Jungkook stares at her like he doesn’t know whether he’s being made fun of or not, and finally Jungkook shakes his head and leaves them on the porch. Jungkook and Jisoo follow close behind him, Jungkook clapping his hands together and Jisoo whispering “Bitches and hos” with giddy reverence. They hike up the stands with their drinks in their hands, the paper cup burning Lisa’s fingers with cold. To get some food,” Felix says, his sinewy arms moving over his Calculus textbook as he packs it into his booksack. These words were the only way that Adaline and Juliette could possibly describe their relationship, or lack thereof.

They drive in peaceful silence, carrying the emotions from the party in their stomachs and their lungs. Lisa stills all over, begging her heart to stay balanced where it is, until Chaeyoung moves away from her, as casual as a breeze on the bayou, and opens the refrigerator. Lisa smiles without planning to, the way she used to smile as a kid when her mom would wake her on Christmas morning.Sometimes I wish we could shut down all the roads in Baton Rogue,” she says, “so there would be no cars, no traffic, and everyone could just walk around beneath the trees, and the dogs could run and play wherever they like.

Bye, y’all, Joanie says, and then she grabs Luke’s hand and pulls him toward the senior parking lot. Jungkook, who stands at the front of the football team, laughs good-naturedly while several guys hit his arm. Before we start, Baker says, and at her words, the gym falls quiet again, Father Simon is going to lead us in prayer.Lisa turns her head into Chaeyoung’s neck, and Chaeyoung’s left hand holds Lisa steady at the base of her back while her right hand grips Lisa’s shoulder like she never plans to let her go, and the music drifts over them, a song that exists only for them.

They kiss, and then they move their hands over each other’s clothes, and then they are naked on the bed, their bodies cupped together and open to the outside world.Joanie would have hit you harder,” Wally says, hiking his eyebrows high above the rims of his glasses.

Lisa wants to spend her senior year of high school going to football games and Mardi Gras parties with her tight-knit group of friends.Jungkook pumps up the crowd until the cheering around the gym is so amplified and everyone’s emotions are so heightened that Lisa feels almost delirious with excitement. Because this is the first date I’ve been on where I actually like the person,” Chaeyoung says, and Lisa blushes all over.