“No, no, no,” I mutter, pulling out of Hannah’s arms. I throw the door open again and run down the hall, barrel down the stairs, and scan the room for him.
“Clarity, where have you been?” Kristen asks, appearing out of the crowd with Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf (a.k.a. Olivia and Hailey).
“Where’s Vincent?” I ask, figuring that’s where Maurice would go first.
“Clarity.” Hannah comes up behind me.
“Hannah,” Hailey coos, sounding a little tipsy herself.
“I need to talk to you,” I tell Kristen, grabbing her hand.
I drag her along with me out to the back porch. I’m kind of hoping we find Maurice and Vincent out there, but I’m simultaneously relieved when we don’t. I don’t even know what I’m going to say. Kristen follows me past the small group lounging on the patio furniture as I beeline for the empty trampoline in the middle of the yard.
“Clarity, what’s going on?” she asks, her breath visible in the cold.
I open my mouth to say the words and stop short, my heart racing with the truth of them. “Maurice knows—he just walked in on me and Hannah.”
Kristen’s eyes go wide. I was holding on to a shred of hope that this isn’t as big a deal as I imagine, but when her jaw drops, I know this is bad.
“Well,” she says, turning to scan the yard like we might find them out here after all. “I mean…”
“He’s going to tell Vincent and the secret will spread and it’s going to get back to my parents and they’re going to hate me and I’m so screwed!” By the end, I can hardly take a full breath.
It’s going to be Camp Refuge all over again.
Kristen nods, taking deep breaths and prompting me to do the same.
“You are going to be okay, okay? We’re going to go in there and find them and—he might not tell anyone, Clarity.” She snaps her fingers at the realization, but her forced smile doesn’t convince me.
“Kris…”
“Look, I’m just saying let’s see if there’s any damage before we have a full freak-out.”
“Okay.” We nod together, agreeing to hold off on spinning out, and head inside.
The kitchen is nearly empty, the last few people—dressed as characters fromRiverdale—filing into the living room. Kristen and I trail after them and end up thrust into a packed jumble ofbodies, jumping and dancing to “After Hours” by Kehlani. Hannah is on the edge of the crowd, swaying stiffly. Rowena, Hailey, and some of her other teammates are going hard though.
“Over there,” Kristen says, swatting my shoulder.
I follow her gaze in time to see Maurice opening the front door, Vincent close behind.
“Are they leaving?” I ask.
“No way,” Kristen says, taking my hand and pulling us toward the door.
We pass Hannah and her teammates. The girls reach for us, trying to pull us into their dance circle, but Hannah moves around them to catch up to us. I shout over the music that we’ll be back and hold on to the shred of calm the sight of her brings me before we push our way outside.
Kristen shuts the door behind us, killing the noise and leaving us standing alone in the cold and dark. The boys are at the end of the walkway, talking quietly until they notice us.
“Vinny, are you leaving?” Kristen asks, staying next to me.
“We’re just talking,” Vincent says, though he cuts himself off when Maurice whispers something to him. “But we’re going to leave soon, catch a ride or something.”
“Do you want me to call an Uber?” Kristen asks. Vincent glances from her to me and back to her. I look at Maurice. He’s already looking at me, but I can barely make out his face in the dark.
“We’re just going to head home, have aboy’s night,” he says. “I’ll text you.”
The way he says “boy’s night” hits my ears wrong. He’s making a point.