Lakshmi sipped through her straw. “But I’m not. You’re feeling me out, right? Trying to gauge whether you can trust my statement versus what you learned from the police?”

Caitlin nodded. Despite her age, Lakshmi didn’t miss much.

Lakshmi shook her head. “It’s hard to break down how you’re manipulating me without being offended.”

“I’ve lost several boyfriends this way.”

“Okay, if a person is comfortable in a place that caused them trauma, they either have nothing to hide or wish to appear as though they have nothing to hide.”

Caitlin smiled. “Right. Putting someone back in a location can take them back in time emotionally. Like Homecoming Week.”

“Have you been back to the place you were attacked?”

Caitlin crunched an ice cube. “It hasn’t exactly been on the way anywhere.”

“Will you?”

She raised her cup. “Let’s see if I survive the night.”

Lakshmi tapped plastic to plastic. “Thank you for manipulating me into coming back to Bear’s Place.”

“Here’s to drinking on a school night.”

“Not for me. No classes on Tuesday or Friday. Best senior schedule ever. Do your worst.”

“Fine. Say fuck buddy.”

Lakshmi laughed. “Fuck buddy.”

Her accent got thick on the back of her tongue each time she hit the k sound.

“Leeds?”

Lakshmi leaned forward, her out-of-practice smile bigger than ever. “Birmingham. You spent time in England?”

“That’s a story for another night. First, tell me how a British-Indian girl from Birmingham ended up at Indiana University. Give me the billboard for the Lakshmi bio piece you have to write for the Daily Student.”

Lakshmi scrunched her face, blushed. “Right. Lakshmi Anjale, graduate of the prestigious Hackley School, Westchester, New York, chooses Indiana University Kelley School of Business over Princeton to fulfill father’s dream of degree in statistical analysis, only to find direction, passion, and mentorship as an Ernie Pyle Scholar in the School of Journalism.”

Caitlin made eye contact with the waitress, pointed to their near-empty cups. “You only mentioned your father. Your mother doesn’t dream of stats?”

Lakshmi shrugged. “She died in a car accident in Birmingham when I was ten. My father moved us to Westchester.”

The waitress brought their second round and enough meat and potatoes for four. Once the ketchup was poured and the consumption began, Lakshmi returned the favor.

“Are your parents alive, Caitlin?”

Caitlin noticed a slight smile. How much research had the girl done?

“My father passed ten years ago. My mother wasn’t in the picture. You and I have a lot in common.”

“What a horrible thing to have in common.”

“Better than crabs.” Caitlin dipped a fry into the ketchup mound. “Tell me how you and Angela got together.”

“We met second semester freshman year. I transferred dorms and Angela invited me to a party.”

“Why change dorms?”