Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina were all gathered around a desk and his voice came out of a box and told them to put on bikinis and infiltrate the millionaire’s pool party. Oh, Charlie, they giggled. They did what he told them to do even though his voice had no body and he never appeared in their room. My opera, he wasn’t in it, though I fell asleep to his voice.

Amber said in my sleep, I turned to her and said: Enemy.

Oh, I’m so sorry.

No, it was cool. Sara, I wanna French-braid your hair.

I don’t want a makeover, Amber.

I’m Houdini, I’ll make you reappear.

You don’t have barrettes.

I’ll find a way.

At White Oaks, the other girls whined to their journals. They scrawled lipstick distress signals on the bathroom wall. I’m so loveless, I’m destroyed, Oh God help me, I’m screwed. But Amber said, I’ll find a way.

So I let her braid my hair. She twisted my bangs, left the rest of my hair alone. The braid was lopsided and stiff, sticking out above my forehead like a unicorn’s horn. The girl on the How to French Braid Your Hair page mocked me; her braid was like a perfect crown. But I looked better. It suits you, Amber said, lookin all wicked and deranged.

Later, we signed out for a smoke break. White Oaks is an old mansion, high up in a private forest. They don’t need security because no one wants to leave. We sat on the porch, talking under our breath.

Don’t let them put you in a foster home, Amber whispered. Say you have violent urges. Sara, I don’t want you to leave. Promise me you’ll stay here.

The art teacher couldn’t keep his eyes off Amber. We were air-brushing rainbows when I overheard.

No, he said, don’t make me do it again. I got in trouble last time. You shouldn’t do that anymore.

Don’t you get it? she said, gold spray paint on her palms. I’m Houdini. I can do whatever I want.

I used charcoal, drawing a girl running down an alley, smudging her legs till my fingers were black. I pretended not to overhear, but I had known for a while. Amber was up to something. She’d left our room at night, taking the barrettes I had found for her. I found them in the shower’s drain. Good one, she said. You’re almost ready to learn.

Cassie came down from the reservation for a six-week stint. They said she was uncontrollable because she threw a Johnnie Walker bottle at some guy.