“Do you see them?” Bryony asked.
I shook my head, then caught the attention of the cast member working the kiosk. “Hi—do you have the mouse ears with the graduation cap?”
The cast member—her name tag readSNEHA, SUGARLAND, TEXAS—shook her head. “Sorry. We’re all sold out.”
I blinked at this. “Already? Didn’t Grad Nite just start?”
She shook her head. “Some of the schools do a day pass thing as well, so they can be here longer. ?Sorry.” Maybe seeing the disappointment on Bryony’s face, she added, “But I’m not the only one selling them. Other kiosks have them,? too.”
“Okay, thanks,” Bryony said.
We walked away from the kiosk, both of us nodding respectfully at Thor as he passed and taking a moment to appreciate his resplendent hair. “Sorry about that,” I said, glancing back at the kiosk. “We can keep trying, though.”
“Do you think maybe Emma got the last pair?”
“I’m sure she didn’t. But if so, we can bargain with her for it,” I suggested. “Find out the thing she wants the most and dangle it in front of her.”
Bryony laughed at that and looked around. “So, what do you want to do?”
“Whatever you want to do,” I immediately countered. “Why don’t we keep trying to track the ears down? And we can check out the rest of the park while we’re at it.”
“Sounds great.”
“Which way?”
Bryony pointed to the left. “That way.”
“Onward,” I said, with a laugh, turning and heading in that direction, then stopping short when I realized I’d nearly crashed into a group of three coming toward me. “Oh—sorry,” I said, moving along.
“Cass?” I heard someone call. I turned back, surprised, and looked more closely at the trio I’d almost bumped into. A second later, I realized two of them looked familiar.
“Reagan?” I asked. “Oh wow, hi!”
I hadn’t seen Reagan Edwards in three years, but they still looked the same. And they were standing next to Zach…something, their friend that I hadn’t known very well. The two of them were with a girl I didn’t recognize, who was in Princess Leia Mickey ears. I’d met Reagan and Zach back when we’d lived in Raven Rock. Reagan happened to be in three of my classes, and we’d become fast friends.
Reagan was staring at me, their eyes wide. “It is you, right? Cass?”
Next to her, Zach did a literal double take. “Cass…Issac?”
The girl I didn’t know gave a wave. “Hi, I’m McKenna.”
“Hi there,” I said, smiling at all of them. “It’s so ?wild to run into you here!”
“How do you all know each other?” Bryony asked, looking around at us.
“We all went to school together in LA,” I said easily. “Like, three years ago? This is so funny!” Just like that, I remembered what Sheridan had said and how he’d assumed I’d have some knowledge of the celebrity situation. “Hey, have you heard anything about someone famous being here tonight? One of our friends saw something on DitesMoi—”
“You never came to my birthday party,” Reagan interrupted me.
“Your…”
“Myfifteenthbirthday party. It was my golden birthday, remember? I was turning fifteen on the fifteenth. You only get one of those.”
I blinked at Reagan. Suddenly, I was clocking their tone—angry and clipped—and the fact that they didn’t seem pleased to see me. Quite the opposite, in fact—their eyes were narrowed, their arms folded.
“Ohhh,” McKenna said, looking at me with wide eyes. “You’rethatCass?”
“I’m what?” I’d known a few weeks before it happened that I wouldn’t be able to make it to Reagan’s birthday party, since my dads had finished up the work on the craftsman and had found their new project, a home in Northern California. But Reagan had been so excited about their party, I hadn’t wanted to bring down the day by telling them I was moving. Who wants to be bummed out on their birthday? So, I’d sent a text I couldn’t make it once I knew the party would have started, and they would already be having a good time, my absence not missed. I was honestly shocked they remembered, three years later. “But I told you I wouldn’t be able to come. I texted you—”
