Page 52 of All These Beautiful Strangers

“It’s not like that,” I said.

“All right, Ms. Secretive, I won’t grill you,” she said, sinking into the seat next to mine. “Are you hydrated yet? You went to get a drink, like, forever ago.”

“Sorry,” I said.

She leaned forward and started unbuckling the straps of her heels. “These bad boys are killing me. I don’t know why I thought three-inch heels were a good idea.”

I felt my phone vibrate and looked down to see another text from Greyson.

Greyson: Do you know who the private investigator was who worked on your mom’s case? Like, have you ever seen any of the stuff he had on her?

The private investigator—I hadn’t thought about him in ages. I had met him once, when I was seven. He had interviewed me. And then I remembered seeing him on occasion the year after. He would come by to visit my father, and they would go into my father’s study and close the door.

Me: Hmm. No. But I could look into it.

Greyson: There might be something there.

“Come dance with us,” Drew said. She was on her feet again, barefoot this time, holding her hands out toward me to pull me up.

I glanced out at the dance floor and saw Yael and Stevie near the edge of the stage. Yael waved at me; Stevie wrangled an invisible lasso over her head and threw it at me, attempting to lasso me back onto the dance floor. I laughed. Then the song that was playing ended and a slow song came on.

“May I have this dance?” Drew asked.

“Of course,” I laughed.

She took my hand and dragged me out onto the middle of the dance floor. We both put our hands on each other’s shoulders and held each other at arms’ length, swaying back and forth like we were at some middle school dance and giggling like we were five.

Around us, real couples slow-danced and held each other close. I caught sight of Crosby holding Ren around the waist. Drew saw them too. She rolled her eyes and made a gagging sound. I laughed. But then I saw them: Dalton and McKenna.

Honestly, I didn’t think it would affect me so much, not with everything else that was going on. But it did. I felt it in my gut, like someone had blindsided me with a punch.

McKenna was wearing a backless, red, floor-length dress that looked stunning. Dalton had his arms wrapped around her; he leaned down to whisper something in her ear and she leaned her head back and laughed. I looked away.

What if that were me? That was a silly, stupid thought, but I couldn’t help but wonder. What if I had said yes to Dalton? What if that were me there with Dalton instead of McKenna—me who Dalton was holding, my ear that Dalton was whispering in? My heart felt heavy.

When the slow song ended, a loud, upbeat song came on. I leaned forward and yelled so Drew could hear me over the music.

“I’m gonna go pee,” I said.

“Want me to come with you?”

“No, no, stay,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, come find us,” she said.

I took off toward the girls’ bathroom, which also happened to be on the way to the exit, which was where I was really headed. I couldn’t be there anymore. I would make some excuse to Drew later—I would tell her I had gotten sick, that I hadn’t wanted to ruin everyone else’s night, so I just ducked out.

Outside, the air was crisp and chilly. I hugged my bare arms to my chest and ran my fingers over them to keep from shivering.

I could hear voices carrying across campus. The school had erected a large tent on the football field for the alumni, where they had their own catered dinner and entertainment, and the Falls Church municipal orchestra was playing in the auditorium. The path I was on would meander by there. I wondered what time it was exactly, and whether I would be passing by the entrance to the auditorium as the performance let out. I didn’t want to risk running into Grandfather or Uncle Teddy and have them see me walking home from the dance alone. It would raise too many questions I didn’t feel like answering. It would be best to turn back and loop around Acacia Hall, go the long way. I turned around briskly and walked right into someone.

“Sorry—” I said, startled, and looked up into Dalton’s chocolate-brown eyes. I was close enough to smell his cologne—a citrus scent mixed with spices and wood.

He had his hands on my arms to steady me. For some reason, he was smiling at me. “Hey there, Calloway,” he said.

“Hi,” I said dumbly. What the crap was Dalton doing out here?

“I saw you take off back there and I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said.