Influenced by Eva Robinson (best free ebook reader TXT) 📗

lying flat on her back in the grass. Where was she? And where was Nora?

Her damp dress chilled her skin. Nausea swirled in her stomach, and she rolled over onto her side, trying not to be sick. The wet grass tickled her cheek, and she had the sensation of ants crawling over her.

She didn’t remembered drinking that much. She rolled over onto her hands and knees, shivering.

If she was lying here on the grass, still drunk… where was Nora? It took her a few moments to remember that she was safe, with Luke.

Hannah turned her head, looking down toward the pond. As her vision began to slowly clear, she saw three figures standing in the distance, bodies silvered in the moonlight.

She was still at Stella’s house, wasn’t she?

When she stared long enough, she could just about make out who they were—Rowan, Daniel, and Stella. They stood in a huddle between her and the pond.

A sense of embarrassment electrified her. She’d passed out completely in the grass—like a college freshman with self-esteem problems—and they’d left her lying there. Why had no one taken care of her? Moved her inside, or at least covered her with a blanket? At least Daniel could have helped her out.

Her vision focused a little more, and she started to get her bearings. By her foot, a chair had tipped over, and she wondered if she’d simply tumbled over out of the chair and onto the grass, and they’d left her there. How funny that must have been for everyone. To her left, the table of food and punch loomed over her; she’d been sleeping in its shadow.

She sat up, but her head was swimming so badly that she thought she’d vomit if she pushed it too much. Her mind was screaming again—that high-pitched noise like someone was shrieking in her skull.

She wasn’t sure she could face the embarrassment of this situation. She wondered if she could just sort of sneak out and call an Uber home, and hope they’d forget all about it.

The others were too far away for her to hear. She imagined they were talking about her, what a complete mess she was.

From her spot on the ground, she tried to listen in on what they were saying. Stella’s voice rose, and Hannah heard something about her brownies.

Hot shame spilled through her. They were talking about her. She’d brought brownies like it was a kids’ party, then she’d passed out like a sad, drunk mom. Her blood was pounding hard, and that high-pitched noise was drilling into her skull.

The air smelled faintly of vomit. Had she thrown up somewhere?

A chill rippled over her skin, but the world still seemed so uneven that she couldn’t put anything together.

“I told you we should have called nine-one-one,” said Daniel, his voice rising.

She leaned forward on her hands, working up the strength to stand. She needed to stop them before they really did call an ambulance, and she spent the rest of the night having her stomach pumped. What exactly had she drunk? She remembered the punch, but she always stopped before she got too trashed. She hated being drunk.

Her mouth felt dry, with a sour taste. “I’m fine,” she said. But her voice was so quiet that she didn’t think anyone noticed.

“Well, once we started moving the body, we couldn’t go back,” Stella shouted.

“I know, but I told you from the start this was wrong. Now it looks like we’ve done something terrible.”

Hannah had no clue what they were talking about.

“It’s Hannah’s fault,” said Stella, her voice hysterical. “It was Hannah. Where is she?”

Panic flared in Hannah’s chest. What was she being accused of? She was sure she’d missed several hours.

“Calm down, both of you,” Rowan snapped. “You’re far too loud. I can’t take this anymore. I can’t take any more heat. People already think the worst of me, and I’m going to lose my mind. Can you just be quiet?”

Hannah swallowed hard, fighting the urge to throw up all over the grass. Panic throbbed in her mind, and she rose, slowly, wavering.

Their voices had gone quiet again, and she wanted to hear what they were saying. Swaying, she started to move closer, hoping they wouldn’t notice. She wanted to keep eavesdropping. She walked quietly, barefoot in the grass, trying to listen in.

“This is a nightmare,” said Daniel.

“We’ve all had too much to drink,” said Rowan. “Obviously. Or none of this would have happened. But there’s nothing we can do now, is there?”

Hannah felt as if she were hearing this from a distance, from the other end of a tunnel. She only understood she was being blamed for something, and that she felt like she’d been run over by a train.

Whatever had happened seemed far worse than the embarrassment of passing out under a table.

“It’s done now,” said Stella. “We’ll have to live with it.”

Hannah realized that Stella was slurring her words, too.

Her foot crunched on a stick, and Rowan whirled, hand to her chest. “Hannah? What are you doing lurking there in the shadows? You scared the crap out of me.”

“What’s happening?” Hannah slurred.

“We didn’t know where you were!” Rowan’s voice sounded sharp, accusatory.

“I never get this drunk,” said Hannah.

Rowan stared at her, strangely still. The night sky was just starting to fade to a pale blue—dawn already. Hannah could see that mud covered half of Rowan’s body. “But where were you?” Rowan asked.

“I was… there.” Hannah pointed back to the table. “I guess I feel asleep. But what were you talking about?”

“What do you mean?” asked Rowan.

“You said something about a body. And something being my fault.”

A heavy silence fell over the group, and Daniel dropped down to the ground, sitting cross-legged. He dropped his head into his hands. “Nothing is your fault. What happened is we just made a terrible mistake.”

Hannah’s pulse echoed in her own skull. “But what was the mistake?”

Rowan cheeks glistened. “Look, we woke up, and Peter was… Well he was cold, and—”

“He was dead,” said Daniel, looking stunned. “Completely.”

Hannah felt