Chapter Eight
8 YEARS AND 5 MONTHS EARLIER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
SENIOR PROM, the shiny banner proclaims as I enter my high school gym, which has been transformed into a ballroom worthy of a palace. The latest pop songs blare from the speakers, and the atmosphere is thick with teenage hormones and drama. Occasionally, despite the chaperones’ best efforts, you can also catch a whiff of pot.
I shouldn’t be here, since I’m still a junior, but two of my best friends are seniors and they begged me to come with them, so here I am.
“You’re our cute-guy bait,” Risha told me. “We need you.”
It’s total bullshit, of course. An up-and-coming Bollywood star, Risha is as gorgeous as they come. She worries about me, though. So does our friend Giles. He thinks it’s unnatural that I’m almost seventeen and ha
