‘So why hide it?’ Harper asked.
She fidgeted in her seat. ‘Briar wanted to keep it a secret.’
Harper nodded, as though she’d expected that answer. ‘Because of Noah?’
‘We kissed once, back in high school,’ Alice admitted. ‘Right before I left for school. Noah and I hadn’t officially broken up yet. I never told him, and neither did Briar.’
‘You were at camp?’ Harper asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘And you hadn’t talked to Noah in weeks?’
‘A month.’
‘And you guys had agreed you were breaking up before you left, anyway?’
Alice studied her. ‘Why are you trying to let me off the hook for cheating on your fiancé?’
‘I’m not,’ Harper said. ‘Of course it was wrong. But it was also ten years ago, and Noah is happy. So who’s the victim here? Who’s the person who let this kiss ruin their life?’
‘Me?’ Alice tried.
Harper smiled. ‘I knew you were smart. Just not as smart as me.’
‘Thanks,’ Alice said. ‘You’re a pretty good friend, you know that?’
‘I do.’ And then Harper did something Alice absolutely had not seen coming: she hugged her. Alice tried to relax into the alien sensation of being comforted by Harper.
‘Hiya,’ Freddie said, appearing over Harper’s shoulder with Sierra. ‘Could we have a chat?’
‘Yes,’ Alice said, standing. She paused, turning back to Harper. ‘Noah knows that your parents aren’t paying for the venue. He wants you to talk to him about it.’
Harper’s mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ before Alice followed Freddie and Sierra.
‘I’d love some answers,’ Freddie said drily. ‘If you’ll oblige.’
‘Let’s talk in the garden,’ Alice said, heading toward the back door. This was her favorite change to the house – the weedy mess had been transformed by Alice’s green thumb, and she’d strung up lights around the patio and bought outdoor furniture off Facebook Marketplace. Her talents were truly wasted on the measly five plants in her flat, which were now all dead.
‘So,’ Freddie said, turning to face her once they were out in the night air, ‘why am I the last person to know about you and Briar?’
‘You’re not,’ Alice said, confused. ‘No one knew.’
‘I knew,’ Sierra said.
‘You did?’ Alice asked. ‘Well, I guess that makes sense.’
‘Sierra and I have just had a talk about keeping secrets from friends,’ Freddie said. ‘It’s not nice to do, if you were wondering.’
‘Well, telling you was complicated,’ Sierra said, ‘because of the whole Briar selling the camp thing.’
‘What?’ Freddie said, looking between them. ‘Briar is selling the camp?’
Alice wished the earth would swallow her whole. ‘I don’t know if she’s going to go through with it.’ She grabbed his hand. ‘Listen, no matter what, I’m going to find a way for you to stay. I didn’t want to tell you about the possibility of the camp being sold and stress you out more.’
‘What do you mean?’ Sierra asked. ‘Freddie’s visa is being sponsored by his job starting in the fall.’
Freddie looked at the ground. ‘So… there’s something I haven’t told you…’
