Stella shushed Nicole. “Relax. Go with it. Let it happen.”

Nicole scoffed but smiled as she shook her head.

Perfect.

“Sisters?” Luna asked warily.

Stella didn’t know if she was allowed to claim the people she wanted to be her people. Her severely stunted social skills told her it was probably a bad idea. But she liked them! They probably liked her! And they were stuck together for the time being!

And more important, Luna had a very obvious big sister complex. There was no way she didn’t care for Alex—Stella refused to believe otherwise—but it was clear Jewel, a stranger, came first. Luna’s mom wasn’t in the picture, but she lived with her older sister, whose scarf she continuously wore.

Stella wasn’t going to take Luna head-on in order to win. Taking Luna under her wing would be a far more effective approach.

“I never asked for this, but I fly into mysterious and inexplicable homicidal blood rage if I even think about you being hurt in any way,” Stella said. “I have given up and accepted my sisterly fate.”

“Um, okay?”

“You may also just go with it,” Stella said. “But in the name of sisterhood you are allowed to give me one, count it: one nickname.”

“Really?” Luna perked up.

“Really.”

“Anything I want?”

“Within reason.” Stella shrugged. That was enough. No need to keep pushing.

“Okay,” Luna said after a few beats of silence. She glanced up at Nicole, who gave her an encouraging smile. “Sisters. Yeah. Okay.”

Stella aimed her cheesiest smile right into the closest camera as they passed under it. She hoped Jewel was watching.

SATURDAY, 7:07 A.M.

The massive black oak door carved with fleurs-de-lis and cherubs miming for you to Shhh claimed the entirety of the short hall. No other rooms or doors were visible. The path began and ended there.

“Where’s the keypad?” Nicole asked as she searched. The door didn’t even have a handle. “We’re supposed to go in, right?”

Luna stared at the birds, hoping they would do something else. They only continued to hover. She tried to tamp down on the hot flash of frustration ripping through her. What more did they need to do? She took a deep breath to center herself. The scent on her scarf had begun to fade.

“There appears to be a secret passage on the map connected to this room. I’d vote yes,” Stella said while looking at her tablet.

Luna examined the door again, hoping to spot something new. “All the locked doors have opened with a key code so far. Even the ones we haven’t found yet are supposed to open with a key code. Why not this one? Why is it special?”

Nicole said, “Well, it’s the only colored door besides the ones in Crayola Hall. Almost everything else is just glossy wood.”

Stella said, “Black isn’t a color. It’s a shade.”