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radar and sensed when I was upset. They chatted more, touched more, and tended to linger longer than Haley or I’d like. I especially didn’t want Haley picking up on it, because I was sticking with my decision to let it go for tonight.
    I smiled even though it felt like a crack spreading across cement. “Just saying that tonight might be the night with Haley and I.”
    Sex was about the only thing that would get Jamie off my case. Carter laughed and Jamie rubbed his hands together as if he couldn’t wait for the juicy details.
    “Don’t get any ideas.” I grabbed a slice. “Details stay between Haley and me.”
    In about five minutes we’d gone through the two pizzas. I slurped the last of my soda and leaned back. Jamie belched.
    “It’s 8:30. Time to party.” I plastered on a smile and we headed out the door for the best night of our lives.
    Others must’ve had the same idea as us because cars filled the driveway and lined the road. The music poured from the window, its beat vibrating through the air. I was ready to put on my party face and lose myself in the crowds.
    I busted open the door and the crowds welcomed me. I swaggered into the middle of my classmates, shaking my hips. A guy from my soccer team handed me a red plastic cup.
    “Thanks, dude,” I said.
    I guzzled the whole damn thing. I wiped the last from my mouth and crunched the cup in my hand. Everyone around me let out a whoop. I drank another. Friends pounded me on the back and cheered me on. This continued as I moved throughout the party. I played some drinking game at the kitchen table until my heart numbed over.
    This time, Haley wouldn’t be able to see through me.
     

It didn’t take long to get ready. We showered, changed, and did our make-up in record time. We’d planned our outfits last week. My black jeans with the trendy well-placed holes hugged my hips and a sparkly blue shirt dipped a bit low in the front. Seth loved this on me.
    “So,” I said. “Do we have our story down?”
    Brin stuck up her fingers one at time. “I’m sleeping at your house. You’re sleeping at Kama’s. And Kama’s sleeping at my house. No problem.”
    “And,” Kama added, “if we don’t want to party all night, we’ll call my parents with a change of plans and crash there.”
    “But first,” I said, “we have to convince my parents that our plan is on the up and up.”
    “Right,” Kama said. “Let’s go.”
    Ten minutes later, Kama pulled the Beast into my driveway.
    “Kama, you’d better come.” Her smile, confident words, and the way she chatted up my dad usually persuaded him into saying yes for anything. She’d widen her eyes, beg pretty please, and Dad fell for it every time.
    “I’ll keep the Beast company.” Brin waved and put in her earbuds.
    We ran up the walkway. I wanted to get this over with and prayed Mom and Dad were in agreeable moods. I opened the door and peered inside. “Mom? Dad?”
    My older brother, Noah, had his head stuck in the fridge. Probably searching for the last of the spice cake, which I’d already eaten.
    “Hey, bro,” I said confidently and walked into the room. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”
    Kama bounced through behind me.
    He shut the door with an apple in hand and eyed her suspiciously. “What are you going to try and talk them into now?”
    I shrugged. “Just a sleepover at Kama’s.” But he wasn’t stupid. “You know, one last night together before our lives change forever.”
    “Oh, please. I can see right through you two.” He leaned against the fridge and crunched down on the apple. “What’s really going on?”
    Kama batted her eyes. “Just a sleepover, like she said. We thought that maybe since it was the night before graduation, your parents might want Haley home.”
    “And that’s why you’re here?”
    Kama nodded just as my parents came in from the back porch. They noticed Kama’s presence next to me, as if we were about to head into battle. Their eyebrows went up along