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"No. You can't ruin your careers because of me." I moaned. "Or me," Rose insisted.

"I'll make it on my own. If we have such talent, nothing can stop us. It might take longer, but the price we'll pay for speed isn't worth it," Cinnamon said. "Don't worry about it. We'll all get jobs in the city and rent an apartment together and work at our careers. It might be more fun. anyway."

"My parents wouldn't be happy about it," I said, even though it did sound good to me.

"They'll get happy about it," Cinnamon insisted. She made me smile.

"I told you-- one for all, all for one. Girls?"

"Okay," Ice said. "They go, we all go."

She put out her hand. Cinnamon covered it with hers. Rose gazed at me and then did the same, and then I did. For a moment we held onto each other tightly.

"Lets get some sleep," Cinnamon said and started for the door. She stopped before opening it and turned to the rest of us. "But one more thing... even if nothing comes of this. I want to know what's happening up there. Who is that? Why is she spying on us?

"Let's decide right now to find out.'

"How?" Ice asked.

"We'll pay her a visit again. Only this time..."

"What this time?" I asked, holding my breath.

"This time we go into the rooms. We confront her. We ask questions."

No one spoke.

All our hearts beat with the same mad, frightened rhythm. Cinnamon opened the door.

"I've got to get a boyfriend, too. I need to have someone sneak up here," she joked. "That's a rule I'd enjoy breaking."

Moments later, we were all in our beds, looking into the darkness, wondering what the morning would bring.

11 Oranges and Lemons

Almost telepathically, the four of us emerged from our respective roams simultaneously to go down to breakfast in the morning. We wore an air of anticipation around and over us like an invisible blanket. Every time someone came into the dining room, our eyes lifted together in expectation. Ms. Fairchild's steely footsteps in the corridor were like tiny knocks on our thumping hearts. Mast of the time, she walked by the roam without looking in to see what we were doing, but whenever she did, our collective breaths were frozen. All of us waited to hear. "Madame Senetsky wants you to report to her office now!"

But we didn't hear the fatal words.

Without any specific assignments to fulfill, we could have slept later. Steven and Howard certainly did, both appearing when the four of us were nearly finished.

"What's going on here today?" Howard complained. "Usually, it's quieter than a cemetery on a Sunday."

There did seem to be a great deal of activity in the house: doors opening and closing. Madame Senetsky's servants going to and fro. Ms. Fairchild looking in on us and then, without a word,

disappearing into the private residence. We were all wondering what it meant.

"So?" Steven asked, flopping into a chair at the table, "how did the rest of the evening go?"

No one spoke. Surprised at the question. Howard looked at us and at Steven.

/> "What rest of what evening?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear any scurrying about the building last night? For a while there. I thought we were going to have an earthquake in New York."

"No." Howard said. "What are you talking about now. Steven?"

"Nothing," he said, smiling lustfully at Rose and me. "Or was it something?"