“Apparently, Leo told Briar that he had a party to go to. Briar told him she was going out of town with her mom, which he said,“should have made me question things a little more,”but of course, he didn’t.”
Natalia looks across the room. “I haven’t talked to her yet.” She sounds sad.
“When was the last time you spoke?”
She takes a sip of her wine. “When grandpa died.”
I pause, the room spinning. The music fades. “You didn’t tell me that.”
She shrugs. “I did. You had too many things going on. She couldn’t reach you.” There’s a sigh as she shifts her weight onto her other leg. “She asked about you.”
Across the room, Amara shoots another whiskey before slamming the glass on the table. She and Heidi dance as the others talk beside them.
“And what did you say?”
“I said I didn’t know what was going on. I was honest with her,” she says with a shrug.
We’re quiet for a long time after that. Minutes fly by as we watch the girls dance, order drinks from the bar, and talk to people we hardly know. There are cameras all around us, and neither of us seems to give a fuck about what they hear now. We’re too far in.
I’m aware of them trained on me. I mean, how could I forget? The microphone is strapped to me. But it feels real. It is real.
I don’t feel like there are dozens of people I’ve never even talked to standing around.
I don’t feel like Edward is in the shadows, burning a hole in my head as he wills me to dosomething.
“Do you think I have a chance?” I ask Natalia.
She snorts, looking over at me. “Honest answer?”
I nod.
“I’d be shocked.”
My heart drops.
“But I do hope that you win her back.”
My sister walks off in Amara’s direction, leaving me to think about her words.
And I stand there for longer than I would have thought I’d be allowed. Each moment, I expect someone to come over to me and urge me to do something.
Maybe it was only a few seconds.
Maybe it was an hour.
But eventually, after watching her take another shot or two with friends, I watch Amara as she looks at me, her face ashen.
And she leaves the room.
CHAPTER 14
AMARA
Fall, 2008
There’s about ten minutes until the period ends, and although I could wait to talk to him between classes, there’s something about the thrill of being caught that makes me tap Rebecca on the shoulder.
Her hand comes down, her fingers gripping the folded piece of paper tightly.
