“Belinda! There you are!” Sophia pops up in front of me as if by magic. Her eyes are a little glassy, and there’s a flute of something bubbly in her hand. “Where have you been?Having a snog with Connor?” My face gets hot, and Sophia gapes at me. “You were having a snog with him, weren’t you?”
I grab hold of her arm and steer her away from the cluster of people who are probably listening in on our conversation. “Maybe.”
“You are so bad.” Sophia is grinning. I get the sense she doesn’t think I’m bad at all. “How was it?”
“Magical.” My smile is small, and I let myself forget what my real intentions are at Wickham. For this moment at least, I’m just going to be a regular teenage girl. “But don’t tell anyone.”
“I would never.” She makes an X with her index finger across her chest before taking a sip from her glass. “I think I’m tipsy.”
“Is your dad here?”
“Um.” She presses her lips together and glances about the room, her eyes wide when they meet mine. “Probably?”
“Sophia!” I grab her arm again, my grip gentle. “We need to sober you up.”
“What weneed,” she says, her voice sing-songing in a way that could only sound like music to the inebriated, “is to go to the hot tub. He’d never come out there.” She grins and starts walking, leaving me no choice but to keep up with her. “I saw Connor outside, and I asked him where you were. He said he didn’t know and requested that I go find you.”
My skin warms. “Isn’t that sweet?”
“Yes, it is. And Connor isneversweet, so lucky you.” Sophia comes to a stop. “Oh no, there’s my dad!”
We turn in the opposite direction and push through the crowd, Sophia squealing every time she bumps into someoneand always offering a high-pitched, “So sorry!”
I thought she didn’t want her father to see her, and instead she’s making a complete spectacle of herself. I blame the alcohol. It’s obvious she doesn’t know how to manage her liquor, and there’s something oddly reassuring about that. Somehow, while I’m trapped in the middle of the most important lie of my life, I’ve managed to find a genuinely good, sweet person to call my friend. It’s like discovering a fluffy kitten in a den of vipers.
We eventually make our way outside, walking past a massive pool and slowing our pace as we approach the hot tub, which is currently filled to the brim with Wickham students.
Including Connor.
He spots me immediately, a slow smile curving his lips as he raises his hand. My eyes trace the parts of him I can see over the surface of the water, the skin of his shoulders and chest glistening with steam. An intrusive thought about running my tongue across his collar bones battles to take center stage in my brain.
“Belinda! Sophia! Over here.” Connor’s eyes crinkle a little at the corners, and I wonder if we’re both thinking of how ridiculous it is for him to call me Belinda. Then again, on this side of the world, I’m only Billie to him. I refuse to admit how much I like the idea of that.
“Hey everyone.” Sophia greets the crowd with a little wave when we come to a stop in front of the hot tub. The water bubbles and froths, the rush of it adding a layer of sound that thrums in my ears.
There’s Connor, of course. Priya and Abigail, looking remarkably put together for two girls who were very recentlyattached at the mouth. Freddie, Julian, and Arlo.
“Join us, ladies.” Freddie stretches his arms out alongside the edge of the hot tub, shoving Arlo and Julian away from him. “I’ve got spaces for you both.”
Sophia and I share a look. I can feel Connor watching me, and when I catch his gaze, he looks annoyed. By Freddie?
Hopefully not by me.
“We need to change into our swimsuits first,” Sophia announces.
What? “No we do—”
“Pool house is right over there.” Freddie points. “Don’t dawdle, girls.”
Sophia drags me over to the pool house and locks the door once we’re inside.
“We already have our swimsuits on,” I remind her. How drunk is she?
“Oh, I know. I just didn’t want to start stripping with everyone watching. So awkward. Did you see the way Abigail and Priya were glaring at us? We’re clearly not welcome.” Sophia giggles as she takes off her clothes, revealing the white bikini underneath.
Insecurity floats through me at seeing Sophia. Her skin is still golden from the recent “quick holiday to Ibiza” she mentioned last night, and her body is toned thanks to the personal trainer she and her mom meet with twice a week. The closest I get to personal training with Mom is when I haul her off the floor when she passes out. All to say, I’m super pale and a little flabby in places Sophia definitely is not and OMG, this feels like a moment of crisis.
“Belinda, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
