Isabel breaks out into a hearty laugh, and instantly I know I’ve made a mistake. “You think this is like one of those old rom-coms where the hot girls have a hot routine they break out at every talent show?”

Do not shrink. Do not shrink. Do not shrink. I shrug casually, as if my ridiculous naivete is whatever, and try to think of an answer that wouldn’t make Salem roll his eyes. “Well, a girl can hope.”

Isabel drops onto her bed and folds her legs seamlessly into a lotus position on her pastel bedspread without even using her hands. “Unfortunately, I am utterly devoid of talent. Ashleigh does hip-hop with her team, Priya has the voice of an angel, and Jenna—well, Jenna is a classically trained pianist, but she’d enter a talent show over her dead body. Sorry to disappoint.”

“No worries,” I say as brightly as I can, which ends up coming out way too brightly. Dial it down, Skeevy, I hear in Salem’s obnoxious voice. “I, too, am utterly devoid of talent. Just thought it might be fun to do something.”

“You’re not utterly devoid of talent, though,” Isabel says with a wicked grin. “I watched you slay at that poker night.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a ‘talent show’ kind of talent.”

“Okay, but do you have any other talents with cards? Something that could be a talent-show talent?”

“I mean, I do card tricks, some really basic cardistry—”

“Perfect!” Isabel lights up. “Who cares if it’s basic? You can be a magician and I can be your assistant. It’ll be fun.”

“I don’t actually do any tricks other than card tricks.”

“So? You’ll brand yourself as a card magician. I mean, if you really wanna do something.”

“I do,” I say firmly.

She snorts. “Did you lose a bet or something?”

“Ha, not exactly.” How to put this … “I’d like for some people to know me as something other than the Rumson Girl, even if it’s the Talent Show Dork.”

“Ah. Well. Don’t you worry about that,” she says, sashaying over to her closet to pull out a sleek black pantsuit that would probably be perfect if Isabel wasn’t at least half a foot taller than me. “We’re going to make you the hottest magician Camden has ever seen.”

I smile and put the pantsuit in front of me to get an idea of the general look, and yeah, I could make something in the right size look good. “I’m counting on it.”