Read Chapter 3 here!

I was waiting for Clove and Nutmeg at my house, a week after the library incident. Since then, we had been meeting every day, either at my house or at Clove’s. For the record, Clove lives in a mansion, which is just a fifteen-minute walk from my home. Nutmeg lives in an apartment but for some reason she doesn’t want us to come there. Nutmeg being Nutmeg.

Clove and Nutmeg came in together, and all three of us plopped down on the sofa. Clove was wearing a baggy turquoise top that was tucked into ripped black jeans. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun. Nutmeg was wearing her usual clothes, and her flaming red hair was up in a hasty ponytail. I was wearing a dark pink (sorry, rosewood, like Clove would describe my outfit) frock, which I smoothened as I said, “So, I was thinking… you know since we all love The Tremendous Three and all… maybe we could start, I don’t know… a book club?”

I had this idea yesterday and I was dying to know what Clove and Nutmeg would think.

They both looked hopeful and nervous at the same time. “What if someone sees us?” Clove asked, not wanting to meet my eyes.

“Yeah, if anyone finds out about this, we wouldn’t hear the end of it for YEARS. Well, at least, Clove and I wouldn’t,” Nutmeg added bluntly. “This stuff is normal for you, so you won’t spend high school in humiliation.”

I flushed and wanted to tell them that is was a terrible idea and I hadn’t been thinking straight. But instead, I found myself saying, “But what if we kept it a secret? We could have secret meetings every week and no one would ever come to know!”

I regretted saying it the moment the words left my mouth. Clove and Nutmeg bother looked uncomfortable, but their answer shocked me.

“Okay,” they said at the same time. I was speechless. Two popular girls were willing to form a club with ME! I knew we were friends, but this was a whole new level of awesomeness.

So I clapped my hands and said, “Any of you know good places that can be used as a clubhouse?”

There was silence as the three of us tried to think of places. The Nutmeg sat up straight and snapped her fingers. “I found an abandoned shed a few weeks ago. With a makeover, it’ll be an amazing clubhouse,” she said.

Clove squealed. “Where there’s a makeover, expect me to be there!” she exclaimed. I nodded, and was going to say something but Clove interrupted me in her excitement.

“Why make it a book club, though? In The Tremendous Three, Abigale, Hazel and Sarah form a detective club. We could do that too. Like, solve mysteries in school or something.”

“Yeah, that would definitely by less embarrassing,” Nutmeg agreed. Trust her to be straightforward.

“Okay,” I agreed. Something was better than nothing, after all!