Page 254 of Every Almost

Crew members were giving her their two cents about her keeping this a secret in spades.

"Charlie, I never knew!"

“You hum! You hum at the console every single day, and that was not humming!”

"Damn, kid, you cansing?—"

"What else are you hiding? What else is there?"

"Sing it again. Can you sing it again? Come on, let's hear it again?—"

She was laughing, and she didn't even remember starting. Maren was hugging her from behind while Torvax announced to no one in particular that the performance had lasted three minutes and eleven seconds, and that it was sufficiently logged.

But Charlie was stuck. Genuinely and legitimately stuck, boxed in by the incredible crew of the Emberkind. Eventually, she was on her toes, trying to see over all the shoulders surrounding her.

Looking for one person.

And then she saw Reyna making her way through the crowd.

Charlie saw her start from the back wall and push to make her way forward. A crew member even tried to say something to Reyna on the way, and she went past them without hearing it. Charlie had watched this woman stop for every single person who wanted her tonight, and this one didn't reach her at all.

Reyna was six feet away from Charlie when her datapad chimed at her hip, stopping her as she reached for it.

Charlie watched her look down, watched her thumb move once across the screen.

And watched her go still.

Whatever was on the datapad, Reyna read it twice. Charlie saw her read it twice.

Then Reyna looked up and found Charlie's eyes across the crowded library, and Charlie felt dread bubble up like bile in her stomach.

Then she watched Reyna turn and go out of that library so fast that people had to move. The door shut behind her, and the party went on as though nothing had happened at all.

Charlie stood there with her voice raw and her heart still pounding.

The crowd closed over the space where she'd been.

"Now where's she going?" Tavi said, appearing at Charlie's elbow.

"I have no idea," Charlie said as she stared at the door.

Charlie felt him look up at her.

"Hey." His voice immediately dropped out of party volume, turning to Charlie. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Charlie said, but that wasn't right. "I don't know. Nothing happened."

"Charlie." Charlie couldn't look at him. "I thought it went great. Itdidgo great. I mean, I was standing right there?—"

"I don't know, Tavi."

The library was loud around them. Somebody had put the music back on. Somebody was laughing.

Charlie couldn't take her eyes off the door.

"Tavi," she said. "What if I just made a huge mistake?"

THIRTY-FOUR