I sank deeper into the water as steam billowed around me, obscuring their faces. Kai handed Lila and me a shot. I carefully plucked it from her hand.
Cecily stood in the hot tub, beads of water dripping off her skin and steam rising from her shoulders. “I want to thank Professor DuPont for bringing us together.” They locked eyes and she gave him a flirty smile. “This has been quite a year, but I don’t know where I’d be without this group of people. To health, happiness, and tequila!”
Everyone cheered and raised their shots in the air. My stomach twisted.
Theodore stood and beat his fist against his chest before tiltingthe shot to his mouth. One by one, each person tipped their glass to their lips.
Stop!I wanted to yell, but I was frozen in shock. It all happened so fast it was over before I could react.
Afterward, I studied each person for signs of slurred speech or drooping eyelids, but each person looked as drunk as the next. Kai was laughing with Lila on one side of the hot tub; Cecily was tucked under Theodore’s arm. Professor DuPont and a friend were playing ping-pong on the other side of the deck. Before I knew it Daisy was making out with the guy next to me. Kai left the hot tub and returned with another round of shots and a deck of cards.
“Kings cup. Whoever loses has to streak around the house,” she said. Cecily turned up the music and slipped back into the hot tub. “All right, everyone knows the rules, right?” She flipped over the first card. “Ace!”
Everyone started pouring their beers into their mouths. Theodore splashed me and shouted, “Waterfall!” Kai handed me a beer, and I gulped it down. It shot straight to my head, blurring my thoughts. Everyone was laughing as they pulled cards. They seemed fine.
I was taking a card from the stack when I felt someone’s stare on the back of my neck.
I glanced behind me. Professor DuPont sat in the far corner of the deck watching me. The darkness in his eyes pierced straight through me.What are you thinking?One side of his mouth curled upward, and I shuddered.
I stood and a wave of nausea washed over me. It was too hot. I’d had too much to drink, too fast. And the altitude.Shit.I tried to inhale fresh air but got a lungful of steam. Chlorine stung my eyes, and I could barely see. I had to get out of there.
On my way out of the hot tub, I tried to grab ahold of the side and missed. The edges of my vision blurred, but I caught myself just in time. To my relief, I felt the side of the tub, cold and hard beneath my palm.
“Hey, you okay?” Theodore asked. Panic and shame flooded my system. This was so embarrassing.I’m going to be sick. I need to— I need to—
“Is she okay?” Daisy repeated, her voice rising in concern.
“Fine,” I choked out before my vision went. Seconds later, I felt myself falling. A loud thud as my body hit the floor. My head collided with something sharp, and a searing pain shot through my skull. The sounds around me faded and the rest of the night was a dark void.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Maya
February 2012, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
When I woke up, Iwas lying in the guest room I shared with Daisy with a splitting headache. The sunlight streaming through the window told me it was at least late morning, and Daisy wasn’t in her bed. Last night, a storm had rolled in, and the trees had all but disappeared under a thick blanket of snow.
I reached up to touch my head, feeling the swollen bruise from where I must have hit it when I passed out last night.Oh my god, how many drinks had I had? Five? And the altitude…I would have laughed, except I was afraid I might throw up.I could really use some coffee.
I dragged myself out of bed and ran my hand along the wall for support as I made my way out to the kitchen. But as I passed the living room, the air felt thick. I could feel the tension even before I saw them.
Cecily, Daisy, and Kai were gathered close together, whispering. When they saw me, they looked up. The expression on their faces told me something was very wrong. Anxiety tightened around my chest.
“What is it?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.
Daisy stepped forward, eyes wide with fear. “We can’t find Lila.” I had never seen her so pale.
Cecily looked at me. “We’ve looked everywhere.” A bead of water dripped down her parka and onto the floor. That was when I realized they were all wearing their jackets and gloves, their faces pink with cold.
“What happened?” I asked, looking from face to face. Each looked as worried as the next, and the dread dug deeper.
“No one’s seen her since last night.” Daisy shook her head. “The back door was open this morning. And her jacket was on the floor, and her phone. We thought maybe she’d gone out for a bit, but it’s been hours.” Her voice cracked.
I stared at them, wondering why they seemed so hopeless. “Maybe she’s lost, or hurt. She couldn’t have made it far in this snow. Come on, we have to keep looking. We’re running out of time.”
—
Outside the cabin,everything was white and still, the ground covered in several feet of snow. An awful feeling rose in the pit of my stomach.Would Lila really have gone out without her coat?
