“Is Sutton upstairs?”
“No. I thought she was at your place…” Her words come out slowly.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, then run a hand through my wet hair. “We got—I messed up, and she left. I figured she’d come back here.”
“She didn’t. Car keys are up there too.”
“She said she needs to breathe. Does she…where does she go when she needs to breathe?”
Elliot thinks, using seconds I don’t have.
“Come on, Elliot. Think.”
“I’m thin—Oh! There is a hidden dock on the lake she goes to.”
“How do I get to it?” I ask frantically.
She shrugs, uncertainty tightening her features. “I’ve never been, but let me track her.”
Elliot locates Sutton, and I take off without a goodbye.
There’s a path at the back of her complex connecting to another that loops around the circumference of Lake Bensen. I follow it in the direction of her dot on Elliot’s phone. Stretching my memory, I go south.
Keeping my eyes peeled, I’m searching for an opening. Anything not paved or marked. There’s nothing in the trees that line this portion of the lake.
Found it.
A small opening, barely the width of a person, is carved into the vegetation. It takes maybe twenty steps before it opens up to a dock that stretches out into the water. Across the water, the sky hasn’t been overthrown by the clouds swarming us. At least the rain is letting up.
Sutton’s here. Sitting on the edge.
I try to be quiet, but all it takes is one gentle step for the old dock to creak. Sutton turns over her shoulder, gaze a magnet to mine. The hand playing with her hair halts.
“It was Izzy. Wasn’t it?”
I meet her at the edge, kneeling to sit beside her. Sutton turns back to peer out at the water before looking at me again. “Yes.”
FIFTY-ONE
COOPER
FIVE YEARS AGO
High school partiesaren’t typically my scene. The basement or garage of someone’s house—if you’re lucky. Sneaking shitty liquor from their parents’ cabinet because you’re afraid to touch the good stuff.
I’ve drank before. Dad told me if there was anything I ever wanted to try, he’d rather me do it in a safe environment and have someone there to take care of me. Needless to say, the first time I got wasted, Dad was there. Mom was the one to try weed with me. I hated it.
When I got to Izzy’s I knew her parents kept a white drink fridge in the garage. I snuck a beer and headed down to her basement.
I’m late. Most people were already buzzed. A game of spin the bottle is happening on the ground in front of the couch. Couples are making out on the sectional. Some playing on the ping-pong table. Others dancing anywhere they can find space.
I take a lap in search of Sutton. Izzy said she was coming when she invited me at school today.
Sutton’s boyfriend, Dylan, is playing pong with one of his friends, Sid. He catches my attention and gives me an arrogantgrin. She’s not with him, so I keep looking. Making it back to the bottom of the stairs, I don’t spot Izzy or her minions either.
I snag a spot on the couch as a few guys from the hockey team start up a game I’ve never heard of. I finish my beer, but before getting another, I text Sutton.
Are you at the party?
