“Sophie, come on!” I said. “I already know what happened—”
Sophie cut me off with a stab of her index finger. Her eyes were still boring down on Mom and Dad. “And I’m talking about the stuff she doesn’t know about…”
“Can you stop?” Mom begged. “Please, Sophie. You’re ruining Julia’s whole celebration.”
Sophie stared at Mom. “When are you going to stop living on another planet?” She shifted her eyes toward Dad. “And you…what alternate universe have you settled down in? When are the two of you going to stop pretending like everything is so perfect in this family, and start…”
“God Almighty!” Dad cut Sophie off, throwing his napkin on top of his plate. “I cannot believe you’re seriously thinking of getting into all of this right now.”
“Yes,” Mom said. “Please stop it. You really are being selfish.”
Sophie looked down at the word “selfish.” She began to work her lower lip with her teeth.
Dad’s teeth were clenched. “You want to talk about Milford, we’ll talk about it. But there is no need to do it right now. Right now, we are celebrating Julia’s graduation and…”
Zoe’s signature three-beep alert came blaring from the street. I stood up hurriedly, gratefully, and pushed back my chair. “That’s my ride. I have to go.”
I practically ran for the door, taking my first real breath as I pushed it open.
“Ten o’clock, Julia!” Dad’s voice followed me. “No later than ten!”
The door slammed behind me, loud as a gunshot.
chapter
7
I had already decided, while running out of the house, that if Milo was not in the car, I wouldn’t go with Zoe to the party. I just didn’t have it in me tonight. But there he was in the passenger side, one elbow resting on the window. Just like always.
“Hey, guys!” I tried to sound excited as I got in the backseat, as if I had not just left a train wreck behind me. Milo nodded at me. He looked weirdly handsome in a white button-down shirt and pair of green swim trunks dotted with red lobsters. Only someone like Milo could pull off an outfit like that. He’d slicked his hair back too, and I could make out the faint scent of soap as he leaned his arms over the top of his seat.
“You guys ready to party?” Zoe had done her eyes up in some kind of glittery purple eyeliner. Her own outfit was a study in dichotomy: black leggings paired with a hip-length T-shirt that said I LIKE CATS; I JUST CAN’T EAT A WHOLE ONE BY MYSELF, and a bright red pair of cowboy boots.
“Chill, rock star,” Milo said. “And keep your hands on the wheel.”
“Oh, you’re such a fart,” Zoe said. “Relax.”
“I’ll relax when you get us there without getting into an accident.”
Milo turned and looked out the window. He stayed that way too, as Zoe yammered on about the party, not so much as even turning his head in my direction for the entire trip. It was as if the whole conversation we’d had after graduation had never even happened.
Like we were strangers all over again.
Melissa’s backyard looked like something out of MTV’s Spring Break. Dark purple material had been draped canopy style over the pool umbrellas, while disco balls, spinning tiny coins of light, swayed lightly underneath. A rap album blared from the outdoor speakers, and tiki torches, standing well over seven feet, blazed against the lengthening shadows. Then there was the food. Aside from the usual pretzels and chips, there were two tables filled with platters of triangular pita toasts, seeded crackers, bowls of strangely hued dip, and small phyllo-dough pockets. Whole sides of ribs were buried deep inside a charcoal pit across the yard, and pieces of chicken sputtered and sizzled on a large silver grill on the patio.
Off to the right was a kidney-shaped pool, complete with a diving board and circular steps. It was filled to capacity with students from Silver Springs High, including Melissa, who was sitting like a queen on the top step, surveying her subjects, and Cheryl, who was sitting in a lawn chair next to a few other girls.
“You guys coming in?” Milo asked, pausing at the front gate as Zoe and I peered out from behind him. “Or are you just going to watch everything from back there?”
“Of course we’re coming in!” Zoe stepped forward, pushing her brother out of the way, and made her way over to the food table. Milo cleared his throat loudly as Melissa came toward us. She had tied a sarong around her hips, and she was spilling out of her bikini top. Behind her, I could make out the slightest tilt of Cheryl’s head as she watched us from her chair.
“Hey, guys!” Melissa draped a hand casually on Milo’s shoulder. Her eyes took in every inch of Zoe’s appearance in the span of three disgusted seconds. “I’m so glad you could make it! Did you just get here?”
“Just now.” Milo shoved his hands in his pockets, rose up on his toes. “Wow, Melissa. Your place is great.”