Page 45 of The Cost of Forgetting You

“Yeah, but you don’t. That’s, like, one of the few constants in our lives. Tractors will always end up in front of you when you’re in a hurry, and Henry doesn’t drink.”

“Fine,” I grumble. “I’ll find it myself.”

I stalk toward the back set of doors, opposite the way Lucy came in. Derell stays behind. I only glance back once, but even in the sporadic light cast by flashing strobes, I can read the disappointment written plainly on his face. Who is he to judge? I pass a tangle of bodies that turns out to be Jed and Talia locked in a make-out inferno. My friend glances up when I brush against his back. Purple lipstick is smeared on his crooked teeth. His gaze narrows on me briefly before a hand sporting long, sparkly nails comes around his neck and pulls him back into his waking wet dream.

Damp evening air blasts me in the face, cool by comparison to the sweaty cluster of bodies I escaped. The gym doors clang shut behind me, trapping the roar of music and conversation inside. It’s so painfully quiet that my ears ring, desperate to fill the void with any sound.

I sag against the metal doors, letting the facade drop for the first time all night.

“You look like you could use one of these.”

My gaze cuts to the base of the steps, where a girl I hadn’t noticed sits in the shadows. The floodlight I stand beneath doesn’t quite reach her. Even squinting, I can barely make out the orange glow of a cigarette and shimmering silver eyeshadow around kohl-smudged eyes.

“I don’t bite,” she says, lifting something from her equally sparkly purse and offering it in an outstretched hand. A pack of cigarettes moves into the circle of light. “You want one?”

Normally the answer would be, Hell no. But nothing about these last few months has been normal.

My oxfords scuff against the concrete steps. They’re a size too big since they belonged to my dad. When I take a seat beside the girl, who I realize now is blonde with wide hazel eyes and a smirk stretching her thin lips, I can’t help but wonder if Dad would approve of what I’m doing in his shoes.

“I’m Kimberly.” She smiles wider, exposing a flash of white teeth beneath shimmery red lip gloss. She passes the lit cigarette to me, which I take awkwardly between my index and middle finger, the way that I’ve seen my friends do it. “Just lit that one, so have at it. I’ll get myself another.”

“We can share,” I mumble. I don’t want to be responsible for smoking the entire thing. “And I’m Henry.”

Something sparks in her gaze, and she leans closer to me. Her lips close around the cigarette in my hand, and she draws a deep breath, then lets a spool of smoke out in front of us. My mouth covers the print of her lip gloss on the wrapper, and I mimic her movements, trying my best not to look like a total amateur. The smoke burns my throat. I sputter and cough it up in rasping, jerky breaths. Kimberly, to her credit, takes another drag without so much as a wince or snort at my reaction. I relax a little. Whether it’s because of the cigarette or her presence, I couldn’t say.

“Not having fun at prom, I take it?”

I let my gaze fully settle on her, taking in her features as she draws another breath of smoke. She’s watching me from the corner of her eye. Her blonde hair is slicked high in an arrangement not unlike Lucy’s. There are brightly colored clips gathering the strands across her crown. I squint, realizing they’re shaped like butterflies. It makes me smile for some reason. When she returns the expression, I smile wider.

I shrug. “I wasn’t.”

She exhales a cloud of smoke that blurs our view of the baseball fields, then passes the cigarette back to me. I take another drag. This time I manage to keep the coughing to a minimum. It still burns my lungs like hell.

“Me neither. Came here with my cousin, but she’s in there sucking some dude’s face off.” Her upper lip curls. “He’s not even cute.”

“Does your cousin happen to be named Talia?”

Her eyes widen as they cut to me. “You know her?”

“Yeah, that not-cute guy is my friend Jed.” She opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “He’s in there checking something major off his high school bucket list, so try to go easy on him.”

Kimberly bites her lip, gaze flickering over my face like she’s trying to gauge how upset I am. I’m not. She wasn’t being particularly rude, just a little too honest with a stranger. But I’m the only one who gets to call my friends ugly, so of course I’m gonna stick up for the guy. I’d expect the same in return.

“I didn’t realize Talia had a cousin.” A ladybug lands on her knee, which the split of her shimmery green dress leaves bare. I brush the insect away absent-mindedly. “You’re not from here then?”

She stares at the place where the ladybug was as she speaks. “South Carolina, actually. But I’m a freshman at the University of Southern Mississippi over in Hattiesburg. My semester ended this week and my parents are finishing up some renovations on the house, so I came to see my cousin for a bit before heading home for the summer.”

“You weren’t over prom already? Being in college and all.”

“It’s always fun to wear a pretty dress.” She brushes the split open farther, exposing her long, bare legs to the cool breeze. “Even if this one is trying to give me a heatstroke.”

I fan the lapels of my tux jacket. “I get that.”

One pencil-thin eyebrow lifts. “You look handsome though.”

Heat that has nothing to do with my tux creeps up my neck. I bring the cigarette to my lips and pull. A sharp burning sensation strikes my fingertips, startling me. I drop the cigarette into my lap on instinct, then jolt to my feet and slap at my front to get it off. The butt falls to the ground, a hazy orange flame still winking up at me. Kimberly tosses her head back, laughing. I’m checking my rental tux for burn marks, which I thankfully avoided.

I sigh heavily, shoulders sagging with relief. “Thank God. My mom would’ve killed me.”

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