CARRIE THOUGHT there was something sort of obnoxious about Megan. She’d heard about the fight between her and Amanda, obviously. She’d even heard about the part where Megan was crouched under the porch screaming and crying or whatever. But it was weird, here she was, acting sort of normal. Carrie examined her skeptically.

“Did you guys see the website?” asked Megan. “Randy did it,” she said, pointing to Randy with her thumb. “I think it looks pretty good.”

And now it was easier because everyone was Anthea, and Megan was just riffing.

ELENA WAS AT HOME doing some needlepoint in front of the tv when her phone rang. She had the window open a crack and the fresh air filled her living room. Her boys were out, all of them (her husband, too) and she was working on a project that would be hung in the church. Everyone seemed to really like her needlepoint. This pattern was a line of interlocking flower branches surrounding a phrase about togetherness and sweetness and how the two were related and equal in the eyes of God. She was so happy about the way her life was sometimes. She had plenty to feel good about. She assumed the phone call would be her husband, and she felt so good she thought she would ask him to pick her up a treat from the store. Maybe a pie or ice cream, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. She slipped the needle into her work, set it aside, and reached for the cordless.

“HOW’S IT GOING, Carrie?” Megan asked. She smiled. “How was your 30 under 30 interview?”

“It went pretty well. Everyone looks great in their photos. So, so pretty. I’m really excited to see the layout.”

“You do design, right? Is that what you went to school for?” asked Megan. “For design?”

“Yeah, that and writing, painting, and photography.”

“That’s cool, like a mixed major. I bet that’s really useful,” said Megan.

“HELLO,” said Elena.

“Hello,” said Jillian, but she said it in a hilarious, gruff, Batman voice.

MEGAN’S BEHAVIOR made Amanda uncomfortable. Does she have a gun? Are we all about to die?

JILLIAN HAD A CASE of the giggles all night, and had to go into the bathroom twice just so Adam would stop asking her what was so funny. What was so funny was, for some reason, she’d decided to demand that Elena give her hundreds of dollars. Jillian believed in the power of Christ and she had promised earlier that she would trust in any idea He gave to her, and this was His idea. When she thought about it, she would laugh, then moan, then feel like she was going to puke, then feel nervous, then feel nothing. Then a few minutes later, the cycle would repeat. Similar to the feeling she’d had before she called Adam’s dad. Like dread, but also inevitability.