Officer Edwards is waiting in the wings, smiling at the principal as they exchange inaudible words. What is he doing here? Inconspicuously, I duck my head, letting my hair fall forward in the hopes that it’ll conceal my identity a little.

Zoe gives me a strange look, but she doesn’t have time to question my behavior because the assembly is called to attention shortly after.

“Welcome, everyone,” Clayborn begins. “Thank you for coming. I know we haven’t had an assembly for quite some time, but the Pender Falls Police Department has a presentation for you all.”

Having to sit next to someone I now believe tried to kill me was already more than enough, but being forced to listen to Officer Edwards brings my level of discomfort up to new heights. Couldn’t they have sent anyone else?

“Without further ado, I’ll pass it over to Officer Edwards here,” he says, gesturing to the other man and stepping away from the microphone.

Hints of chatter float throughout the room as the policeman saunters up to the mic, and two girls in the row behind me whisper obnoxiously. He scans the crowd, and I dip my head in an attempt to blend into the background. But when I look up again, he’s somehow managed to spot me easily, fixating on me with a cold stare.

“Good morning,” he says pleasantly, shifting his attention to the rest of the audience again. “I wanted to talk to you about something this morning. Something important.”

A hush falls over the room. Up until now, I don’t think anyone was taking the assembly seriously. A uniformed officer speaking to a bunch of teenagers candidly about a heavier topic has a sobering effect. Even the girls behind me go silent, sitting at attention. Zoe raises an eyebrow dubiously, though underneath it, she appears to be slightly worried too.

“Now, over the years I’m sure you’ve all heard time and time again how dangerous it is to get behind the wheel after drinking.”

Apparently, he didn’t think threatening me in the bookstore was enough, he’s taken it upon himself to have a whole assembly in order to presumably guilt trip me into confessing to something I don’t even remember.

“But when you’re young, you think it will never happen to you,” he continues. “I’m here to tell you that it can. Anything can happen when you’re inebriated. People make all kinds of mistakes. Dangerous accidents don’t discriminate, nobody is invincible, though some of us get off lucky.”

His beady eyes fall on me again, making my skin crawl.

“There are severe penalties for driving under the influence, ones that will dramatically alter your life.” Officer Edwards glances at the screen behind him, and an image fades into view, blown up large, every detail visible.

My heart comes to a shuddering halt.

It’s the car.

My car.