A small, knowing smile tugs at her lips that says, “Yeah, I know who you like hanging out with.” And even though it’s absurd and terrible, I want her to press the issue one more time, out loud, to tell me we look like something even though I don’t know if I want us to look like something. But Keisha’s not that person, and we finish cleaning the table in silence.

NOW

I make an excuse to leave the party and pull out my phone as I steal into the backyard. I’ve only spoken to Keisha a few times since the summer—commenting on each other’s selfies, a group chat to tell us she made the step team so we could send every celebratory emoji in existence—but I call her without hesitation. I don’t want to have this conversation without hearing her tone of voice.

“Hey, girl,” she greets me, instantly transporting me back to the deck of her parents’ house, to afternoons spent playing spades and hearts over sweet tea and messing around in her closet with Brea and Jasmine while she played Fortnite with some friend from school. “What’s up?”

The question that’d been dancing on the tip of my tongue dies. “Long time, no speak,” I say, despite it being one of my most hated phrases. “I’m at a party and I was thinking of you. Thought I’d say hi.”

It’s not a total lie, anyway.

“Ooh, is that the same party Jasmine’s at? It looks like fun!”

I blink slowly. “How did you know Jasmine’s here?”

“I helped her pick an outfit over FaceTime, and I just saw her karaoke performance on IG Live. That was hot.”

You have no idea. Just like I had no idea they spoke so often in the off season. So much for baring my soul to Keisha. “Did you know she was transferring here?”

“I mean, it was a pretty last-minute decision, so I didn’t know until the night before. All she told me was that her mom was selling their house and moving up near family, so they figured it’d make more sense for her to be at the same school all year. It was a little weird that her mom wouldn’t just wait until after graduation, but Jas seemed cool about it. Anyway, you’d know better than I would.”

You’d think. So many secrets. So many questions.

I sidestep that. I don’t want her to know that I don’t know, that my closeness with Jasmine this past summer was some sort of temporary thing, tied to the tide or whatever. “Well, I assume that since we’re both up here, that means we can get you up for a visit.”

Keisha laughs. “You know I had this conversation with Jasmine like two hours ago, right? Y’all coordinate this coercion or what?”