BooksBarbecue
Back The House Party
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. April 2008
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. Author’s Note
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. About the Author
  57. About the Publisher

When she finally checked her phone the next day, there were a dozen texts from Rosie and June asking her if she was okay, if she knew that boy, and if she wanted to talk. And that’s when she knew that whatever had happened, it wasn’t good.

How could she not know? She couldn’t even remember what his face looked like. Had she wanted to make out with him? And how far, exactly, had it gone?

She got into the shower and stayed there for a long time, scrubbing her body with hot water and soap. When she looked down, she saw a fresh bruise on her left hipbone.

Stop it, she told herself as she spun the dial on her locker. Stop thinking about it. It had been such a relief this morning in the school parking lot when all everyone was talking about was the destruction at the party. After checking in with her, neither June nor Rosie mentioned what happened again, and Maddie was grateful. The big news was that Will’s brother, Trip, had thrown a toilet out of the window, and that the police had ticketed some kids on the road but had somehow never shown up at the house.

Maddie managed to steady her hands enough to get her combination right. She swung the locker open and checked her reflection in the mirror inside. She looked tired, but not as bad as she felt. She just needed to get through the next couple days, and by the end of the week this would all be behind her. Some new gossip would come along to occupy everyone’s attention and she could forget all about what had happened.

She closed her locker and was suddenly face-to-face with Olivia, a sophomore whose locker was next to hers. Olivia’s eyes went wide.

“Oh!” Olivia exclaimed, looking flustered. And then: “I’m sorry, I just didn’t think you’d be here today.” Her face turned pink. “I mean,” she backtracked, “of course you should be here if you want to be. Are you okay?”

That question again. For a long moment Maddie just stared at Olivia. She’d been kidding herself. Something bad had happened to her, and everybody knew. She took a deep, ragged breath, and walked away without answering. She was definitely not okay.

6