Chapter 28
The moment Danika noticed Cooper was missing, she also knew Chat and Augie would be gone. That feeling was back again—the
same one from the start of summer: a deep, blooming dread.
Danika had been tracking the two of them all night. She’d watched Augie work, watched Chat sift through the party—but she’d
eventually lost track of them. She was too disoriented and drunk. Now, she set her cocktail down and stood up from her table,
thinking only of Cooper. She spun in a circle, the decorations and fake animals and lights blurring around her.
She tried to be rational. She asked Bill if he’d seen him. She asked the Birches. She asked the Schmidts and Andersons and
Harrisons.
“I saw Chat.” Holly stepped forward. “He was talking to that girl.”
Holly raised her eyebrows, and Danika knew then that despite never telling Holly about Chat and Augie, Holly sensed what was
going on. Probably, she knew Danika better than she thought. Danika felt suddenly grateful for her.
“Come on,” Holly said. “We’ll find him. We’ll find Cooper.”
Danika looked out to the Club, the pool.
She screamed his name.