and used the facilities, cringing at the stinging sensation. After washing my hands, I opened up a couple of cabinets until I found a pile of washcloths, which were thankfully a dark purple. That color would hide anything. I used one to clean myself and then dampened a second one to take with me to the bedroom.
The stain on the quilt didn’t come out completely, but it wasn’t quite as noticeable when I was finished. Taking both washcloths back to the bathroom, I opened the laundry hamper there and buried the evidence deep within other towels and clothes.
Eli still wasn’t back by the time I’d finished all of this, and I was beginning to suspect he didn’t intend to come upstairs again. Or maybe he was trying to be considerate of me, giving me space to clean up and dress. Now that I had, there really wasn’t anything to do but to return to the party and hope I could find him. Hooking the straps of my heels over my fingers, I padded softly down the steps.
As luck would have it, Hannah was standing by the newel post. She glanced up at me with a mix of exasperation and relief.
“Oh, Zelda, there you are. I’ve been looking all over.” She grabbed my arm. “Becca disappeared an hour ago with some guy she just met. Can you believe that? I was talking to someone, but then he had to leave, and I couldn’t find her, and I couldn’t find you . . .” Her voice trailed off as she frowned at me. “Where were you, anyway? Why were you upstairs?” My cousin seemed to register my wrinkled dress and bare feet finally.
I thought fast and came up with a plausible story. “I wasn’t feeling great, and it was so loud down here.” I lifted up my shoes. “My feet hurt me, and I didn’t have anyone to talk to. I looked around, and you and Becca had disappeared. So someone told me that I could go lie down upstairs in the guest bedroom. I fell asleep, I guess.”
“Oh, Zelly.” Hannah slung an arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone. Becca and I went out to sit by the fire in the backyard, that’s all. I would’ve told you, but it looked like you were talking to someone.” She cocked her head, curiosity in her eyes, and I wondered if she could tell that there was something different about me.
“Just for a minute. That was the quarterback of the football team, and I was congratulating him on the win.” I shrugged. “No big deal.”
Even as I made that claim, I was surreptitiously glancing around, looking for Eli. He wasn’t in the living room. I wondered if he might be in the kitchen.
“It’s super late.” Hannah yawned. “And you and I have to drive back home tomorrow. I’m ready to go back to Becca’s house and get some sleep. Let’s find her and drag her out.”
“You go.” I gestured with my head. “I’ll wait here.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Hannah grabbed my arm and dragged me with her as she headed for the kitchen. “I’m not going to take a chance on losing you again before I find Becca. Come on.”
With a sigh, I let my cousin lead me through the kitchen, where there was still a fairly sizable crowd, standing around the table and downing drinks. I didn’t see Eli, though, and Becca wasn’t there, either.
“Maybe she’s outside.” Hannah and I stepped out the back door onto an expansive deck. The wood was cold on my bare feet, and I hissed a little, lifting first one foot and then the other. I followed Hannah to stand at the railing, from which point we could see the bonfire and the people standing and sitting around it.
It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but once they did, I spotted Becca talking with a boy on the far side of the firepit.
“There she is.” I pointed. “See? Standing between the two groups of chairs?”
“Yes.” Hannah let out a long breath. “Listen, you stay right here. You don’t want to walk across the grass in the dark without your shoes. But don’t move. I’m going to grab Becca and then we’ll come back and get you. Got it?”
I gave her a mock salute. “Aye, aye, captain.”
Rolling her eyes, Hannah began to march toward the fire. I followed her progress, and as she passed one chair, the