Daughters of Darkness by Lisa Jane Smith, now you can read online.
Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade," Mary-Lynnette said as she and Mark passed the old Victorian farmhouse.
"Huh?"
"Rowan. And Kestrel. And Jade. The names of the girls who're moving in." Mary-Lynnette tilted her head toward the farmhouse-her hands were full of lawn chair. "They're Mrs. Burdock's nieces. Don't you remember I told you they were coming to live with her?"
"Vaguely," Mark said, readjusting the weight of the telescope he was carrying as they trudged up the manzanita-covered hill. He spoke shortly, which Mary-Lynnette knew meant he was feeling shy.
"They're pretty names," she said. "And they must be sweet girls, because Mrs. Burdock said so."
"Mrs. Burdock is crazy."
"She's just eccentric. And yesterday she told me her nieces are all beautiful. I mean, I'm sure she's prejudiced and everything, but she was pretty definite. Each one of them gorgeous, each one a completely different type."
"So they should be going to California," Mark said in an almost-inaudible mutter. "They should be posing for Vogue. Where do you want this thing?" he added as they reached the top of the hill.
"Right here." Mary-Lynnette put the lawn chair down. She scraped some dirt away with her foot so the telescope would sit evenly. Then she said casually, "You know, I thought maybe we could go over there tomorrow and introduce ourselves-sort of welcome them, you know...."
"Will you cut it out?" Mark said tersely. "I can organize my own life. If I want to meet a girl, I'll meet a girl. I don't need help."
"Okay, okay. You don't need help. Be careful with that focuser tube-"
"And besides, what are we going to say?" Mark said, on a roll now. "'Welcome to Briar Creek, where nothing ever happens. Where there are more coyotes than people. Where if you really want some excitement you can ride into town and watch the Saturday night mouse racing at the Gold Creek Bar....'"
"Okay. Okay." Mary-Lynnette sighed. She-looked at her younger brother, who just at the moment was illuminated by the last rays of sunset. To see him now, you'd think he'd never been sick a day in his life. His hair was as dark and shiny as MaryLynnette's, his eyes were as blue and clear and snapping. He had the same healthy tan as she did; the same glow of color in his cheeks.
But when he'd been a baby, he'd been thin and scrawny and every breath had been a challenge. His asthma had been so bad he'd spent most of his second year in an oxygen tent, fighting to stay alive. Mary-Lynnette, a year and a half older, had wondered every day if her baby brother would ever come home.
It had changed him, being alone in that tent where even their mother couldn't touch him. When he came out he was shy and clingy-holding on to their mother's arm all the time. And for years he hadn't been able to go out for sports like the other kids. That was all a long time ago-Mark was going to be a junior in high school this year-but he was still shy. And when he got defensive, he bit people's heads off.