“I hope you’re right.”

Tina whispered, “No matter what happens with that bitch, you’ll be fine.”

Sherri sucked in her gut. “Here goes nothing.” She bit her lip and walked to the corner of the room where Gloria stood. “Hello, Bunny Mother,” she said, her voice dripping with sweetness. She stepped on the scale, holding her breath as she waited for the swinging lever to come to a stop. Gloria pulled her pencil out from behind her ear and banged it against the metal bar, impatient. She frowned, disappointed. “Four pounds.”

Sherri’s heart raced and her eyes filled with hot tears. She couldn’t even remember when she’d last eaten. How was that possible? The girls were starting to whisper, which made Sherri mad. “I gained four pounds?”

“No.” Gloria spoke as if Sherri were an idiot. “You’re down four.”

What a relief! Sherri exhaled hard. She usually tried to stay calm around Gloria, but she couldn’t help it: the pills Danny gave her were starting to kick in, and she suddenly felt as though even the blood coursing through her veins sparkled, fizzed, and popped.

“Hallelujah!” she said, and all the girls in the fitting room, even the new ones she didn’t know, began to clap. Go Sherri! they said. She turned and waved at them as if she’d won the Alice in Dairyland beauty pageant. But Gloria’s expression was still grim. Why couldn’t she be pleased for her? Instead, she looked like she’d just heard that a close relative had passed away.

“I lost weight, just like you asked,” Sherri said, angry. “What’s wrong?”

Gloria propped her little glasses back up her skinny nose. “Let me ask you something,” she said, her voice low enough that the other girls wouldn’t hear her. “Do you have a plan?”

“A plan? What do you mean?”

“For yourself. Your future.”

Maybe if, at that very moment, her brain hadn’t started to light up like the neon A&W sign at sundown, the Bunny Mother’s words might have sunk in. Instead, they bounced around the room like a rubber ball. “I just want to work. That’s my plan.”

“You can’t do this forever, you know. You might want to start thinking about what’s next.”

“I thought you wanted someone who could work here for a long time.” Sherri felt her face and chest flush red. She wanted to explode. “Gloria,” she said, “are you firing me?”

Gloria paused. “No.” She held her clipboard close to her chest. “Although I’m not doing you any favors by keeping you on. There’s more to life than this place. Most of the girls already know this. You, I’m afraid, do not.”

Sherri stepped off the scale and gave Gloria a fake smile. Gloria knew it was fake—Gloria knew everything! “Thanks for the pep talk.”

Gloria began to inspect Sherri’s nails. “I’ve got all these new girls here,” she said, “so I’m sure you’ll be pleased to learn that I’ve moved you to the Cabaret.”