Back Pumpkin
Chapters (44)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Acknowledgments
  41. About the Author
  42. Books by Julie Murphy
  43. Back Ad
  44. About the Publisher

A hand reaches out from the crowd behind her, and Bo steps forward in a well-fitted tux. With his free hand, he yanks at his collar and Willowdean laughs as she reaches up for a kiss and then wipes away the smudge of lipstick she left with her thumb.

I shrink back and concentrate on my phone. I like all of those people—a lot, in fact. But I don’t have the bandwidth right now.

While the DJ (who I’m pretty sure is just someone’s brother with a Spotify Premium account) cycles through a few slow songs, the three of us sit there scrolling through our phones when Kyle and Alex saunter up hand in hand in their matching teal bow ties.

“Wow, so this is where the party’s at,” says Alex.

“Do y’all even know how hard we worked on these decorations?” asks Kyle as he plops down beside me. “And you’re over here on your phones.”

I look up from my phone, where my thumb was hovering over Tucker’s contact information. (Would it be so weird to text him even though we’re in the same room?)

“The decorations are perfect, Kyle,” Clem kindly tells him on behalf of the three of us.

Kyle bows his head solemnly. “Thank you.”

And admittedly, the balloon columns and arches are pretty epic. String lights drape from corner to light fixture to corner again, weaving a glittering web all over the ceiling. And every table is ornately decorated with tall centerpieces of vases full of branches dripping with crystals and strips of film. Along the side of the room is a nacho bar and a punch bowl, which is well guarded by various faculty members.

“Kyle,” I say, “this is the shit.”

He perks up, his eyes wide with surprise. “You really think so? Last night, after your performance, Alex and I came straight here so we could get a head start on the twinkle lights. You would not believe how many yards of lights this took. It means a lot to know that you like it.”

“Totally. I especially love the collection of Cullen family cutouts over by the voting booth.” I point over to a couple of well-loved Twilight cutouts that are held together with packing tape and a prayer, including Edward, whose hair is bending forward.

“Alex’s older sister is a former Twihard,” he says over the music.

“Hey,” says Hannah, “once a Twihard, always a Twihard.”

Clementine’s jaw drops. “I’m sorry. What?!”

Hannah shrugs and pulls Clem down into her lap. “I loved those movies when I was a kid.”

Clem crosses her arms over her chest. “Fine. Jacob or Edward?”

“Neither. Team Jessica Stanley.”

“I don’t even know who that is!” Clem cries.

“Guess we’re due for a Twilight marathon then,” Hannah says with satisfaction.

“Count me in!” I say. “I’m pro anything that sparkles in the sun.”