Will took a last long drag on the cigarette, an American Spirit. It was too strong for someone who didn’t usually smoke, and he coughed, feeling lightheaded. Hunter laughed at him, and when Will smiled, his face felt numb from the booze and the coke that was still racing through his system. “Do you think we’ll miss this?” he asked Hunter.

“No way,” Hunter said. “Next year is going to be epic. Thank god you’re going to be there, Will. I wouldn’t want to go without you.”

“You’re getting sappy, man,” Will said, laughing. “I think the ecstasy must have hit.”

But Hunter grabbed Will’s arm, shaking his head. “No, seriously,” he said. “I couldn’t have cared less about going to Princeton until I found out you were going too. Princeton has always been my dad’s thing. I was kind of dreading it, to be honest. It’s going to full of rich pricks—you’ll see. But it’ll be cool, because we’ll be there together.”

“You’re a rich prick,” Will said.

Hunter smirked. “I need you to keep me humble.”

They tapped plastic cups and Hunter stood up. “I’m getting a refill,” he said as he started toward the door. “You?”

“I’m good,” Will said. He turned to watch the scene around him. Someone had lit a fire in a trash can near the pool, and a tall skinny kid had set two ends of a tree branch on fire and was dancing, whipping the flames through the darkness as he spun. A speaker on the deck was playing nineties rock, an incongruous mash-up with the techno beat coming from the kitchen. Will saw June and Rosie playing on the steps by the river. He frowned. They were in up to their knees, and he knew the water couldn’t be more than sixty degrees this time of year. He walked down to the river, thinking that they were so fucked up that they’d have hypothermia before they even noticed it was cold.

Will called to the girls, but they were laughing and splashing each other, oblivious to his voice. He sighed as he kicked off his shoes and waded in to pull them out. Back on the lawn, he dropped down onto the grass beside them. “Where’s Maddie?” he asked, looking around.

Rosie and June just giggled as they laid on the grass. “Seriously,” Will said, sitting up. “Was she with you? Did she go in the water?” He pulled June up and tried to get her to look at him, but her eyes were unfocused.

“She’s your girlfriend,” June slurred. “You should know where she is.” June made a kissing face and then slumped against him.