one



"Are we ready?" Raina St. James asked. She looked expectantly at her two friends.

"I'm ready," Holly Harrison answered. More than ready, she thought. Anything to get herself out of the house and away from her parents' eagle eyes, especially her father's. His will was impossible to bend, his mind impossible to change. He treated her like she was twelve instead of sixteen, so yes, she was ready for Raina's project.

"I'm ready too," Kathleen McKensie said, knowing it was a lie. She wanted to say, I don't even want to be here, but she didn't have the guts. This summer project was totally Raina's idea, but because she'd let her two friends talk her into it, she had no one to blame but herself for agreeing to join them.

They climbed out of Raina's car and she locked the doors with the electronic key. "This is going to be a great summer," Raina said. "Trust me."

"Don't we always?" Holly said.

The three of them, friends since sixth grade, had just finished their sophomore year at Cummings High in Tampa, Florida, where they were practically inseparable. But it was Raina who led them--not in a bossy way, but by sheer force of personality and persuasion. Once Raina set her mind on something, it came to pass, and from the moment she'd started talking about Parker-Sloan General Hospital's summer volunteer program after the Christmas break, Kathleen had known she'd cave and join Raina and Holly as a volunteer. However, now that the day was really upon them, Kathleen was wishing she'd voiced her objections when she'd had the chance. For starters, being a volunteer would consume her entire summer. And then, of course, she ...