“What? No.” Julia waves her hand in dismissal. “Who gives a damn about another dinner? You’ll sit there and smile, and your father will be happy.”

I can only hope it’ll be that simple.

“Listen, I have something really, really fun in mind. You’re going to loooove it!” Julia all but squeals in excitement.

“What are you talking about?”

“I finally got the invites for this super special club. There’s a huge waitlist and everything. I only got it because I’m friends with the guy who—”

“What club? Is it here?”

“No. While you were f—”

I clamp my hand over her mouth. “Shh! Are you out of your mind?”

If someone overhears us, I’m dead.

We both are.

I slowly pull my hand back.

“Sorry.” Julia gives me a sheepish smile. “I’m just over the moon because of this. While you were, you know, I met a guy who works at Purple Pleasure. It’s actually only a few blocks away from that club. Anyway, he liked me, and he got us some invites!”

“Us? Um, I don’t think I should go anywhere anytime soon. We got lucky, but there are so many guards and—”

“Screw them. We’ll find a way. You know I’m good at that. But... now that you’re no longer a... you know...” She grins. “And you know you like it. You can find another hot guy to have fun with.”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, come on. I know you want to.”

“I do. That’s not the problem, but my parents will keep a close eye on me because of the dinner.”

“I’ll take care of everything.” Julia gives me a confident smile. “Trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you or get you in trouble. Your parents will be busy preparing everything for that special dinner, and as soon as your father goes away somewhere, we can go. The invites don’t have a date or anything, and the club is open every night.”

I want to sayyes. Hell, I want to screamyes.

And yet, it’s impossible not to worry. There are so many things that can go wrong, and just because we pulled it off before doesn’t mean we will be successful every time. And if we get caught, I don’t even want to think about the consequences. But...

“Okay,” I say.

Julia claps her hands and then wraps her arms tightly around me. “You’re going to love it!”

“Yeah, you already said that. What kind of club is it exactly?”

“A very fun kind,” she whispers.

“If you find out anything about that dinner, you need to tell me.”

“Yeah, fine. I will. But, oh my god, we’re going to have so much fun!”

I don’t think she understands just how important my father’s dinner could be. He’s up to something, and I don’t know what it is. It’s unlikely I’m going to find out.

But if he strikes a special kind of alliance, or if he goes into politics—I overheard him talking about it once—it could change our whole lives.

My life could end up under even more scrutiny. It doesn’t seem like it can get worse than this, but I’m sure it can. Now no one really knows about me, but if my father wants it, everyone will find out, and then everyone will be watching me.

How am I going to sneak out anywhere if some random person can recognize me and post about it on social media?