Page 128 of The Glittering Edge

They get close to the gazebo. Penny sticks to the outskirts of the dance floor, but she beams as Naomi sways to the music, quickly becoming part of the crowd.

Then Penny notices someone staring at her from the other side of the gazebo. He’s a few years older than Penny, tall and lanky with light-brown skin and slicked-back hair. He’s wearing a white turtleneck and white wide-legged pants. His eyes are unblinking and, for some reason, focused on her.

Penny looks away, pretending to sip her drink. That’s when it hits her. She knows him, sort of. He was a senior at Idlewood Central when Penny was a freshman. That’s Julian Chaudhary, Helen Barrion’s son.

Penny glances in his direction again, but he’s gone. She’s not sure what she would say to him, but she’s curious. Does he know who sheis? Did Julian ever meet Penny’s mom before the accident at Elkie Lake?

“You don’t like dancing?”

She jumps. Julian somehow teleported next to her, a Cheshire Cat smile stretched across his face.

“I’m not very good at it,” Penny says.

Julian’s eyes wander over the dance floor. “Then I guess I shouldn’t ask you to dance with me.”

“Oh,” Penny says, her voice cracking. “Thanks, but, uh—”

“It’s a waste of energy anyway. It’s just a way to make people look at you, right?”

Julian’s voice is smooth and liquid. Penny heard rumors he was agoraphobic, that this was why nobody saw him after he graduated from Idlewood Central. Now that she’s face-to-face with him, everything about Julian oozes confidence. Or maybe not confidence—could it be apathy? It’s hard to tell.

“There are much more interesting ways to get attention,” Julian says.

“Are there?” Penny asks.

“Definitely,” Julian says. “Murder, for example.”

When Penny’s jaw drops, Julian lets out a low laugh. “It was a joke.”

Penny tries to laugh, but it comes out shaky.

“I guess I should let you find Corey,” Julian says. “That’s who you’re here to see, right? Good luck with that, by the way.”

Penny’s smile falls. “What do you mean?”

But Julian is already leaving, weaving between people until Penny loses sight of him.

“Weird guy,” comes a voice from behind her. “Tries too hard, but I really can’t talk.”

Penny gasps. That voice belongs to the very last person who should be here.

Standing a few feet away, in the middle of the Barrions’ giant backyard, is Alonso.

Penny

“ARE YOU SPEECHLESS?” ALONSO ASKS.

He’s smirking, but there’s a hint of something else in his defensive smile. His eyes are locked on Penny’s face, watching her every reaction. Hewantsher to be speechless.

Seeing him, it’s hard not to be. He’s clad in a black suit jacket and pants, and his shirt is unbuttoned enough to show a few simple necklaces. His dangly earring has been replaced by a small silver hoop.

Penny gasps. “Your hair.”

Alonso runs a hand over it. He’s cut off the blue ends and combed it back, leaving a few blond strands to escape into his eyes. “You like it?”

Penny nods, but there’s a part of her that misses how it used to be. Alonso has always stood out, but his usual style feels like him. This feels like a costume.

“How did you get in?” she asks in a low voice.

---