40 minutes after Katie had left her, Hazel assumed her friend was alone with Wesley Lachance. It had been a smidge longer since Wesley had disappeared from the party's public sphere. And seeing how the rest of the 

party

was still out here, Hazel thought it was less likely that Katie and Wes had began a secondary party where the stoners were hitting a bong together, and more likely that Katie and Wes were hooking up.

She was so sure of this, and the surer she became the more uneasy she felt. Now she could go home she kept telling herself. There was no need for her to be here anymore. But still she felt chained to the party. Obligated to stay a little while longer until it was certain that Katie was not in trouble or anything.

This is what she disliked most about being invited to parties like this. It came with a long list of things that needed tending, and this list could never be completely checked off. Many of the items on it were mutually exclusive from the other items, and sometime in the middle of the night there would come a time when enough things had been wrapped up that it would be morally reasonable for her to leave. But there was never a definitive time when such a moment was obvious. Instead it was a constant game of reading the room. Reading the people. She wasn't talking to anyone but she had the best read on who was where and doing what.

Although in this case she hoped that she was wrong about Katie and Wes. For a moment she imagined them kissing and his hands touching her all over slowly and progressively. But then after a moment she pictured them in a hallway, the light overhead. Katie leaning backwards against the wall behind her, Wesley Lachance standing straight with his arms crossed. In this picture the two were talking about how they should hang out more. They kept repeating this in different phrasings, but it was essentially the same message over and over.

"What are you smiling about?" 

She was brought back to the party. Her feet back in the water of the pool. It was Danny Bender.

"Me?"

"Yeah you were smiling. A soft smile. You having a good time?"