Page 98 of Saint Céline
“Céline!” Camila called from near the staircase, already flushed with champagne. “You made it.”
“Obviously,” I said, kissing both her cheeks.
Her gaze moved to Katherine after the required pause.
“Katherine, hi. Congratulations.”
“Same to you,” Katherine replied shyly.
Inside, the house glittered with graduation decorations. Gold balloons, white flowers, trays of champagne, music floating through rooms full of girls in silk dresses and boys wearing jackets they had already abandoned over chair backs. Everyone looked too beautiful and too young and too convinced the world was waiting for them.
I felt dizzy with it. Not the alcohol. Bellamont Academy was over. Bellamont University waited. Céline had not been exposed. My future stretched ahead of me, improbable and shining, built on Katherine’s help, my mother’s silence, and my own ability to become wanted wherever I stood.
For one night, I wanted to enjoy it.
Katherine held a glass of champagne that she barely drank and stood near my shoulder while Camila and Lila dragged us into the main room.
That was where I saw Thad Rodriguez for the first time.
He was leaning against the archway to the terrace, laughing at something one of the boys had said. He looked older than the rest of us, though later I learned he was only twenty-one, home from university for the summer and far too aware of how much younger we found him. Dark hair, warm brown skin, white shirt open at the collar, watch glinting at his wrist. A typical finance major at Bellamont University.
Camila followed my gaze and grinned.
“My brother,” she said. “Thad. Try not to encourage him. He’s insufferable.”
Katherine looked over. Her posture softened first. Then her mouth parted slightly, as if she had forgotten what she meant to say. Colour rose faintly across her cheeks, and she looked down into her champagne too quickly.
I stared at her.
“Katherine.”
“What?”
“Oh.” I smiled slowly.
“No.”
“Oh my God.”
“No,” she said again, more sharply this time, but her face betrayed her completely.
“You like him.”
“I don’t know him.”
“That has never stopped anyone.”
“I don’t like him.”
“You looked at him like he was a peer-reviewed article with cheekbones.”
She kicked my ankle lightly, but she was smiling despite herself.
It was rare to see Katherine want something so plainly. But Thad had caught her off guard, and for once, she looked like any other girl at a party noticing a handsome older boy across the room. It made me happy for her, at least at first.
Lila waved Thad over before either of us could retreat.
He crossed the room with lazy confidence. His eyes moved over Katherine politely, then stopped on me.
