“Oh man, so much.” She started ticking things off on her fingers. “The Emmas are in some kind of fight, I don’t know what’s going on. Emma R. doesn’t either—but Emma Z. and Emma J. were on their phones practically the whole night and wouldn’t tell us why. And! Sheridan was right after all—there was a celebrity here, it was Tabitha Keith! But then a picture showed up on DitesMoi that let everyone know? she was here, and she got swarmed and had to be escorted out by security. Everyone was filming her; I felt so bad….”
I nodded, feeling my heart squeeze as I remembered the heartbroken girl sobbing in the bathroom stall next to me. I’d promised to help her—but hadn’t. And now if things worked out, I wouldn’t ever be able to do anything about it.
“Amy and Carlos broke up! Can you believe it? And Ms. Mulaney seems really upset about something, but I don’t know what. And we all went to watch the band play?, and it was a disaster. Like,? two of them got sickonstage. They’re already trending. It’s really bad, ?these guys are a joke now. And I, um…saw this guy I thought was really cute.”
I whipped my head over to look at her and clocked the blush rising in my best friend’s cheeks. “You did?” I asked, wondering if she was talking about the person I thought she might be. “What did he look like?”
“Brown hair, tall,” she said, a dreamy smile appearing on her face. “But I first noticed him because he was wearing aCerealshirt.” I nodded, feeling vindicated that I’d gotten this right—Bryony liked Bruce! I knew it. I hid my smile by pressing my lips together. “Oh,Cerealis this podcast I like,” she added, deadpan, raising an eyebrow at me.
“I know,” I said, a defensive note creeping into my voice.
“I just think you’d like it if you gave it a chance. It’s pretty much my favorite thing ever. And then we could talk about it….”
“Wait a second.” We were now in a scrum of people all heading for the double doors. They were flung wide open, and people were walking through?—and then continuing to walk like this wasn’t a rare and precious thing. “You actually want me to listen? I thought we were just joking around about it.”
“It’s important to me,” Bryony said quietly, and I blinked.
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”
“This way to your buses!” the cast member nearest to the doors called, making me jump. “We hope you enjoyed your once-in-a-lifetime Disney Grad Nite experience!”
I steeled myself, but didn’t stop. I was moving forward with the crowd, surrounded by my fellow seniors. I kept my eyes fixed on the patch of asphalt just past the doors. I was so close—I was almost there. And maybe when I crossed through, this would all be over.
I took a deep breath and walked forward.
Who’s ready to have the best night ever?” Sheridan yelled.
I sighed, then tugged Bryony out of the way before anyone could run into her. The brief flare of hope I’d felt at the idea of an escape hatch had been quickly extinguished. Of course it wasn’t going to be so easy as just letting the night unspool.
Which meant I was back where I’d started.
Which was nowhere.
“Are you okay?” Bryony asked. She was looking at me, her expression worried.
“Nope,” I said with a weary sigh. “Maybe you should go get Ms. Mulaney….”
I took the same cot as before and curled in a tight ball. What if there really was no escape? What if this was just it, forever? I let my eyes close. I wasn’t tired, exactly. But if I was asleep, I could block out the reality of what I was living through. I pulled the blanket over me and let my eyes drift closed.
The thing about lying around First Aid in a theme park is that it gets boring after a while.
Icurled on my side, staring straight ahead of me. I’d tried to sleep, but it wasn’t coming.
And the blanket was getting really scratchy.
Iwas lying on the cot, shivering in the air conditioning. Feeling like I needed more warmth than the scratchy blanket, I sat up and picked up my canvas bag.
When I reached for my jacket, my wallet caught my eye. I smiled as I looked at it, an idea occurring to me.
If I was really going to be stuck here—and nothingactuallymattered—I might as well start having a little more fun.
Wait, I don’t get it,” Bryony said as she followed along in my wake. I was running flat out, heading for Johnny’s merchandise kiosk, and she was trying to keep pace behind me. “What do you want to buy?”
“Everything!” I called over my shoulder.
When we got to the kiosk, as I’d expected, the Emmas were already there, and Emma R. was taking her blue plastic bag from Johnny. “Any more Mickey graduation ears?” I asked, breathless. Bryony joined me, breathing hard.
“Just sold the last one,” Johnny said, nodding his head toward Emma R.
