What do you think of my excerpt?

This is an excerpt from the story I'm working on. I'd really appreciate any comments you have, particularly relating to dialogue.





I closed my eyes and tilted my head towards the burning sun.





“Nice party.”





“Sorry?” I asked, sitting up and removing my sunglasses.





“Alexis throws the best ones, don’t you agree?”





“Sure.” I responded casually, not sure how to react to the girl sitting beside me. She was hunched over, and I could barely see her face. A quick scan of her other features, though—long, wavy, dirty-blonde hair, white and navy junior varsity volleyball sweatshirt, old silver locket—gave me a name. Haley.





“I wouldn’t know,” she continued. “I don’t get to go to these parties. I’m only here ‘cause she feels bad about Chelsea.”





I nodded, choosing my words carefully. “You were close?”





“Yeah. Me and Chelsea and Morgan. I was supposed to be there that night, you know. But I’d snuck out the night before and my parents insisted on a family movie night to make sure I didn’t leave. And now they’re dead, and I’m not. I can’t stand them.”





I couldn’t tell whether them was referring to her friends or her parents, but I wasn’t about to ask.





Haley scuffed the toes of her sneakers against the concrete, staring at the black marks they left. I took a long gulp of fake-margarita in the silence, the syrup tasteless on my tongue but the ice freezing my head.





“You don’t want to hear about all of this, do you?” Haley said, so quietly I nearly missed it. “Sorry.”





“No, no,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Don’t worry about it.”





“It’s just, I don’t know, I feel like… maybe if I’d been there, they wouldn’t be dead, you know? Which is stupid.”





I thanked the universe for giving me the only situation I didn’t know how to talk my way out of. I could wrangle invites to any party under the sun, I could charm teachers into raising my grades, I could convince cops to not give me tickets. But comforting someone after her friends died? I was at a loss.





Still, I could use the practice.





“I’m so sorry, Haley,” I said carefully, wincing at the clichés pouring from my mouth. “I can’t even imagine.”





“And now I have to sit here and pretend like everything’s wonderful,” she continued, as though she hadn’t heard a word I’d said. “And they’re all staring at me. I know they are. I know what they think.”





“Haley.”





“Don’t pretend you don’t know. The things they say about me… they think I killed them. I know they do.”





I didn't answer. Instead, I let the conversation flounder while I carefully went through the conversational flowchart in my head. Three choices: Let her talk; find an excuse to leave; or change the subject.





None of them sounded particularly good, but maybe a change in venue would help. I glanced up, catching Oliver's eye, and jerked my head slightly in the direction of my parked car. He nodded.





“Haley, why don’t we get out of here?” I offered. “I know Oliver’s getting bored of this party. We can go for ice cream.”





“Alexis won’t mind?”





I shrugged. “Oliver’s telling her some excuse now. She probably won’t buy it, but it’s not like she can protest. It’s not a big deal, Haley.”





She nodded slowly. “All right then. I’ll call my sister, let her know she doesn’t need to pick me up.”What do you think of my excerpt?
Very, very good, the dialogues are really very beautiful...