Nora’s invitation said to come by anytime after eight thirty, and at half past nine, the bass from inside has the grass vibrating beneath my boots. Already, a few deserted Solo cups litter the lawn. The front door is cracked. Dim light spills out onto the porch, where two girls are passing a vape pen back and forth. I holdmy breath as I walk by, making my way to the door and slipping inside.
It’s a cool night, but the house is a good twenty degrees warmer than outside. And it’s filled with people.
Nora’s house is two stories but modest. I’ve walked past it a few times but never been inside. After her mom married her stepdad a year ago, the three of them moved into a bigger house. A house Finn never lived in.
I wonder if Finn has a bedroom here. If his posters or photos or books are sitting up there, waiting for someone who is never coming back.
I shake the thought away as a boy my age, reeking of alcohol, stumbles by me and Cecily in the foyer. I shove past him into the hall, following the music and hoping the kitchen is close by. The only way I’ll make it through tonight is with a drink. I’m already fighting the urge to bolt. I don’t know how Cecily will survive the night sober.
People are everywhere—I swear every upperclassman from the high school is in the house. It’s not a huge school, only a couple hundred kids, but half of them must be here right now.
We slip past a few of them, relief spreading over me as I spot the doorway to the kitchen. Inside, kids gather around the massive granite island. In the center of the island sits a giant water cooler I’d bet anything doesn’t have water in it. Beside it, two toppling stacks of cups.
I beeline for the cooler, filling the cup to the brim and taking a gulp. Cecily finds a cooler with sodas in it and clutches a Sprite between her hands. After a few minutes, a boy Cecily’s age notices her, and the pair falls into a conversation about their classes. She gives me an apologetic smile as he leads her to the other room,promising the presence of some other kids from their graduating class.
“Find me when you’re ready,” she calls, and I nod.
I hang in the corner of the kitchen, sipping my horrible drink, hoping no one tries to talk to me. I’d meant to seek out Nora, maybe latch on to her for the night like I used to do with Harper, but that would mean finding her. It would mean leaving the safety of this tiny space.
Taking one more burning sip, I push through the kitchen doorway and into the throng of drunk, sweaty teenagers. At least five people elbow me in the side, and one steps on my foot by the time I spot Nora’s white-blond hair near the front of the room.
The birthday girl is bent over a table, speaking intently to the DJ.
I shoulder through a few boys, all of whom have forty-ouncers taped to their hands, and slam into Nora. I have to grab her to steady myself. She whirls, clearly ready to lay into whoever bumped her, but when she sees me, her bright red lips curve up in a wide smile.
“Jo!” she yells over the music, throwing her arms around me. I can smell the alcohol on her, and her arms are a little sticky where they’re wrapped around my neck. This far into my drink, I’m not the steadiest either, and for a minute we grip each other for balance.
“I can’t believe you came!” Nora says, leaning to yell in my ear. I can barely hear her over the music. “Me and Paige had a bet. She owes me!”
“A bet?” I ask, souring at the thought of them betting on whether I’d vacate my little cocoon.
Nora smiles. “I bet on you, obviously,” she says. “And I wasright.” She peers down at the cup in my hands, satisfied to see it. “I see you found the jungle juice. Good.”
“It tastes like poison,” I say.
Nora giggles. “It’s supposed to.”
“Happy birthday!” I call.
Nora grins, patting my cheek. “Thanks. Now let’s move. This is my song.”
“Oh, I don’t really danc—”
“You do tonight!” Nora says. She takes my cup, pushing it into my face, the message clear.
Realizing I’m not going anywhere without finishing my drink, I do exactly what I shouldn’t do and chug it.
Already, the alcohol swims under my skin, warming me from the inside out. The edges of the world narrow, until all that exists is this room, the music, and the body heat.
I set my empty cup somewhere, and Nora pulls me into the crowd. I follow, not entirely in control of my feet. I feel clunky and out of place, but I dance.
At some point, a girl joins us, a friend of Nora’s, I think, because the pair squeal and hug like they’ve been apart for years. She says her name, something like Jennica or Danica.
Even in the dark, there’s no mistaking how beautiful she is. She’s not too tall and roped with slim muscle. A soccer player, like Nora, maybe. Dark curls are pinned up on her head, and her olive skin shimmers, like she doused herself in glitter. Maybe she did.
When she takes my hands, I let her. Her fingers trace down my arms and mine settle on her waist, and god, I haven’t been this close to anyone in ages. I’d forgotten it, the closeness, the warmth.
One song ends and another begins. I catch sight of Nora attached to some girl’s mouth, and suddenly the world feels so far away. The town, the accident, the things I’ve lost. The missing kidsand the terrifying creek and the woods behind it holding their secrets.
