Page 180 of Sins of the Hidden

Before I could say anything, Anne pulled out the chair beside her. "Of course not."

I watched her carefully—the hopeful lift of her shoulders, the way her eyes brightened. All the hurt from the previous year compressed into a single moment of renewed hope.

Anne whispered, eyes shining brighter than stars, "This might finally be it, Oak. Maybe he sees something good in me." Her smile was so hopeful, so unbearably fragile, it hurt just to look.

But I stayed silent. Anne rarely smiled anymore.

"There's this party next weekend," Karson said, leaning forward. "You two should come."

I stared at my hands. It had to be a trick. People like us didn't get invited to parties.

"Who else will be there?" I asked quietly, not looking up.

"Everyone." Karson's smile stretched wide, too perfect to be sincere. "But I really want you guys to come. For old times' sake."

I felt Anne's foot tap mine under the table. "We'll think about it," she said, already decided.

When he left, Anne turned to me, eyes shining brighter than I'd seen in months. "Oak, we have to go. This could be our chance."

"Our chance for what?" I whispered, my stomach knotting sharply, nausea clawing upward.

"To not be invisible anymore."

But we were never invisible. We were just background noise to people who only looked up to laugh at us. Anne thought she was finally being seen. And I couldn't crush her more than the world already had.

I should've known better.

I should've screamed.

I tried talking Anne out of going all week. I invented stomach aches, upcoming tests, bad weather forecasts—anything to keep us away from that party. But Anne was transformed by the invitation, suddenly talkative and almost giddy, spending hours debating what to wear.

"What if we get there and it's just another joke?" I asked the night before, voice small in the darkness of her bedroom during our sleepover. "What if no one's even there?"

"What if it's not?" she whispered back, hope trembling in every syllable. "What if this is our chance to start over? What if Karson finally sees me?"

Friday night came. Karson picked us up in his father's car, his smile too wide in the rearview mirror. Anne sat beside me in the backseat, our thighs pressed together, her fingers intertwined with mine. She wore her favorite blue sweater—the one she said made her eyes pop. I'd helped her with her makeup, carefully blending eyeshadow the way we'd practiced from YouTube tutorials.

The outskirts of Diamond Ridge were at the edge of town, where the woods grew thick and houses thinned out. As we drove deeper down the gravel road, my stomach tightened. Where were the other cars? The people? The music?

"I thought you said everyone would be here," I said, hating how small my voice sounded.

"They're meeting us at the barn," Karson answered smoothly. "It's more private there."

Anne squeezed my hand, her eyes bright with excitement. "This is going to be amazing," she whispered, leaning close. "Just like in those movies where they have secret parties in cool places."

We pulled up to an old barn, its weathered wood silver in the moonlight. "Come on, everyone's already inside," Karson said, opening Anne's door. The starstruck look in her eyes gutted me.

Anne stepped out eagerly. I followed slowly, heart hammering against my ribs. Every instinct screamed at me to run. Anne practically bounced out of the car, fixing her hair and straightening her sweater with trembling fingers. "Do Ilook okay?" she whispered to me, a smile stretching across her face. It was the happiest I'd seen her in months.

Inside the barn, three boys lounged on hay bales, passing a bottle of whiskey between them. I recognized them immediately: Jensen and Michael, the football stars who were seniors, and Tyler, the student body president known for his perfect grades and pretty boy smile.

"Where is everyone?" Anne asked. Her excited smile dimmed as she scanned the empty barn. The only light came from a single bulb hanging from a rafter, casting harsh shadows across the hay-strewn floor.

Jensen's mouth curved into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"The party," Anne said, her voice smaller now. "Karson said there would be a party."

The three boys exchanged glances, something dark passing between them. Michael snickered. Tyler took a long pull from the whiskey bottle.

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