Page 30 of Relapse

She keeps staring though, eyes flicking over my face like she’s trying to piece something together.

Then she tilts her head slowly.

“So,” she says carefully. “You’re Blair.”

That—

That gets my attention.

I straighten slightly. “How do you know that?”

“Because Brynne talked about you constantly.”

The words hit somewhere deep and ugly in my chest.

Not painful exactly, but worse.

The girl notices the shift in my expression immediately and softens slightly.

“I’m Mina,” she says, offering her hand. “I knew your sister. We were friends.”

Knew.

That past tense still stings.

That familiar ache cracks through my high for a second, sharp enough to make me look away toward the ocean before I can react too visibly.

Something shifts in Mina’s expression for half a second after that.

Not pity, but recognition.

Like she knows exactly what kind of sadness I’m trying to outrun by being here.

But instead of letting the conversation sink any deeper into grief and ghosts and all the shit neither of us came here to drown in, she suddenly claps her hands once and points toward the massive stage lighting up down the shoreline.

“Nope,” she announces decisively. “Absolutely not. Brynne would haunt both of us for standing around looking emotionally constipated at a rave.”

That snorts a laugh out of me before I can stop it.

“Seriously,” Mina continues, already hooking her arm through mine and dragging me forward through the crowd. “That girl believed in two things passionately. Making bad decisions and pretending feelings don’t exist.”

“Relatable honestly.”

“Exactly. So.” She points toward the VIP tents dramatically. “We’re getting drinks, finding shade before I literally combust, and then you’re gonna let some hot guy ruin your life for at least thirty minutes.”

I grin while she pulls me deeper into the chaos.

“You always adopt emotionally unstable girls at festivals?”

“Only hot ones.”

“Valid.”

And just like that—

Something clicks.

Fast.