Naomi comes into the bathroom and leans against the closed shower door. There’s not a ton of room in here, but they both fit.

“Who’s going to be at the party tonight?” she asks.

“It’s at this hotel this guy Ryan is opening,” Lulu explains. “He knows Owen, actually, so he’ll be there.”

“How’s that gonna be?”

“Fine,” Lulu declares optimistically. “And I—my—Cass will be there too.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah.”

Lulu is working on her eyeliner now, always her least favorite part of this routine. Her hand isn’t as steady as she wants it to be, and she never knows how dramatic to make her wings.

“Bea?”

“Oh,” Lulu says. “No, not Bea.”

B’s back in town—she messaged Lulu yesterday, and Lulu didn’t respond. She saw the notification and wanted to wait a few minutes so she didn’t look like she’d been sitting around waiting for Bea to get in touch with her, and then she got distracted and forgot, like an idiot. She pauses what she’s doing to send: Hey babe happy almost!!!! Have a good night see you soon? And then goes back to work.

“I was wondering,” Naomi says. “I haven’t heard much about her this break.”

“We’re fine.” As soon as she says it, Lulu knows it’s a lie.

“Okay.”

Naomi doesn’t say anything else, and Lulu is grateful for the silence, which gives her the concentration she needs to make her eyes look right. She finishes the liner, adds mascara. Now there’s nothing left but gold.

“Where are you going tonight?” she asks Naomi.

“Over to Kevin’s,” she says. “Remember him?”

One of Naomi’s high school friends.

“Just a house party?”

“Mmmhmmm.”

“Want me to do your makeup?”

“Oh,” Naomi says. “I don’t, I mean—”

“Subtle,” Lulu says. “Like, we could do just the eyes, or a bold lip. For fun. For something new.”

“That would be really nice, actually,” Naomi says. “If you don’t mind. If you have time.”

“I told you,” Lulu says. “For me, this is the fun part.”

She doesn’t tell Naomi, but it’s the first time she’s felt completely like herself since the Sloane Flash. Just a girl getting prettied up, getting ready to meet her friends at a party, to kiss someone she’s dying to kiss, to allow herself fizz and pleasure and beauty and fun.

Bea doesn’t write Lulu back. Instead, Lulu watches Bea’s Flashes of herself preparing for the night—she’s spending it in, with Rich, while her parents are out at some party.

What are you wearing, Lulu asks Cass, and Cass responds with, No, no peeking.

Will I like it?

I hope so.

I think I will.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE