He’s not doing it this year, says Shannon, and I can feel her smugness through my phone screen at already having the dirt. Of course she withheld it. Of course she did. And then she drops another bomb. Some new girl is.

Jasmine. I know it in my bones. It’s such a Her thing to do, to swoop in and fuck things up a little just because she can. She wants to give the impression that nothing fazes her. And admittedly, very little does, as far as I can tell. Which is annoyingly compelling.

Almost as annoyingly compelling as being allowed to see what does get to her.

Stop, I order my quickening pulse as Gia responds with a shocked-face emoji.

I hate lying to my friends, especially after years of them holding my hands through my Chase obsession, but there’s no way I can tell them about Jasmine. What would I even say? How do you tell people who’ve listened to you babble about your crush on a guy for a thousand years that whoops, you spent the summer fooling around with a girl? Especially if you have no idea what it meant to either of you? Especially if she’s so clearly over it that she came to your school and didn’t give you a heads-up?

The only thing I can do is feign complete ignorance and try to keep her far, far away from them.

We’re not going to some rando’s house, are we? I type, knowing I have no shot at winning this.

Are you joking? Recon 101. There’s nothing Kiki loves more than high school espionage. She wants to be either a PI or an investigative journalist, depending on the day. We’re going.

Even knowing it was coming, my pulse races at the thought of all of us walking into this party together. Immediately, I try to imagine what my friends will think of her.

Ever the detective, Kiki will dig into what possibly could have brought her here for senior year, and I can’t blame her—I’m dying to know the same. We spent the entire summer together and she never once said a word about anything other than going home to her mom’s in Asheville. How could she not have told me she was moving in with her dad? How could she not tell me that the last time we said goodbye wasn’t the last time at all? How could she show up and expect me not to obsess over what it means??

It wouldn’t be the worst thing if Kiki got some answers.