Page 62 of Places We've Never Been

My mind was spinning. Had she really only had one drink? It wasn’t like her to drink at all, but something wasn’t addingup.

I went down my list of contacts and pressed on Leena’s name. The phone rang.

“Come on, come on, pick up, Leena.” Again, I was dumped into voice mail. “Hey, Leena,” I said, deciding to leave amessage. “It’s Norah. Are you at Kyle’s party? Will you call me if you get this?”

I hung up and shot her off a text, too, in case she didn’t listen to voice mail. Then I tried to think of who else would be there.

Dylan! Willow said he was going to the party. It had been a while since I’d talked to my ex-boyfriend, but he was still in my contacts. I pressed call and waited, gnawing at my lip, when I saw a dark shadow just beyond the picnic table. I gasped.

“It’s just me,” Skyler said.

“You scared me.”

“Sorry. Is everything okay?”

I was expecting to have to leave another voice mail when I heard a wary, “Hello?”

“Dylan?”

“Norah, hey.”

Skyler paused at the edge of the table, then turned as if he was about to leave.

“Wait,” I said to him, and he stopped. Back in the phone, I said, “Are you at Kyle’s party?”

“Are you?”

“No, I’m on vacation.” I could hear lots of commotion and music in the background, so I knew he was there. “Can you find Willow for me?”

“You called me to find Willow?”

“Yes, it’s important.”

“Why don’t you just call her?”

“I did. She’s not answering. Please, I’m worried about her.”

Skyler sat on the table beside me, his brows drawing down. He put his hand on my arm and it was like his steadiness instantly grounded me. Without much thought, as if instinct took over, my shoulder leaned against his.

“I see her,” Dylan said. “She’s fine. Looks like she’s havingfun.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, stop being so dramatic. You’re such a buzzkill, always ruining the vibe.”

I flinched. “Can I just talk to her?”

“Hey, Willow,” Dylan said.

“Dylan!” I heard Willow’s voice in the background exclaim. “You’re here! I gotta tell Norah and her feelings.”

“You want to dance with me, beautiful?” he said.

“Dylan, stop. Just put her on,” I said.

“Let’s dance,” Willow said.

“Don’t worry, Nor. I’ll take care of her.” And then for the second time that night, I was hung up on.