Advance Reading Copy
9 0
Fourteen
Maddie
Ivan’s already pretty drunk when I see him later at Jack’s
house. It’s Jack’s parents’ twentieth wedding anniversary,
and practically the whole town has been invited. There’s
champagne and lox and strawberries inside, and a keg out
back. Someone’s made a huge cake with two plastic people
in wedding gear standing on top, and it sits in the middle of
the dining-room table.
Kyra and Laurie and their friends are in the living room,
dancing to some hippie New Age music with lots of drums
and flutes.
“Hi, Maddie,” Kyra calls out as I weave through the
swaying crowd.
I talk to her for a bit, until Ivan comes up behind me
and says, “Hey, Maddie, there you are. Come outside with
me,” and I follow him to the back patio. Jack, River and
Noah are already in the hot tub, along with some other kids
