“Go. I’ll tell Theo you had to run.” I smile.
“You’re an angel.” She deactivates the alarm, pushing off the lounge chair.
She’s barely taken two steps toward the house before she stops. My first thought is that she forgot something until she spins around, her clear eyes gleaming with an idea.
“Do you want to come?” She doesn’t seem to be joking.
My brain functions ditch me.
“T-To the party?”
“No, to Disneyland—yes to the party, dummy.” She cracks a laugh. “It’ll be so much fun. I’ll introduce you to my people, we’ll dance and have a great time. What do you say?”
She’s trying to convince me.
I repeat, Lacey Mattson, captain of the cheerleading team, is trying to convince me, has-one-friend Diamond Mitchell, to come to her party. It’s not like I’ve spent all of my high school years wishing I’d score an invite or anything.
“Sure, why not?”
“Great,” she squeals. “Give me your number. I’ll text you the address. Although you can probably catch a ride with Theo later.”
The text containing her address pops up on my phone a minute later.
“See you tonight.” Lacey offers me a parting smile and trails off. I can’t move a muscle, watching her leave and wondering if I imagined it all…
Except, I didn’t.
I didn’t imagine a thing.
And tonight?
I’m going to my first party.
* * *
“Wait for me!” My voice carries throughout the house as I hurry down the stairs with my heart in my throat. Theo texted me that they’re heading out soon, and I sure as hell didn’t spend three hours getting ready to miss my ride.
I catch my reflection in the hall mirror.
I’m confident enough to say that I look good. I straightened my hair, which thanks to my thick curls took a decade, and went all out on the makeup—mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, the whole deal.
I’m bursting into the kitchen a moment later, wearing high-waisted jeans and an off-the-shoulder top I wasted forty minutes picking out. Finn and Theo surround the kitchen island, eyes pointed at their phones.Theo is the only one to look up when I come in.
“Damn, Dia. It’s a party. Not prom,” Theo teases, and I flip him off, fueling his smile. Finn’s gaze snaps to mine at Theo’s remark, and I see his throat bob as he gives me a once-over.
I almost expect a compliment until his features harden.
“You’re not coming.”
It’s cute that he believes that.
“Try and stop me.”
Finn shocks me by smashing his phone facedown on the counter. “Did I fucking stutter? You’re not coming.”
“Yes, I am.” I match his tone. “Lacey invited me.”
He scoffs. “That’s called pity. Nobody wants you there.”