The next day Madison stood in front of Wyatt’s house and rang the doorbell. Avery invited her after receiving Madison’s text. She was a little nervous about the whole thing. Avery insisted they were just going to hang out, but who knew what that really meant. With this group, it could be anything.

Wyatt opened the door and gave her a stiff smile. It wasn’t mean or unfriendly, but it wasn’t exactly welcoming either. Wary, she followed him in. As they walked farther into the house, she noted the dated furniture and cheap looking appliances. It was obvious his family didn’t have a lot of money. His house was located in the older section of town—the neighborhood run-down and the streets full of potholes. Regardless, the house was clean and taken care of. Not a spec of dirt anywhere.

Wyatt opened a screen door at the back of the house, which led into a spacious porch. It was enclosed with panels of screen giving the impression it was another room. Couches and armchairs were strategically placed around a long coffee table. 

“You made it,” Avery exclaimed from one of the couches. She scooted over and patted the brown fabric next to her. Madison wove through the furniture, giving Kelly and Garrett a small “hey” as she passed them. “I’m so glad you decided to join us. I thought for sure you weren’t going to change your mind. You seemed so resolute,” Avery confessed.

“That’s because I was.”

“So what happened?” Kelly asked.

“Yah, why the sudden turnaround?” Wyatt wondered, a hard edge to his voice. He sat down in the armchair directly across from her.

“Decided I needed a change of pace and here I am.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Are you normally so flippant about things?”

She arched an eyebrow. “If I am?”

“Your attitude is dangerous. Recklessness could get us caught.”

She didn’t owe him an explanation. Her reasons for the joining the group were her own. Goading him, she said, “Guess you should have thought of that before asking me to join.”

His eyes narrowed as he popped his jaw to the side. “It seems to me you’ve forgotten about that incriminating photo. Don’t forget who holds the key to that box.”

Madison started to stand, but Avery grabbed her arm and held her in place. “Everyone just calm down. We’re on the same side.”

The earnestness in Avery’s tone tugged on Madison’s heart. “Look, if there’s one thing I am, it’s meticulous.” She made eye contact with every member of the group, pausing on Wyatt. “I’m not going to get caught.”

He carefully considered her words then nodded and leaned back in his chair. Garrett and Kelly took that as his consent for they nodded as well.

“So what do you do for fun?” Kelly asked. And with that single question, the tension broke and everyone relaxed.

They sat around and chatted. Madison learned more about them, like how Kelly and Garrett’s parents were divorced and how Wyatt had two older siblings who were both attending Stanford with full-ride scholarships. She learned that Avery was fluent in Chinese and her parents were extremely strict. They grounded her if she got anything less than A on a test. That’s why they called their club a “study group.” It was the only way to get her parents approval to be out and about.

“There are some rules,” Kelly told her. “The first and the most important rule, is we don’t discuss FEC with anyone else but a member. The second rule is that you can only take an item that someone already owns.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t walk into a store and steal something. The item has to be bought and paid for,” Garrett explained.

"Or given," Wyatt added.

Kelly continued. “The third rule is that you can’t steal from the same person twice.”

“And that includes other members as well,” Avery interjected. “For example, if Wyatt stole from one person, Garrett can’t steal from that person too.”

“The fourth rule is no breaking and entering. We’re not criminals.” Kelly spat out the last word like it left a bad taste in her mouth. “You only take an item if you’re already there.”

“And the last rule is you have to place a marker in the house you stole from,” Wyatt said. He tossed a small velvet pouch onto the coffee table. It jingled as it landed. Avery nudged her arm and motioned for her to take it.

When she untied the strings and pulled it open, she saw a small collection of metal coins. She drew one out and held it up. The silver disk was no bigger than a penny. Smooth on one side, she turned it over and saw FEC stamped into the other.

“You don’t have to put it the exact spot of the item you steal—just somewhere in the house. I’ve placed the coin under a bed, inside a flower pot and even once in a wallet.”

“How did you get this?” she marveled.

Garrett spoke up. “Kelly made it. She buys the disks from an online jewelry store and stamps them herself.”

“I fashion myself something of a jewelry connoisseur,” Kelly bragged, touching a beaded earring dangling from an ear.

“She’s very good,” Avery piped in. “She gave me one of her creations for my birthday.”

“And yet I never see you wear it,” Kelly chided.

“It’s too fancy to wear to school. There needs to be a special occasion.”

 “You should wear it to the Homecoming dance. It’s coming up in a couple of weeks.” Kelly snapped her fingers. “Let’s go dress shopping tomorrow. We can look for the perfect dress to compliment it.”

“You guys have dates to Homecoming?” Madison asked.

“We go with each other. Avery and Garrett. Wyatt and myself.” Kelly paused. “I guess we can just go as a big group now that you’re coming. Which reminds me, I’ll need to change our dinner reservation to five.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. Dancing isn’t really my thing.”

Avery frowned, her nose wrinkling. “You have to come. Going to school dances is a rite of passage. Besides, I don’t dance either. We can stand on the side and pretend we’re too cool to participate together.”

“And spike the punch?” Madison joked.

“You’re coming. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“I don’t know….”

“You have to come,” Avery reiterated. “You’re one of us now.”

“No pressure or anything,” Kelly drawled. Avery stuck her tongue out and Kelly rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to promise anything right now. Shop with us tomorrow and see if anything catches your fancy. That way you have something to wear just in case.”

“Alright,” she relented. “But nothing too frilly.”

Avery squealed and threw her arms around her. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

*****

To Madison, dress shopping was something akin to torture. All the dresses were frilly and sparkly and over the top. Basically, everything Madison wasn’t. She liked comfortable and casual. Laced corsets and beaded chiffon just didn’t do it for her.

“What about this one?” Kelly asked, holding up a wine-colored, floor length dress.

Madison eyed the split on the side that ended a couple inches below where her hip would be. “Am I a hooker?”

“How about this?” Avery held up a puffy halter-top gown.

“What’s under there—a hooped skirt?”

Exasperated, Kelly rolled her eyes. “You are impossible. You’re the Grinch of dress shopping.”

“If I was the Grinch you’d be more scared of me.”

Avery sidled up next to her and swept her arms through the air in a dramatic fashion. “It’s because under that hard exterior we see your heart of gold.”

“Let’s not get carried away, Cindy Lou,” she retorted.

“Yeah,” Kelly called from behind a rack of dresses. “Her heart’s more like granite.”

The statement struck Madison. In some ways, she felt like her heart was surrounded by granite. Once she moved, she’d erected strong barriers to protect herself.

“Or steel,” Avery mused, making everyone laugh at the clever word play.

“Speaking of which, how did you guys even start that type of…study group?” Madison asked. She’d been wondering about that since the library. It was such a random club to form.

“It actually began as a competition between Avery and I,” Kelly told her in a low voice. “You see my stepmother has this extensive hand-painted doll collection. She buys them from all around the world and they are the creepiest things you’ve ever seen.” She shuddered. “So one day, after a particularly horrible visit where she crept criticizing my table manners, I took one.”

“She showed it to me,” Avery said, continuing the story, “and I told her that was nothing. She should see the crystal bell I stole from one of my dad’s business associates.”

“And so it began,” Kelly stated fondly. “We started one-upping each other till Wyatt suggested we make a game of it and formed the FEC.”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

Kelly shrugged it off. “Maybe at first, but we’ve gotten so good at it now. No one would connect it back to us.” A long pause as she waited for Avery to move out of earshot. “Of course now that you’re in the group it changes things.” The hint of superiority in her tone ruffled Madison’s pride.

 “Like I told you before, I’m not going to get caught. I don’t make mistakes.” Maybe it was arrogant of her to say, but she didn’t care. Kelly had drawn a line in the sand and Madison had to draw her own. She couldn’t appear weak, not with Kelly. The girl would sniff it out immediately and exploit it, using her weakness against her.

“Good to know,” Kelly said lightly. She looked at a couple more dresses on the rack before walking away, but not before whispering in Madison’s ear, “I hope for your sake you don’t, because if you do mess up, you’re on your own.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, it’s a promise.”

Madison watched her chatting with Avery and knew that was one promise she could count on someone keeping.