Page 4 of In the Air Tonight

How many times will I wish I’d told him the truth about my plans for that night?

Every day for the rest of my life.

Chapter 2

Blaise

THEN

Sienna jumps into the SUV before it completely stops moving, letting out a shriek of excitement that stretches my nerves almost to the breaking point. Her wild, curly brown hair is still wet from the shower, and she’s taken a bath in Victoria’s Secret body spray. “I honestly thought you’d chicken out.” She changes the radio station from B101 to WHJY and cranks the volume on “Freebird.”

“I almost did. I might throw up.”

“You’ll be fine. We’ll go over there, see what Cam is doing and then come back. No biggie.”

Right. No biggie. It’s not her ass on the line if we get caught there. People know my dad’s car, which is why we drive around for an hour until darkness gives us the cover I need to go through with this plan.

We head across the bridge into Monroe, the town between ours and Land’s End. The kids from Land’s End used to go to Monroe High School, but for reasons I’m not clear on, they ended up in school with us. School got a lot more interesting once the Land’s End kids joined us freshman year, especially Dallas Rafferty.

Not that he knows I’m alive, but whatever. A girl can dream. No one knows I like him, even Sienna, who’d want to try to fix me up with him because Cam plays football with Dallas and is friends with him outside of school.

In fact, Dallas’s older brother Houston—their mom is originally from Texas, and their sister is named Austin—is the one having the party tonight. I was surprised to hear Houston was having a big party, since his dad is the police chief in LE. Sienna heard his parents are on a cruise and off the grid, thus the party. Houston is a senior in college and legal, which means there’ll be plenty of beer and other booze at the party. That’ll draw a lot of kids from Hope across the river tonight, which is all the more reason to be scared. Someone might still recognize my dad’s car and rat me out.

So many of my friends can do whatever they want. Their parents never ask them where they’re going, who they’re going with or when they’ll be home. While part of me thinks that would be nice, I’m grateful that someone would care enough to ask where I was if I didn’t show up at home. My parents would call the police if I didn’t come home.

Sienna is practically bouncing in the passenger seat. “You’re driving like my grandmother.”

She gets hyper when she’s stressed, and worrying about Cam lying to her has had her on edge for days.

“Why don’t you come right out and ask him if he’s going?”

“I don’t want him to know that I know about the party.”

“Why not?”

“He’ll think I don’t trust him.”

I don’t follow the logic. “Well, you don’t…”

“Yes, I do! It’s just a bump. We’re solid. Always have been and always will be.”

“Of course you will.” I tell her what she needs to hear even if I’m not so sure lately. I’ve noticed subtle signs of Cam pulling away from her, even if she can’t admit it.

I don’t want to be around if they break up. I’ll have to make up an emergency trip to Siberia or something to avoid having to deal with her if that happens. Not that I wouldn’t want to bethere for my best friend, but her without Cam is unimaginable. They’re an institution, the longest-standing couple in our entire school, the homecoming king and queen two years in a row and the couple most likely to get married. They’re even planning to go to college together in Arizona. Her whole life is tied up in him and vice versa.

I desperately hope we don’t catch him doing something unforgivable at this party.

The road to the Rafferty house is lined with cars.

“Where should we park? If Arlo sees the car, I’m screwed.”

“There’s a back road Cam showed me once. Go past the house. You can circle around. We can walk in from the next block over.”

I follow her directions to a street a block away and park in a dark spot between two streetlights. The second we emerge from the SUV I can hear the party. Music, loud voices and laughter fuel my anxiety as we walk through a thicket of trees, the noise getting louder as we get closer. The scent of woodsmoke from a bonfire fills the air. Houston is famous for his epic bonfires, or so I’ve been told. I’ve never been invited to one of his parties.

Sienna takes my arm to stop me from going any farther. “We can see from here.”

The party is massive. If you ask me, every kid from Hope, Monroe and LE is there, except us.

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