Fifer wanted to join them, but their intimacy made her hesitate. She knew Thisbe and Sky had grown much closer during their time together. It made Fifer feel a bit left out of that relationship. She turned back toward the band and saw that Fox and Kitten were taking a break from playing in the band and were dancing together, Fox standing upright on his hind legs and Kitten sitting on his front paw, which was outstretched so he could see her clearly.

“Mewmewmew?” Kitten would ask with a sly double blink. Fox would go into a long explanation of something that was likely unrelated to whatever Kitten said. But she purred anyway. Words didn’t matter with them. Fifer thought it was ridiculous yet charming. Love was weird.

In the shadows, Sean and Carina were swaying together and kissing, to Seth’s obvious dismay, and Samheed and Lani were kissing too. Henry rested his head on Thatcher’s chest as Thatcher held him close, and Crow and Scarlet slipped away and started walking along the shore holding hands.

“Everything is so dumb,” Fifer said, dropping her mask to her side in frustration. Her vision for the evening, realistic or not, had showcased her as the center of attention—after all, she’d been the one leading the rescue team home to safety after Alex had died. She’d hoped by this point someone would have thought to honor her for her leadership, temporary as it was. And acknowledge that she was growing up and showing strong skills. She’d even thought people would be congregating around her and showering her with birthday gifts and praise for doing such a good job under horrible circumstances.

But, in reality, she’d been getting looks all night from people who hadn’t appreciated getting glass shards rained on them. To them, Fifer was still an uncontrollably dangerous kid. To top off the evening, now that mostly just friends remained to close down the party, everyone seemed so focused on the special person they were with. Fifer felt awkward approaching any of the couples and small groups. Romantic or not, no one seemed to want to have a deep conversation with Fifer now that she wasn’t leading things anymore. No one was paying any attention to her, especially her soul-mate sister. She searched the lawn one last time, hopping up and down a little to get Seth to notice her. But his back was to her as Clementi showed him how to dip her.

Fifer stopped jumping. Her shoulders slumped. “This entire night is a disgrace,” she muttered. With a sigh, she went into the mansion to see if Simber was around—maybe he’d give her the approval and attention she was so desperately seeking tonight. But he’d disappeared once things settled down. Perhaps he’d gone to the jungle to visit Panther as he sometimes did. They were probably being all kissy too.