“Nat, take that cake to the side room for Claire.”

Backstage at the graduation showcase, Owen pushed a three-tier fondant cake toward me.

“What’s this?”

“Claire’s graduation surprise. The three of us chipped in. I covered your share, so just send it to me later.”

I stared at the words written across the cake in frosting: “CONGRATS, CLAIRE!”

“When did you order it?”

“Last week. We talked about it in the group chat. Didn’t you see?”

I opened the chat and scrolled back.

Thursday night at eleven.

Owen had posted a link to the cake designs.

Caleb said the second one looked best.

Mason replied with an OK emoji.

Claire wasn’t in that chat. They had another one without me.

At eleven that same night, I had sent a message: “Does anyone want to pick up our graduation packets together tomorrow?”

Owen’s cake link came immediately after it.

They had skipped right over my message.

No one answered me. No one tagged me to ask if I wanted to contribute. No one asked for my opinion.

“How much?”

“Your share is sixty dollars.”

Sixty dollars.

My graduation surprise was a puzzle that didn’t include me.

Claire’s was a two-hundred-and-forty-dollar fondant cake.

“Sent.”

I opened Venmo and transferred the money.

Owen accepted it and patted my shoulder.

“Take the cake to the side room. Claire will come down that way after her performance.”

“Why am I carrying it?”

“You’re closest to that hall. I still have to fix the lighting.”

“Where’s Caleb?”

“He went to meet Claire’s parents. They’re coming tonight too.”

“Mason?”

“He’s helping Claire rehearse her lines.”

The three of them each had a job, and every job revolved around Claire.

My job was carrying the cake.

“Fine. I’ll take it.”

The lights were off in the side hall.

I carried the three-tier cake alone down a long corridor.

It was heavy. My wrists trembled.

As I passed the restroom, I heard Claire’s voice through the door.

I stopped.

“…Mason slipped me something a minute ago. Guess what it was?”

Another girl asked, “What?”

“A silver bracelet. It has a tiny star engraved on it.”

“Wow. Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”

“He said it was a graduation gift. He got something for everyone.”

“Did he get one for Natalie Bennett?”

There was a second of silence.

Claire laughed softly.

“He probably did. They’ve been together for three years.”

“Why did you say it like that?”

“Like what?”

“I’m telling you, the vibe between you and Mason is seriously flirty. Last time I saw you two alone in the studio, the way he held your easel for you…”

“Don’t say that!” Claire lowered her voice, laughter woven through it. “He has a girlfriend.”

“So? He has a girlfriend and still got a star engraved for you.”

They dissolved into laughter.

I stood in the corridor holding the cake, my knuckles white.

Mason had bought Claire a bracelet engraved with a star.

What about me?

I thought for a long time.

I couldn’t remember the last thing he’d given me.

On my birthday the previous month, he’d sent one text. “Happy birthday. Things are crazy right now. I’ll make it up to you.”

Later.

He still hadn’t made it up to me.

I left the cake on a table in the side room and returned backstage.

Mason was leaning against the wall, looking at his phone.

“Did you buy Claire a bracelet?”

He looked up.

“Who told you?”

“I just heard about it.”

“It’s a graduation gift. I got something for everyone.”

“Where’s mine?”

He smacked a hand against his forehead.

“I haven’t had time to buy yours yet. There’s been too much going on.”

“You had time to get hers, but not mine?”

“I happened to see hers online, so I ordered it early.”

“You engraved a star on it.”

His expression shifted.

“It was just a design. I picked it at random.”

“A random design still had to be customized. Customization takes time, which means you planned it well in advance.”

“Natalie Bennett, can you stop twisting everything into something it isn’t?”

My full name again.

“Mason, this is our graduation showcase. Could you look at me just once? Since we got here, you’ve helped Claire rehearse, adjusted her microphone, and followed her everywhere. How many times have you even looked at me?”

“You don’t need my help.”

I had heard that sentence for three years.

I didn’t need anything.

Claire did.

Claire always did.

“Fine. I don’t need you.”

The showcase began.

I sat in the third row.

The four of them were in the first row, their profiles bright beneath the stage lights.

When Claire went onstage to sing, Mason held up his phone and recorded her.

Caleb helped angle a light toward her.

Owen stood in the wings, ready to hand her water.

The three of them were satellites orbiting the same sun.

Claire finished the final note and bowed.

The room erupted in applause.

Mason was the first person on his feet.

I clapped too.

Then the lights went down, the side door opened, and the cake rolled out.

The same cake I had carried in.

When the candles lit up, Claire covered her mouth, her eyes filling with tears.

“Oh my God… When did you guys do this?”

Owen grinned. “Guess whose idea it was.”

Claire looked around.

“Mason’s?”

Mason shook his head and pointed at Owen.

“Owen planned it. Caleb and I just helped.”

Claire threw herself into Owen’s arms.

“Owen! You’re the best!”

Caleb laughed beside them. “I went to three bakeries before I found someone who could make that cake. Don’t I get a thank-you?”

“Thank you, Caleb!”

She hugged them one after another.

Owen. Caleb. Mason.

Then she turned toward me.

“Nat helped too, right?”

“She carried the cake in,” Owen said. “You should thank her.”

Carried the cake.

Owen had planned it. Caleb had done the running around. Mason had helped.

My contribution was carrying the cake.

Claire walked over and gave me a quick hug.

“Thanks, Nat.”

Her arms barely touched me before she let go.

When she hugged Owen, she had practically hung off him.

When she hugged me, she treated me like porcelain, afraid I might break.

No.

Afraid I might stain her.

After the showcase, the night wind swept through the corridor.

I walked alone at the back.

The four of them moved side by side ahead of me, Claire’s arm linked through Owen’s, with Mason and Caleb on either side.

They were laughing and talking. The wind blurred their words.

I was about sixteen feet behind them.

Sixteen feet.

Not far. Not close.

Exactly the right distance for someone to be forgotten.

My phone vibrated.

It was a message from the airline.

“Your June 18 flight from San Francisco to Zurich has been ticketed. Please arrive at SFO three hours before departure.”

June 18.

The day after tomorrow.

I put my phone back in my pocket. I didn’t hurry to catch up.

I didn’t turn around either.

“Nat, are you free tomorrow? I want to pick up a few things at the mall.”

Claire sent the voice note the next morning.

Tomorrow.

June 18.

My flight.

“I can’t tomorrow.”

“What about the day after?”

“I can’t then either.”

“When are you free?”

“I’m not s

Seventeen missed calls from Mason.

Nine voice notes from Owen.

A text from Caleb: “Natalie Bennett, where are you?”

A message from Claire: “Nat? Your room is empty. Where did you go??”

There was also a message from Owen in the group chat.

“Nat is missi