“Found you,” he says. I relax at the sound of his voice, so familiar to me, like my favorite, worn-in jeans. The ones he was teasing me about earlier—only I wasn’t supposed to hear. “What happened before?” He lowers his mask so I can see his face. “You ran out of there like you’d seen a ghost.”

I wait for it to happen again. For me to hear his thoughts.

But there’s nothing. Just me, and Ollie, and the crowd around us. I breathe out a sigh of relief.

“Bathroom emergency.” I shrug. “Do you really want to know?”

“Definitely not.”

I laugh, snagging his mask from his hand and holding it up to my own face, covering it. “I’ll take that, thank you very much.”

“Get your own disguise!” Ollie chuckles.

I have to keep us busy, I realize. So busy he won’t have a chance to get me alone and say those things to me out loud. Because my answer to him will always be that we’re best friends, nothing more. And I don’t want to hurt Ollie. It makes me nauseous even thinking about it.

“Where’s Pru?” I blurt. “Did you walk over with her?”

“She went to find Pippa,” Ollie shouts. The music has picked up, and we have to talk loudly to hear each other. Good.

“Let’s look for her,” I say, grabbing Ollie’s hand and guiding him through the crowd. The costumes are so intricate and colorful, the space so full, it’s almost dizzying. We move past a student in an elaborate Wonder Woman costume; two girls and a boy dressed as the Schuyler sisters from Hamilton; a couple of fairies with smoky eyes and dazzling headdresses; multiple Severus Snapes, Hermiones, and Harrys; and more capes, cloaks, and masks than I can count.

“Pru!” I shout, spotting her across the way and making a beeline toward her. I tap her on the shoulder, only realizing in that moment that this isn’t Pru at all—it’s Pippa. She’s dressed in the cloak and hood I saw her in earlier. Next to her are Theodora and Maude, and I spot Ansel and Jago nearby, similarly garbed. “Pippa,” I correct myself. “Sorry, I never do that.”

Pippa smiles, not offended. “Pru’s here somewhere…”

I scan the room for her, but it’s so hard to pick anyone out of the dense crowd. My eyes land on a knot of kids I’d much rather not run into: Harlowe, with Ivy and Graham at her side. I don’t even register their costumes. I’m too busy feeling my blood starting to boil at the sight of them.

“Emma,” Ollie warns, sensing that I’m about to walk up to them. “Ignore them. Let’s go to the lake. Get some air.”

But I can’t go to the lake with Ollie, because I can’t be alone with him.