  Not least of all because if I
wasn’t
, as they made clear, my life had the potential to become a living hell.  I didn’t want to find out what that would be like.

Of course, it wasn’t like I was being pressured into friendship.  The threat had only come up after I had seemingly infringed on some type of girl code.  Before that, they were all pretty much ready to become fast friends.  So really, the choice was obvious: stay clear of Rob and become good friends with the popular girls in my grade, or, mess that up and make six powerful enemies for the rest of high school.  It was an easy choice for me.

No matter how callous and unexpected that threat from Liz had been, the girls were all people I wanted to get to know.  Besides, they seemed to like me, aside from that strange occurrence with Rob.  And I liked them.  The one thing I had to do, then, to ensure there wouldn’t be any more unfortunate incidences, was talk to Rob and clear things up with him.  I wanted to make sure he didn’t get the wrong impression about me.  To do so, I thought I had to tell him straight up that I wasn’t interested in him.

Except that it wasn’t true.  I
wanted
to get to know Rob, to figure out just why he looked at me like that.  But if I wanted to maintain the friendship with the girls, that was out of the question.  It was a great predicament to be in.

A knock on my door jolted me out of my musing.  My mind had drifted, and it took a few seconds for me to process what had happened.  As soon as I did, though, I sprang out of my bed and made a beeline for the door.  I had my hand on the knob when I stopped, realizing I probably looked a mess after lying on the bed.  I took a few seconds to smooth the front of my blouse, and then, feeling more composed, opened the door.

I was expecting Madison, or Liz, or maybe the whole group of girls.  Instead, outside my door, I found… nobody.  I poked my head into the hall, and looked both ways.  It was empty.  There was nobody there!  I frowned.  Had I imagined hearing the knock?  I didn’t think I was
that
jumpy.  No, somebody had definitely been there.  But now they were gone.  Who was it?

Slowly, a sinking realization started to invade the pit of my stomach.  Maybe Madison’s invitation had just been a ruse, a way to get my hopes up and then dashing them.  Maybe it was some sort of cruel justice those girls thought was appropriate after what had happened in the cafeteria.  I felt betrayed and alone.  I didn’t like being taken advantage of that way.

I began to close the door, but then a small piece of white caught my eye.  I looked down, and to my surprise found a sealed envelope on the floor.  I picked it up.  On one side, in a flowing, elegant hand, was my name.  Tracy Bachman.

I closed the door with my hip, and held the small envelope carefully.  I didn’t know what it contained.  Something about it felt both ominous and exciting at the same time.  The paper was thick and heavy.  I sat down on my bed, and opened it.

Inside was a folded piece of paper.  I pulled it out and read:

Dear Ms.  Bachman,

Your presence is cordially requested at 86 Brattle Street at 10:30 p.m., tonight.  Please adhere to a formal-casual dress code.

The message was written in the same hand as my name had been outside the envelope.  At the bottom, instead of a name or any indicator of who it was from, was a small wax emblem.  I brought it close to get a better look.  It was some sort of sigil, although nothing I could distinguish.  A single triangular shape was overlaid by a series of three wavy lines.  I had no idea what it represented, or what it meant.  But, I did know one thing: This was my invitation to the party.

At least, that’s what I
thought
it was.  The timing coincided with what Madison had told me, and I could see no other explanation.  But, why the mysterious delivery? What was up with the dress code?  Formal-casual?  What did that even mean?

I looked at my phone. 8:22 p.m.  That was good, at least.  It meant I had enough time to change into something more suitable, and figure out exactly where it was I had to go.  I hadn’t heard of Brattle Street before, but assumed it was somewhere in the main yard.  That was the only area on the island that actually had labeled streets.

I wondered curiously about the location.  When Madison told me about the party – assuming it was the same party – I thought it would be in somebody’s dorm.  But there were no dorms in the main yard, only that arrangement of assorted buildings.  And what was up with that wax emblem?  Was it something I should recognize?  Perhaps it represented some sort of club or secret society?  But this was just a random boarding school.  From what I knew, those types of places were limited to the elite universities of the country.

Well, I’d find out soon.  The first thing to do, then, was figure out exactly where it was I needed to go.  I pulled out the little map that had come with my welcome package.  Unfortunately, the lack of detail meant that none of the streets were labeled.  Blah.  Well, the main yard wasn’t that large anyway, and only had a few main streets.  I would just have to leave early to find the place.

The next thing proved slightly more difficult.  I hadn’t the slightest clue what ‘formal-casual’ meant.  Besides, I had had to leave most of my clothes behind when I was forced to take that tiny ferry over.  After agonizing for at least half an hour, pulling out what few clothes I had here and comparing them to each other, then trying them on in turn, the final outfit I settled on was unfortunately familiar.  It was the same thing I had on when I first got the invitation. 

I saw on my phone that it was already 9:40 p.m.  That gave me less than an hour to find the place.  It was an uncomfortably short amount of time.  So, grabbing my phone and the invitation, I ran hastily out of the room.

I could hear people in the foyer below.  As I passed them on my way out, I thought I caught a glimpse of Chris, but when I turned my head to double check, he was gone.  He still hadn’t gotten in touch with me.  I absently hoped that he wasn’t still mad.  But that wasn’t the priority right now.

The courtyard outside the dorms was surprisingly busy.  There were groups of people walking about, or hanging out under the trees, or even throwing a Frisbee around.  That surprised me.  The Frisbee was glow-in-the-dark, something I hadn’t seen before.  I hurried past, angling toward the main yard.