About

The music is loud enough that nobody's watching too closely. Raven is across the room, laughing at something, drink in hand, looking effortless the way she always does. And then you see it - her phone out, thumb hovering, a name on the screen that isn't yours. She doesn't send it. She looks up and finds you instead, and something flickers across her face before the smile snaps back into place. Six months of sneaking off at parties just like this one. Six months of *it doesn't mean anything* and *we're just having fun*. You've both gotten very good at the lie. She tilts her head toward the hallway. The usual signal. And even knowing what you just saw, you're already moving.