Any residual bitterness melts from his expression, giving way to a plain sadness. “No, it’s nothing. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I shine up real good, I promise. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Sure enough, when Ben drops me off at home, there is a florist’s van in Maura’s driveway, a catering truck parked by the carriage house, and then a small army of black-clad waitstaff flowing into the kitchen, carrying crates of wineglasses.

“Oh, you’ll have to change! That won’t do.” My grandmother swans onto the porch, decked out in a magenta lace brocade dress and black kitten-toe heels.

“What’s going on?” I leap out of the way of a petite blonde hauling a box of silverware.

“It’s your welcoming party! Surely I said something earlier this week. No?…Sorry. Anyway, tonight worked best for everyone, and I do hope you didn’t have other plans.”

“And who is everyone? And, uh, no, I didn’t.”

“Oh, just some of my friends, the crème de la crème of Seaview. I wanted everyone to meet my stunning granddaughter.” Maura ushers me inside and into the front room, where there’s a dress hanging over the back of an armchair. “I had Suzanne pick this out for you in case you didn’t have anything suitable.” She dangles the dress on its hanger in front of me, checking how it looks. It’s a navy-blue fit-and-flare with pleated ruffle sleeves: elegant and safe. So not my style. She thrusts the hanger into my hands. “Now hurry upstairs, shower, and change. Party starts in an hour. You may be fashionably late, but only for a stellar smoky eye. Make those eyes pop.” Maura plants a kiss on my cheek and sends me off.

Annoyance blooms inside me anew. Nothing about this party is for me.

An hour later, I manage said smoky eye, and work magic with a curling iron, for good measure, before wandering downstairs like a shiny penny. The waiters are circulating through a moderate crowd with trays of champagne and finger foods. Some familiar faces mill about: Principal Morris, Grace the administrative assistant…And at that, my knowledge of the fifty-odd people who are crowding the ground floor is exhausted. I watch the back of a young waiter busing empty glasses from a table in foyer. I’m so desperate to talk to someone my age that I’m about to approach him when Maura appears and tugs on my elbow. Hard.