Bitter Falls (Stillhouse Lake)(30)

“Cousins to the Belldenes.”

“Fair warning, Hank will be looking for some payback once he’s healed. So y’all better keep an eye out. Belldene clan don’t play.”

“Thanks,” I say. I don’t tell him the old couple already came to our house and low-key tried to scare us. “My mom’s not somebody they really want to mess with, I can tell you that.”

Bon laughs. It sounds a little high and loony. “Yeah, she’s a scary bitch.”

“Runs in the fam,” I tell him. He offers his beer, and I tap it with my water bottle. I ought to get up and walk, but truth is, I’m not really sure how accepting the main group will be if I go over toward the bonfire; looks like the Cool Kids Coalition to me. Some are already passed out, wrapped in flannel jackets and blankets. If the cops aren’t already on their way, surely this will all be busted up within the next hour. It’s kind of a scene.

I look around for Vee again but I still don’t see her. I’m disappointed that she ditched me, but on some level, I guess I’m also not surprised.

I end up watching as Lottie chats with a cluster of boys and drinks too much, too fast. I feel very alone, despite Bon, Lottie, the eighty or so teens within a dozen feet of me whooping it up. Someone else—a boy this time—cannonballs off the rock, and the splash reaches all the way to the shore. I hear the fake-outraged screams of Instagram bunnies who are taking selfies around the fire. Lottie among them. Yeah, I keep noticing, even while I’m starting to get mad at Vee for putting me in this lonely, weird position.

“Boo!”

I yelp as someone grabs me from behind, and drop my water bottle. It’s Vee, I realize as I spin around; she has a wide, maniacal grin that has a chemical sheen to it. She’s so damn high I’m surprised she isn’t floating off the ground. “Fuck! Don’t do that!”

“Sorry,” she says, but not like she means it. “Come on. Let’s dance.”

“Hey, new girl, you want to party?” Bon says. She ignores him completely, drags me over closer to the fire in an empty stretch of sand. She starts dancing. She puts her arms around me and pulls me close, and I hear boys whooping and clapping behind us. I don’t like it. I’m not here to put more deposits in their spank banks.

So I push away from Vee a little and say, “Hey, this party is bound to get busted soon. We should go back.”

“Back where?” She shouts it over the music. Someone’s turned it up so loud I can feel it in my bones, vibrating uncomfortably through my body.

“Home!” I’m tired, and I feel weird. My instincts are telling me to get the hell out of here; there’s something brewing under all the cheer and campfires and energy. Just a feeling, but Mom’s always taught me to trust my instincts.

“Oh hell no, Lanta, we ain’t goin’ home. We’re going to stay out here all night and party!” She draws the last word out and does a wild spinning dance, flinging her arms wide. I have to move back to avoid getting hit. She’s way too high, and she’s not making good decisions. I grab her hand and drag her away, dump her into the chair next to Bon, and get another water bottle from his cooler. He chokes on his beer. “Hey, girl, those cost, you know!”

I dig five bucks out of my pants pocket and fling it at him. He grumbles, but he takes it. I get Vee to drink, and she guzzles the entire thing, then bends over, gasping like she’s going to throw up. She doesn’t. She’s a little more sober when she sits back. The feverish glitter is mostly gone. She’s sweating. I can smell the harsh body odor coming off her. She needs another shower, bad.

“Oh man, too much. I fucked up,” she says, and puts her head in her hands. “Sorry. I just—Lanta, I just want to have some fun. Is that wrong?”

She’s shaking. The drugs are turning on her, fast, and I’m worried. “What did you take, Vee?”

She doesn’t know, that’s clear from the look she gives me. She downed some pills, probably. Maybe smoked something. Hard to tell.

She’s not okay. And I can’t leave her out here. Anything could happen to her.

“Hey,” I say to Bon. “Want to give us a ride home? For cash?”

“I ain’t Uber, girl. Hike it.”

Another cannonball hits the lake to applause and cheers. The party noise keeps getting louder. I look over. It’s just a sea of distorted faces and writhing bodies. Firelight makes people I know look like dangerous strangers.

“So. You buying something more than water? ’Cause if you’re not, move on. Chairs are for closers.” Bon’s here selling weed and pills. Of course. I should have known. Nobody’s nice to me for nothing.

“Fine.” I grab Vee and haul her to her feet.

“I don’t feel so good,” she says.

“That’s okay. We’re going home. You can sleep it off there.”

She breaks free of me and runs. I mean, runs, and I immediately start after her because this isn’t good. She’s not heading home. She’s heading up the cliff. “Vee! Stop!”

She doesn’t. She takes the steep path up, scrambling, laughing wildly, and I follow her. Somehow she stays ahead of me, even though I’m a runner; I guess whatever she’s on has given her a real burst of energy. Switchback turns in the dark, slippery rocks, but she makes it, and I burst out onto the cliff just a step behind her.