“That’s…both random and terrifying.”

Suzanne’s laugh is throaty and warm. “I was joking, regardless. I’m a night owl, so it’s no big deal. I did warn your grandmother, however, that you might need boundaries. You may be almost eighteen, but she can’t treat you like an adult houseguest. For both your sake and mine, let’s say you endeavor to be home by midnight most nights, okay?”

“Then I’m early.” It’s barely past eleven.

“Precisely. Where were you that Gabriel Escano gave you a ride home? I’m surprised you weren’t with Benjamin.”

Heat creeps up my neck and into my cheeks. “It was a coincidence. We were at Luke Rinaldi’s. The girls invited me over there for a memorial thing. Kind of.”

Suzanne exhales deeply. “Good for you being the belle of the ball, but I say better not to entangle yourself with anyone in this black hole of a town. You’ll be off to college before you know it. Don’t need the dead weight.”

Hearing words my mother surely would have said has me feeling a certain way. Both empty and full at the same time.

“Next time, you call me. I’ll pick you up anytime you need. Even after midnight. Okay?”

“I will. Thanks, Suzanne.” I leave her to finish her vape, and ascend to my room as quietly as I can manage, though the thunderous snores from Maura’s room render the effort courteous but moot.

I’m exhausted, but tonight there’s no turning in early to forget. I fish Gabriel’s thumb drive from my bag and get to work, copying the massive video files over to my hard drive to reduce lag.

The file names are cryptic, a string of nonsense letters followed by time code and date. Gabriel’s already saved me stress by only transferring the time codes I need, but there’s a file for each different camera position. I click on each one to scope out what I’m looking at: ballroom main entrance, ballroom back-door exit, ballroom side exit, angled view of ballroom hallway from the lobby. Four hours of footage for each. Holy hell. I am definitely getting eyestrain. And no sleep.