“Don’t come in!” Shy and Liam shouted together.

Shy envied the marooned couple in The Blue Lagoon. They had way more privacy. Not that she and Liam were doing anything. They’d segued from reading condom instructions to ordering pizza to checking out Black Ryan’s recent social media posts. He’d snorkeled in the Seychelles wearing a diamond Chanel necklace and held a blue snake in Australia wearing a tiny red Armani Speedo. Now he was in Texas, making a gun-control PSA. Only celebrities made PSAs. Liam’s friend Ryan was famous.

“Leave them alone, Roy!” Shy’s mum shouted up the stairs.

Wendy had rallied and shifted into high gear again. There were fires to put out and boys to rescue. If Shy got pregnant tonight, they would deal with that disaster tomorrow.

“Dad, please do not open the door.”

“It’s all right,” her mother called. “We’re going out for a bit. You just carry on.”

“Thank you, Mum,” Shy called back.

Roy peeked out the hallway window, which looked onto the garden. The bonfire had already died down considerably. The man from the bookstore and his girlfriend were toasting marshmallows with the Latin teacher, who, miraculously, was still alive.

“There’re a few guests outside,” he told Shy through the door. “They’re in charge of the bonfire. It’s dying down, but I don’t want to leave it untended.”

“That’s fine, Dad. We just ordered pizza.”

“Thanks, Mr. Clarke.” Liam’s crackly teenage boy voice followed Roy down the stairs, causing him to wince.

Kane Street was crammed with fire trucks and heavy-coated firemen. A ladder truck had been implemented. Spotlights had been erected. Fire hoses were connected to every available hydrant. There was a lot of smoke. The air smelled like charred wood and wet carpet.

When it became apparent that the fire was around the corner on Cheever Place, Stuart, Mandy, Peaches, and Greg began to run.

“That’s my house,” Stuart sputtered breathlessly at a fireman carrying a walkie-talkie. “My son—do you have him?”

“We’re on it, sir,” the fireman said. “Please stand on the other side of the street so the men can do their jobs.”

Stuart and Mandy backed away. Clinging to each other, they watched the spotlit scene in a confused haze. One of the side effects of Dr. Conway’s pot was that it was difficult to concentrate on more than one thing at once. They’d been distracted by the party and Ted had gone home and set it on fire? It hardly seemed possible. Ted was at the bonfire with them. He was having a good time. There was also their shared belief that nothing bad could ever happen to Ted.

The others were not so easily deterred.

“I’m a nurse,” Peaches offered. “I’m their nurse.”