Eddie

A QUEUE IS FORMING AGAIN behind the cider bar; the guests wanting their next hit after the first music set. I can't hand the glasses out quickly enough.

"Eddie!" I hear a voice whisper. I must be imagining it because there's no one near me or behind me when I turn around. "Eddie! Down here, you twat!"

I glance down and nearly jump out of my skin. A silver face glows up at me out of the darkness from beneath the tablecloth and then a pair of silvery arms are reaching for me.

"Lila?" I stare. "What are you doing down there?"

"I..." She glances around like she's checking for someone or something, her eyes wide and kind of wild. "Come down here," she gestures.

I just have time to look around, checking Ruby's preoccupied with the cider orders, before she reaches out and yanks me down under the table with her. I'd forgotten how strong she is; she once nearly beat me in an arm wrestle. Here in the warm darkness I get a sweet, heavy hit of Chance by Chanel (I used to buy it for her birthday) and strawberry vape.

"What is it, Lila?" I ask. "What's going on? Your set, by the way—I didn't know you could sing like that. It was amazing! You're—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know I am," she says, cutting me off. "But we can talk about that later, OK? I'm down here because I'm hiding from Nate."

"Why?"

"I—I'm worried, Eddie."

This gets my attention. There's not much that worries Delilah. I have a horrible thought. "Did he... do something to you?"

"Nah, nothing like that. He's been talking about some sort of... plan. I thought at first it was just us gatecrashing this evening, you know? Turning up onstage like that. But I think there's more to it. He's—he's so angry, Eds. Underneath it all. Everything with his dad. And now he's disappeared. I think he's got something else going on tonight. And I don't want to be part of it, Eds. I just don't want to be part of anything illegal, yeah? This singing thing, you said it yourself. I'm amazing, right? I'm fucking amazing. I could be major. I could be the next Dua."

I almost smile at this; it's so totally Lila.

"I'm not just saying that, Eds: a guy gave me his card, told me to give him a call Monday. This could be it. My moment. And I don't want anything to mess that up. You heard about the thing with the stones yesterday: the swimming pool?"

"Yeah."

"That was his idea. We were just going to chuck some seaweed, you know. Kind of gross but harmless. Just a warning to that witch. But he was the one that picked up the first stone. He always goes too far..."

I hear a voice above us. "Eddie? Eddie—for God's sake, where's he gone?"

"Shit," I say, "that's Michelle—my boss. I have to go, Lila." I try to slide back, away from her, but she's grasping my wrist.

"Seriously Eds," she hisses. "Just keep an eye out for him, yeah?"

"Er... OK."

Small problem: I have no idea where Nathan Tate has gone. But I remember him in the woods. On the beach the other night. The gleam in his eye as he said, "You know what I reckon? It's time someone turned the tables." I think of the real anger that flashes under all his swagger and stupid T-shirts, like a switchblade hidden in a party cracker. How he always seems on the edge. Ready to cross the line. What if this is the time he finally does? How far would he go?