I’m sure at this point people are looking at us. We’re causing a scene. But I don’t care anymore. I’m thinking about Natalie and Luke’s texts. The eggplant emoji plus wolf emoji. One of the princes in Into the Woods doubles as the wolf. Natalie was hooking up with Ben. That’s what it meant.

“Shut the fuck up, Luke,” Ben interjects. “Cecelia, please…”

I can’t even look at him, though I feel his eyes all over me. Searing betrayal pierces my heart, turning every inch of my skin hot. And wait—

“I wasn’t picking apart your love life,” I say to Luke. Unless…“You really were in a halftime hookup? With who? Why lie that you were with Morgan?”

“This has gone far enough,” Gabriel says, finally speaking, as he darts a look of worry my way that sends a fresh wave of rage through me. How dare he pity me.

“Are you saying that so I won’t ask you about your alibi, Gabe? Or were you with Luke and that’s why you’re defending him?”

“No fucking way,” Luke explodes, while the frown on Gabriel’s face deepens.

“You’re jumping to wild conclusions,” Gabriel says. “And we’re at a wake,” he manages through gritted teeth.

I can’t take it anymore. I won’t be placated like a stupid child by yet another person who’s lying to me. Someone I trusted. I drop the final bomb. “Morgan was hooking up with Natalie’s dad! They were together during halftime when she was murdered. That’s not a wild conclusion. That’s facts.”

I was right about calling attention to ourselves. Mayor Bergen, Dr. Shelby, and my grandmother appear. The mayor launches into stern-adult mode, someone used to taking charge.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“I don’t know, sir,” I say. “Maybe you should talk to your underage girlfriend about it. Was Natalie blackmailing you, like she was all of Dr. Shelby’s patients?”

On cue, Morgan starts hysterically crying. Everyone else spits curses, some more heated than others. Anyone who ever had a session with Dr. Shelby is shitting bricks. Some more than others—Amber clearly didn’t know, and Bronte can’t hide her guilt.

I pause. My adrenaline has faded enough to finally notice the entire room. The whole town, it seems, has exploded into a million side conversations, and I realize it is all my fault. Some truths needed to be called out, but I look from Amber to Bronte to Natalie, the coffin at the side of the room, and I realize I’m adding to their hurt.

And in front of me, poor Dr. Shelby is in shock. “What are you talking about?” she says.

I genuinely don’t know which bombshell she means, so I go with the easier one.