Jillian wished Kaye would stand up for herself, but who was she to talk? She was just as afraid of Lindy as Kaye was—not to mention her fear of her own parents. A not-afraid person would have told her mother she was going to the mall, but that would have meant admitting she was friends with Lindy, something Jillian wasn’t prepared to do. She’d been sneaking over to the Coxes’ house every day after school for over a month now, always afraid her mom would see her going in the front door, or running around back to Lindy’s fort in the White Elephant. And what if her mom ran into one of the teachers who ran the after-school clubs? She would be sent to her room forever.

Jillian, confirming that the coast was clear, followed Lindy and Kaye toward the escalator. Was the stress of sneaking around worth the thrill of being at the mall with Lindy? Jillian wasn’t so sure. It wasn’t as if she could actually buy anything. She’d spent all of her allowance on Christmas presents for her parents and Candy. Lindy, on the other hand, had her own credit card. Talk about cool.

There were a lot of cool things about Lindy Cox. A lot of creepy things, but enough cool things to offset them. Having brand-name clothes and your own bathroom was cool. So was having a mom who kept up with the fashion trends and liked the same music you did.

Spying on neighbors with binoculars fell in the creepy category. Dancing in your bra and panties to YouTube videos also was creepy, or what Jillian’s grandmother would have called “unwholesome.” Then there was the fort, which was the best place ever. Jillian always felt as though she was going to fall through one of the planks or step on a nail and get tetanus, but it was worth it. The other day they’d had a séance and brought back the ghost of Lindy’s grandfather. They both had felt his presence in the room.

Lindy called Jillian her BFF, her best friend forever. “Am I yours?” she would ask, and Jillian would, reluctantly, say yes. Was it possible to have two BFFs? One in France and one in Maryland? For a while Jillian had been suspicious about why Lindy was being so nice to her, but over time she’d started to ease into the novel concept that Lindy liked her for her. It was flattering to have been chosen—and exhausting at the same time.