Jessie inverted the large trashcan and put it on her head. She so badly wanted to be a member of the club. And she would be. This was her summer. She could feel it. This would be the summer that would change her life. The Clark kids always talked about their clubs and they always made sure Jessie understood that she wasn't allowed to become a member. Jessie's younger brother Oliver was the official Leaf Picker in Jeremy's club. Of course, Jessie was aspiring to be more that just a Leaf Picker, but she would start out there if that's what it took.

It seemed that not a day went by without at least one of the seven Clark kids picking on her. She would be the first to admit that she knew when she was not welcome in their yard. She couldn't count the number of times Aaron had teased her in the past and she didn't know what was causing Meg to suddenly speak to her. But, that didn't matter now. Here she was, finally being invited to join their club!

Maybe it did matter a little. Jessie thought about the time Aaron had locked her in the tiny, yellow bathroom at his house and wouldn't let her out until she said something. She pleaded for him to let her out and finally, after what seemed like an hour, he opened the door. Everyone was laughing on the other side, and she couldn't understand why. She felt like such a fool when Aaron announced, "All you had to do was say 'something.'"

"Something," she thought. "They must think I'm so stupid."

The sound of Meg's voice jolted her back to the initiation. "Ok, now, walk around the crab apple tree three times."

The trashcan had a small, rusted-out hole in the bottom of it that let a narrow stream of summer sunlight in and allowed her to see out. As she peered out of the hole, she caught a whiff of old grease and rotted leaves. Who knows what had been in that can over the years. Jessie tried not to think about it. She managed to spot the crab apple tree and obediently followed Meg's instructions.

Meg was closer to her age than any of the Clark kids, but it was Meg's older sister Holly that Jessie usually played with. Holly was always somewhat on the bossy side, so Jessie liked to hang out with Meg whenever she got the chance. But, ever since Meg stopped talking to Holly, she pretty much stopped talking to all of Holly's friends, too. So, Jessie spent a lot of the summer following Holly around and obeying her bizarre orders. Once, she made her gather as many ants as she could find and put them in a cup. Then, Holly took the ants and threw them on Mrs. Dale's granddaughter who was visiting from Germany. She wanted to see if ants stuck to Germans. It turns out, they do. Just as well as they stick to anybody.

Jessie felt like an idiot with the heavy old trashcan on her head. "No club is worth this," she thought, and was about to take it off when she saw Aaron's eyeball staring at her through the hole.

"Earth to Jessie!" he said. "If you wanna be in the club, you hafta do what we say."

"Awright," she mumbled, barely audible through the rusty metal.

"Well, don't just stand there. You gotta walk along that crack all the way down the driveway," he ordered.

Jessie spotted the long crack that separated the concrete slabs of the driveway and carefully walked heal to toe. It was difficult keeping her balance with the can on her head and she had to strain to even see her feet.

"Step on a crack and you'll break your mother's back," she thought. She hoped this didn't count.

Jessie wobbled once or twice, but apparently passed the test.

"Ok, good enough," Aaron said. "Now, for the final challenge."

She heard him whispering something to Meg. "Ok, you hafta sit on the stump until we say you're done."

"Yeah," Meg agreed. "Then you can be in the club."

Aaron and his sister walked away leaving Jessie sitting alone on old tree stump in the middle of the yard. She managed to peek out the hole and look around making sure nobody was nearby to witness her in her humiliation. As she scanned, she caught a glimpse of something dangling in the forsythia bush to her left. It was so small; she was amazed she spotted it. It was quivering just a little, but there was no breeze that hot summer day.

"A cocoon!" She said.

Nobody was around to hear her. She sat watching the small chrysalis, mesmerized and miles away from Aaron and Meg and the garbage can. Time seemed to stand still as the cocoon shook and cracked and slowly opened. Jessie watched with reverence and amazement as the soggy insect crawled out from its shell and stretched its wings. The bold orange and black wings opened and shut as they dried in the setting sun. The new monarch climbed to the top of the empty cocoon and turned, facing Jessie. It stayed there for a minute or two and Jessie just knew that the beautiful creature was looking right at her. Suddenly one word popped into her head and the moment she thought it, "Fly," the butterfly fluttered away.

Jessie stood up and wriggled out of the garbage can, discarding it on the grass. It was nearly dark now. Grease was in her hair and on her clothes, but she brushed herself off, held her head high and crossed the street to home.