BANG! Someone flung open a window, giving the four girls sitting on the roof a shock. They sat in a circle, holding bottles of liquor they'd filched. They stared back as Lilith Harper, one of the most beautiful girls in Coser, and a huge goody-goody, cast them a disapproving look. Her sky-blue eyes did a slow sweep before resting on the youngest, a honey-haired girl trying to hide in the back of the group.
"Viola Harper," she called. "Why am I not surprised? You'd better stop what you're doing and get in here now, before I tell Father everything."
Beside Viola, Kendall Moore leaned back her head of silky dark hair, downing a sip of clear liquid. "She'll do it too. You always were a tattletale, weren't you, Lil?"
"Watch your familiar tone," the other girl shot back. "That's Lilith to you. And might I ask what you were doing corrupting my younger sister? I bet your father wouldn't be happy to hear about this."
"He won't care. Believe me when I say he has no love for you Harpers. It's one thing he and I have in common."
Lilith cocked her head, realizing that her sister still hadn't moved. "What are you doing, still sitting there?"
Viola shot to her feet, giving the other girls an apologetic look. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I'd better go."
Kendall nodded understandingly. "Cheer up, Vi. I'm sure you won't have to worry about your sister for much longer. Sooner or later, some poor sap is going to make her his wife, and she'll be someone else's problem. She won't have the time to be constantly checking up on you then."
Lilith leaned out the window when she heard that, drawn to the challenge. Viola hopped over the windowsill, scurrying away to return to the Townsends' ball downstairs.
"At least I'll be married," Lilith retorted, with a fake smile on her face. It was so forced, it threatened to make her face crack. "Where will you be? Sitting somewhere, getting drunk on cheap liquor?"
"Well, we can't all afford the fancy kind."
"We're not in school anymore, Kendall. Maybe it's time to start behaving more like a lady and less like a silly teenager."
"I'm still a teenager, and so are you, remember? We were in the same class for nine years."
"Too bad only one of us has the sense to act our age."
"What's so good about acting our age, anyway?"
"It's for your own sake. Men don't want to be with ... " She paused, gesturing at the girls and the collection of bottles between them. " ... this." She said the last part like she was talking about the day's garbage.
"Oh, please. You think you know a lot about men just because you get asked to dance the most?"
"How many men have asked you to dance tonight?"
"None but - "
"Aha."
"That's because I've been up here."
"Time well spent."
"I agree," she replied, shaking her bottle to demonstrate her point.
"Honestly, Kendall. Don't wait too long, or all the good ones will have gone."
"I don't care about all that."
"You don't care or you pretend not to care?"
Kendall narrowed her eyes. "Read my lips. I don't care."
"You're pretty enough. I bet you could hook a man if you put your mind to it."
Kendall flushed angrily, and Grace and Rae, her two friends, looked on worriedly. They both knew what her temper was like. "Excuse me, I don't have to put my mind to anything."
Lilith gave her a sympathetic look, which only infuriated her even more.
"I don't," Kendall repeated.
"Come now, Kendall. I'm sure you would appeal to, um, certain men, but it might be a while before those offers start coming in. A long while."
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Don't I?"
"I can find as good a husband as you can. In fact, I bet I'll be married long before you meet someone who even comes close to your high standards."
"At least I have standards."
"Yes, we know, like you did with Logan Shaw."
Lilith stiffened. It was subtle, but the girls saw it all the same. "That was a long time ago."
Kendall rose to her feet, cocking her head at the other girl. "What do you say, Lil? How about a wager? You and me. First to marry wins."
"Lilith," she couldn't help correcting. She twisted her body, facing them squarely, and Kendall knew she had her attention. "What would be the stakes?"
Kendall paused, her red lips parting slightly as she thought. She glanced over at Grace and Rae, then scuttled towards the window.
"Kendall, where are you going?" Rae called. "We want to hear too."
"Well, you can't," she shot back. She went up to the window, standing close to Lilith. Beautiful Lilith, with hair like a red autumn, so long, it came down to her waist, and a face of perfect skin and cheekbones. She was like a queen. An ice queen.
Kendall had always hated her. She swallowed as she went over what she was about to say. It was something no one outside of the Harpers and Moores knew, and she intended to keep it that way, all her life. Making sure that Grace and Rae were out of earshot, she leaned over, whispering in Lilith's ear, "The debt. I want it gone."
Lilith raised her eyebrows into high, thin arches. "And what makes you think I can do that?" she whispered back.
"I know you can. Speak to your father, put up the money yourself - I don't care how you do it. Just do it."
Lilith released a tight-lipped sigh. "Alright. I suppose I can think of something. But that's if you win. What about if I win?"
"You're a Harper. Don't you have everything you could possibly want?"
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?"
"You'd better not ask for something ridiculous, like making me ride through Coser without my clothes on like Godiva."
"You know, your capacity for imagination never fails to amaze me."
"My point is, be fair. And realistic."
"As a matter of fact, you do have something I want."
A tiny muscle below Kendall's eye began to twitch, and Lilith looked she was trying not to laugh. "What is it?" Kendall asked tentatively.
"Sky."
"You want the sky?"
"Sky, your horse. She's the fastest one in Coser."
"But she was a gift from my brother."
"You asked what I wanted, and I named it."
Kendall looked away for a moment, tapping a hand on the windowsill. Behind her, Grace and Rae were watching intently, no doubt wondering at the terms being exchanged. "Alright."
"Alright?" Lilith perked up in surprise. "So we're agreed?"
"I'm up for it if you are."
"Oh, yes," she said confidently, extending a hand to shake. "You might want to reconsider though, if you know what's good for you."
Kendall stared at the girl's smooth, slender fingers, thinking of Sky, her beloved mare in her stable at home. The thought of Lilith Harper ever riding her horse filled her with loathing. On the other hand, this debt between the Moores and Harpers was humiliating. Erasing it would make things equal between them again. Or at least as equal as their families could ever be. "I'm in," she decided, putting her hand to Lilith's for a shake. "No backing out."
"No backing out," Lilith repeated in that slow, formal drawl of hers, making Kendall roll her eyes. Lilith leaned sideways, peering at Grace and Rae. "And you two are our witnesses."
"Except we didn't really witness much," Grace commented.
"It has to be a real wedding," Lilith told her rival, as their hands parted. "Engagements don't count."
"And no random boys plucked off the street."
"I should be the one telling you that."
"Ha ha."
"Best of luck," she said with an infuriating smile. She spun on her heel, the skirt of her gown swirling with the movement. Her hair swung with her too, and Kendall had to jerk away before it smacked her in the face.
"I don't need luck."
Lilith did not answer as she made her way out. Kendall breathed out heavily, clutching the windowsill so tightly, her hands became numb. What had she just done?