Page 109 of High Season

The others collapsed with laughter. Only Tamara and Hannah stayed silent.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” said Olivia. “We don’t want you trying to get with us, like you tried to get with Tamara.”

Hannah saw Josie flinch. For a moment, she looked very young. Even younger than usual. Then, her face hardened, her hands folding across her chest.

“You told them that?” she said.

She was looking directly at Tamara.

“Yeah,” said Tamara. “Well. I didn’t want you twisting it. Telling everyone that we were… that I was up for it, or something.”

Josie didn’t move. Her legs remained firmly planted on the sand. Her chin lifted.

“Hannah?” she said. “Are you coming?”

When Josie first started at Hannah’s school, she had been picked on by the other kids. They had spotted her secondhand uniform, taken stock of her stature, and crowded around her on the playground on her first lunchbreak. They had tugged at her battered backpack, imitated her accent.

It was Hannah who had broken them up. Hannah who had pushed through them all and clasped Josie’s hand. She’d taken her to the back room behind the assembly hall, a place where she would hide when she wanted to be away from the others, reading books and eating her prepacked sandwich. After that, the two of them spent most of their lunch breaks there together, and people had mostly left Josie alone.

“Yeah, Hannah,” Olivia said, her tone somehow sweet and acidic at the same time. “Are you going to play beer pong with the boys?”

“Actually,” Hannah said. It was as if someone else was speaking. “I think I’m going to stay here.”

“Hannah doesn’t need to chase after boys, right?” said Chrissie. “She’s already with Blake.”

Josie opened her mouth. Closed it again. There was a glint in her eyes, the reflection of the fire. She looked furious. She looked fierce.

“I’ll come and find you later,” Hannah said, quietly.

“Yeah,” Josie said. “Right.”

She turned to walk away but her foot caught on a piece of driftwood and she stumbled. The girls erupted into laughter.

“Oh my god,” said Olivia gleefully. “She’s, like, so weird?”

Hannah wasn’t laughing. The vodka and the heat were making her head hurt. Her skin was hot, the fire too close.

“Hey, Hannah, look who it is,” said Phoebe.

“It’s yourboyfriend,” sang Olivia.

“Oh my god,” said Chrissie. “I know. I know what your next dare is.”

“It’s not her turn.”

“No, it’s perfect, listen.”

Chrissie grinned. Her teeth looked sharp in the light of the fire.

“I think it’s time for you and Blake to make it official, right, Hannah? I dare you to go and kiss Blake, right in front of everyone.”

“No,” said Tamara. “Come on, guys. You’re taking the piss now. Blake would hate that.”

“It’s a dare? It’ssupposedto be something a little risky.”

“That’s not fair, though. You know it’s not.”

“Oh, come on, it’ll be great.”