I watch Alex chase a group of girls with the chain saw. He almost trips but catches himself. Across the room I can hear Leonid’s guffaw. It echoes throughout the gym.I bite a piece of candy off my candy bracelet. In an hour and a half it’ll all be over. I wasn’t going to go to the haunted maze because I didn’t want to see Rennie, but now I think I will go. I have as much right to be there as she does. They’re my friends too. Look how Leonid and Alex showed up for me tonight. They’re not in her pocket as much as she thinks.I don’t think I ever understood the power of a Halloween costume before tonight. Probably because I never had a very good one.When I was a kid, my mom made my costumes herself. Other kids would buy theirs at the drugstore, the kind that came with a mask and a plastic suit to put on over your clothes. Those kids would run around, breaking sticks as Superman or shooting pretend webs out of their wrists like SpiderMan.Mom wouldn’t allow it. “There’s no creativity in

You’re such a good guy,” I say, nodding. I glance over at Leonid. He’s struggling to his feet, balancing on one crutch. Rennie says to him, “Where are you going?”His face is red. “Home. This sucks.”Rennie makes a pouty face, but he isn’t even looking at her. He’s already leaving, swinging away on his crutches. “Leonid, just stay a little longer,” she pleads. “I’ll drive you home in a bit.”I call out, “Byeeee! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” and then laugh hysterically.He ignores me and lurches off into the night. As soon as he’s gone, Rennie comes over and gets in my face. She hisses, “Are you serious right now?”Before I can say yes, I am totally 1,000 percent serious right now, Alex says, “Dude, she’s drunk. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”“I do too!” I say, poking him in the chest.Rennie’s face is flushed as she says, “I don’t care if she’s drunk. She’s being a bitch.”“Takes one to know one,” I mutter.Rennie blinks. “Excuse me?”I sit up straight. “You baile

Beth had auburn hair; it was long enough to put in a ponytail, but barely. She had on a ton of eyeliner and no lipstick, and a big black T-shirt with slashed arms that she wore as a dress. She looked like she was twenty-two even though she was probably only eighteen. “Look at those little hoochies in the making,” she cracked, lighting up a cigarette. Her voice was low and husky.Patrick snorted, and I lowered my eyes. Through my lashes I sneaked a peek at her. She had her legs stretched out on the coffee table even though she still had shoes on. “Let’s go upstairs,” I whispered, but Selena ignored me.“Us?” Selena said. “Look at you. Where are your pants? In the back of somebody’s truck?”Beth guffawed with hoarse laughter and took a drag of her cigarette. She looked sexy when she did it, like she was in a movie.“Excuse me, but you’re not allowed to smoke in the house,” Rennie said, her hands on her hips.Patrick tapped a cigarette out of Beth’s box. “Go play outside, little girls. W

I say, “Leonid, you were wasted at the dance!”His eyes narrow. “No, I wasn’t. They did a drug test on me on the hospital. It came up positive for MDMA.Oh. My. God. “I don’t even know what MDMA is!” I cry.“It’s ecstasy. And you know that because you’re the one who put it in my drink.”“You were drunk by the time you got to Ash’s house. I saw you guys drinking out of a flask, you were drinking in the limo, you were drinking at the dance! How can you be so sure that the punch I supposedly gave you had that MD whatever in it? Because I know so many drug dealers!”At this, Leonid finally releases my arm, and I massage it even though it doesn’t hurt. I can see marks from where his fingers were. “I’m telling you, it wasn’t me.” He’s confused, he’s still angry, but I can see that he wants to believe me.Leonid’s mouth gets hard; his eyes narrow. He spits out, “Those guys you met on the beach were drug dealers! Rennie took me to their house so I could score weed for our fishing trip.”My wh

Alex turns to me with a big grin on his face “You want to go for a walk or something? I’m not tired.”“Now?” It’s after midnight, and I’m basically in my sleeping clothes. “But we’ve got school tomorrow.” Plus, my feet kind of hurt from all the walking we did today. I’ve got two blisters coming, one on each pinkie toe. I didn’t want to wear heels, but Mom insisted because I was going to an interview. And when we were strolling around Wellesley’s campus, she leaned in and whispered, “Never, ever, ever, Sophia,” and pointed to a group of girls who were walking to class in PJ bottoms and slippers. I rolled my eyes, because yeah, right, like I would ever.“Come on, Sophia. Let’s have an adventure without any chaperones.” He groans. “This was supposed to be a trip about our futures, but I haven’t felt more like a little kid in a long time.”I laugh. I know what he means. Both our moms were completely on top of us today. They asked, like, double the questions Alex and I did on the college t