“I thought that was you!” She hugs me, and our bodies press together.

Everything blurs as our hips sway and grind to the beat of a song I don’t know. I tip the cup to my lips and drain it. I have no idea how much time has passed, but we cycle through songs, and suddenly Chloe is behind me and Rae is to my side as Harry watches us from afar, eyes wide. A hard-techno remix of Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA,” a song Rae and I used to love when we were kids, crashes through the speakers, and we’re both infected by its snap, crackle, pop confection. I start scream-singing the lyrics, and Rae follows suit until the entire party is backing us as we mosh. For a while, at least the length of one song, I forget about Leila and Jack.

It’s hard to focus, but I think Benny and Xavier are making out in a dark hallway. I can only tell because aside from Rae, they’re the two tallest people here. I want to enjoy this because it’s fun and something I don’t normally do, but my thoughts return to Jack.

Each 808 beat reminds me of the way my chest flutters when I’m around him.

The way our bodies entwine makes me yearn for his.

If I keep my eyes closed, I can pretend it’s him I’m holding instead of Chloe or Sofía or Rae; that’s the magic of imagination. But when I open them, I see he’s just out of arm’s reach. Touching him would be a different kind of magic.

Sweat trickles down my back, and everything overwhelms me: the heat of the party and the bodies and the jungle juice and Leila’s unexpected presence and the look of betrayal on Jack’s face that replays in my mind like the chorus of a shitty song.

“Excuse me,” I say.

“You okay?” Rae asks.

“I just need some air. I’m good.”

Keeping my head down, I push toward the front door, which hisses open. Thumping music streams into the dead night air before it slams behind me.

Leaving me in silence.

It’s so dark that I can only make out what’s vaguely lit by the blinking neon sign.

It’s so still that my thudding heart shakes my entire body.

I tilt my head back and stare at the millions of stars strewn across the endless sky, some brighter than others, some fading into black.

Something rustles in the dark on the other side of the house, sending a chill down my spine.