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"No one wanted to live with me," Minnie said

Minnie kept a cautious eye on me as I surveyed her room Spread across the floor and the empty mattress were dozens of loose sketches, all black-and-white The lines were sparse and drawn bluntly in charcoal, yet so than the subjects were in real life In addition to the drawings of ballet slippers, there were also landscapes of Gottfried’s campus, and portraits --beautiful portraits--of an old woirl, an old man, and one of Minnie herself

"Did you draw these?" I asked

Minnie nodded

"They’re beautiful"

"Thanks," she said softly "When everyone tells you you’re crazy, after a while you start to believe it too Drawing helps " Was I crazy to think that my parents’ death was aon? I didn’t have anything like drawing to reht?"

I nodded

"What’s it like? My dad wanted et into that class, but I didn’t pass the test He was so angry when he sawI’uess he could tell from my classes that I wouldn’t be Our family has been at Gottfried for centuries, and we’ve always been on the Board of Monitors Whatever gene that was, I definitely didn’t inherit it"

I didn’t understand why Horticulture had anything to do with the Board of Monitors, or why her father would be so upset that she didn’t get into the class "It’s okay," I said, trying to play it down "We learn a lot about ecosyste too interesting"

When I s?"

"Just bulbs, flowers, you know But noe’re learning azed at her drawings "I was sketching when I saw theht There are ates of the chapel, and I wanted to draw them while they were in bloom So after dinner I walked over to the chapel with ing Cassandra Millet to the headmistress’s office in Archebald Hall Benjaured the headmistress just wanted to check up on her or ask her questions

"When I got to the chapel, I sat on the grass and waited for the moonflowers to open And they did They were beautiful" Minnie gazed at her feet and continued

"Halfway through , I heard a noise I hid behind a tree and waited At first I thought it was an animal, but it turned out to be the Board of Monitors There were five of the was Brandon Bell They walked to the chapel and went inside Normally I wouldn’t have followed them, but my dad always talked so much about the Board of Monitors, and I wanted to be one so badly I thought ure out what it took to get noone inside, then took off my shoes and snuck in before the doors closed They were alht when I rid Frorate near the pulpit"

"Wait," I said "They all climbed into a hole in the back of the church?"

Minnie nodded

"I didn’t want to go in it at first, but then I figured if the Board of Monitors was using it, itwas about two feet wide and tall, and it had a little stepladder going down It was dark and dusty and I couldn’t see anything After only a few feet I hit the ground, and it was sort of like a tunnel or a passageway or so the wall and walked toward their voices