They aren’t the only people in the water. Several other classmates splash around and huddle close.
Today’s one of those cool early fall days in Colorado, not exactly ideal for skinny dipping.
A round of cheers from the deck draws my attention. I roll my lips between my teeth and try to push down the memories sinking their claws into me. I don’t want to be here, but I need to pick up Alec.
Shoving my hands into the pockets of my jean jacket, I trudge up the stairs to the deck, keeping my eyes peeled for my brother. The sharp, skunky tang of weed cuts through the wood smoke of the fire burning in the outdoor stone fireplace.
I weave through the people milling around the deck. It’s tough to look for someone and keep your head down at the same time.
Somebody tries to hand me a beer and I swerve away hard, balling my fists in my pockets while my nostrils flare.
I’m so busy getting the hell away from whoever tried to ply me with a drink that I plow right into the girl from my math class.
“Hey!”
Her soda—and whatever it’s mixed with—splashes over the rim of her cup. I blank on her name and strain to remember the roll call Mrs. Ellis took this morning in math. Alana?
“Oh, new girl! Hey,” Maybe-Alana repeats, her voice changing to a friendlier tone. She licks the excess soda dripping from her finger and hooks her arm with mine before I have a chance to move on. “You made it after all. Come on, let’s go wish Lucas a happy birthday.”
I dig my heels in. “Uh, I’m actually just here to get my brother.”
“You have a brother?” Maybe-Alana ignores my disinterest and waves enthusiastically to one of the cheerleaders. “I think I saw Lucas inside. Let’s check.”
“Elena! Where you going, girl?” A bulky guy in a Silver Lake High School Coyotes football hoodie calls to us. “I thought you were my beer pong partner next?”
Elena. Shit. I’m glad I didn’t call her by the wrong name aloud.
She flips off the football player and sends him a cheeky grin over her shoulder. “Later! We’re on a mission.”
We wade through the haze of cigarette, weed, and vape smoke blanketing the deck.
Elena’s sleek black curls bounce as she leads me inside through a folding glass door. Except, it can’t really be called a door when it’s three panels wide and folds to open an entire wall of the kitchen.
“Damn,” I mutter.
“I know, right?” Elena titters. “The first time I came here I thought it was Mount Olympus or some shit. But I was, like, ten. The Saints invited the whole fifth grade class for a swimming party for Lucas’ birthday.”
It’s just as packed inside, maybe more so. There’s a set of gold jumbo balloons in the number eighteen stuck to the wall. People dance in a writhing mass in the living room to music pouring from a speaker system attached to exposed beams in the vaulted ceiling.
For a second I freeze. My heart rockets into my throat and I’m sent to that night. A clammy cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck.
Elena doesn’t notice—or possibly doesn’t care—as she babbles about knowing Lucas Saint since elementary school.
The interior is like a staged design out of an upscale magazine. I focus on that to claw my way out of my memories, back to the present. The kitchen has a massive island at the center with pendant lights that hang over the white granite countertops.
Rows of liquor bottles line the island along with stacks of plastic cups, set up as a self-serve bar. From Jack Daniels to Patron to Grey Goose, they’ve got it all. Pick your poison.
There’s a farmhouse table by the windows where a rowdy game of flip cup is in progress. The groups playing shout nonsense at each other and I spot my brother amongst them, reveling in the fun.
A burst of relief spreads through me. I can retrieve Alec and get the hell out of here.
“There’s my brother.” I tug my arm from Elena’s grip and jerk my thumb in his direction. “I’m just going to grab him and go. Um, thanks for showing me around.”
“What? No!” Elena reaches for me, but I shuffle back. “Stay and hang out!”
“Another time.”
I hold up my hands and back away. I don’t have to tell her I’m lying. She’s been nice enough, but I’m not looking to join in at Silver Lake High School.