“Apparently someone saw her and sold the pictures to DitesMoi,” the girl passing me was saying to her friend. “And then everyone knew she was here, and she got swarmed.”
I was about to ask who they were talking about, but they were already gone, and I didn’t want to run after strangers and demand gossip. But I felt bad for this celebrity, whoever they were. They’d probably just wanted a night to act like a regular high school senior—but it seemed like they hadn’t gotten it.
I was about to head over to the cast member when I saw that my sneaker was untied. There was a circle of benches over by the ATM, restrooms and water stations to the side of Carthay Circle. I headed over there and sat down on the closest bench. A girl I didn’t recognize was talking on the phone, AirPods in. I leaned over my sneaker as she burst into laughter.
“No, I can’t believe you missed it. Unbelievable. Yeah…Eton Mess? I think? I’ve never seen anything like that ever.Totallyunforgettable. They’re already blowing up online. You should have been there….” She got up and walked away, and I glanced back toward Pixar Pier, where the stage was. Even though I hadn’t seen it, I was happy that Freddie’s performance had gone well. I was just glad thatsomeonewas having a good night.
Shoe tied, I tried to focus back on my mission—looking around for Ms. Mulaney or, frankly, anyone else I recognized to tell them I was going. But all at once, I realized that I wasdone. I’d text someone from school and ask them to tell Ms. Mulaney that I’d left. It wasn’t like I could get in trouble anymore. I knew in my bones that I couldn’t stand to be there any longer, steeped in humiliation, covered in soda, and surrounded by living proof of all the ways that I’d messed up.
So, I turned and headed back toward the Avengers Campus, the way we’d come in. Ms. Mulaney had said that we’d leave through the same door we entered, and right now, that was enough for me. I’d escape and figure out what came next once I was safely out of the park.
With renewed purpose, I started walking faster, keeping my eyes fixed on where I was heading. And with every step that took me closer to the exit, I felt more and more sure that I was doing the right thing. I had no practice sticking around when things got hard, if I was being honest. I could leave all of this—all these mistakes and miscalculations—behind. And then I’d have a chill summer in Oregon and start college in the fall with a totally clean slate, no attachments making things harder.
Even as I tried to convince myself, I knew deep down that it wasn’t ideal to be leaving in the middle of a fight with Bryony. But it wasn’t like I was going to be able to do anything about it now—I couldn’t change any of the things that she was mad at me about. I’d just have to put it out of my mind, that was all. Sometimes things just didn’t go the way you wanted, and there was nothing you could do about it.
I pulled out my phone and saw it was 12:15 a.m. It had only taken three hours for my whole world to come crashing down.
I rounded a bend and saw it there in front of me—the wooden door we’d all come in through. It was still open, with cast members waiting by the threshold. But the flood of people we’d come in with had slowed to a trickle. It seemed likely that everyone who was going to be at Grad Nite was already here. I picked up my pace, keeping my eyes on the door. I was almost there….
“Cass?”
I turned to see Amy sitting hunched on a nearby bench. “Hey,” I said, waving without stopping, not wanting anything to slow my momentum. I wassoclose, after all. But then a second later, I took another look at her. Amy’s face was red and puffy, and she looked absolutely miserable. But strangest of all—she wasalone. Amy wasalwayswith Carlos. Seeing her by herself was like suddenly seeing someone without thumbs, or eyebrows, or something. I headed over toward her. “Amy, you okay?”
“No.” Her voice was thick as she rubbed a hand across her face. “Carlos and I broke up.”
I felt my jaw fall open. I’d only been at Harbor Cove High for six months, but it was long enough that I’d understood AmyandCarlos to be, well, AmyandCarlos—a solid, unshakable unit. Hearing this was truly earth shattering. “You did? I’m so sorry—What happened?”
“We got into this fight,” she said, shaking her head. “Like, it all started when Bryony fell and he didn’t even try and help her up. And then all these other things started coming out, and then we were yelling at each other….” Her voice hitched, and she bit her lip and looked away.
I felt my stomach sink. “But it was just a silly fight, right? I’m sure you guys will be okay. I mean…” I searched for the words to express what I was feeling. Because if Amy and Carlos weren’t AmyandCarlos, I no longer knew what I could believe in. Was the earth actually flat? Was the planet spinning backward? “You guys—you’re Amy?and?Carlos.”
Amy’s face crumpled as I said it. “We’renotanymore, though.” She shook her head, and then her eyes widened as she seemed to really take me in for the first time. “Did you spill something on your dress?” She looked around. “And where’s Bryony?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, pulling out my phone just to have a prop, something I could look at and not have to see Amy’s expression. The time on my screen read 12:20 a.m. I dropped it back into my bag and started to edge away. The last thing I wanted to do was go into what had happened with Bryony, and I headed toward the big wooden door that was beckoning me. “I’m actually not feeling so great, so I’m going to go. Will you tell Ms. Mulaney for me?”
“What?” I heard Amy ask. But I was already walking faster, heading toward the exit, focused on my goal, which was getting ever closer. But as I crossed the last few feet to the door, it hit me that I was giving up my one chance to go to Grad Nite. And I was leaving behind all the people I’d met at Harbor Cove—probably forever.
For just a second, my feet slowed.
And in that moment, I let myself wish—something I hadn’t done since I was a kid and only then in the presence of birthday candles or the occasional shooting star. I wished that I could go back and do it again. I’d fix this—I’d be able to make things right. If I could just have another shot?…
The streetlight that was nearest to me flickered for a moment, the light dimming and sputtering before returning to a uniform brightness. I gave it a look, but it seemed to be working again—probably just a power surge of some kind, the Cars Land DJ using too many amps or something.
I shook my head and started walking toward the door again. I could wish all I wanted, but there was no fixing things. I was going to leave and start a new life in Oregon. It was done, and that’s all there was to it.
And with that thought, I took a deep breath and walked over the threshold, and through the door.
Who’s ready to have the best night ever?” Sheridan yelled.
I blinked, trying to understand what was happening. I was standing just inside the entrance to California Adventure, right by the door I had just walkedthrough. But I was back, somehow. And Sheridan was, too—and yelling the same thing he said as when we first arrived?
I glanced to my right—and saw Bryony standing next to me.
“Oh my god!” I gasped, as shocked to see her as I would have been to see a ghost. How had she gotten here so fast? I would have seen her, surely? And—why didn’t I remember coming back into the park?
“Me! I am!” Manny yelled, just like he had earlier in the night. He stopped to take a selfie right in the middle of the entrance—also just like before, causing the same bottleneck.
I saw that same group that had been running around him and instinctively took a step to the side, grabbing Bryony’s arm and yanking her out of the way just in time, so she didn’t get knocked over like before.
