Natalie was her best friend, and I am now the closest person to her death. I can feel Morgan closing in on me like Cling Wrap. She’ll want to hash and rehash Natalie’s final moments, or at least the moment when I found her. We don’t know how Natalie died yet. I have nothing to give her.

I’m dreading my police interview later today. They took my initial statement last night at the school, but Sheriff Morrow warned me to keep a clear schedule.

I pour a quarter pot of coffee into an oversized mug with a Pinterest affirmation emblazoned on the side:

Live, Laugh, Love

I’ll pass.

“You want eggs, baby girl?” Maura pushes a plate my way, but the over-easy eggs remind me of ochre walls, and the smell makes my stomach flip.

“No, thanks.” I butter a piece of whole wheat toast instead.

Maura does that grandmotherly concern thing, watches me astutely as I chew. “Should I call Dr. Shelby for another session? You’ve had a real shock—on top of everything you were already dealing with.”

“I mean, her daughter just died,” I say, “so, uh, I don’t know if Dr. Shelby will be seeing patients.”

Maura sucks wind through her teeth. “That’s right. And the mayor, too. I wonder if he’ll step down. The paper speculated.”

She slides a copy of the Seaview Register across the table, the headline MAYOR’S DAUGHTER DROWNED screaming from the front page. On top of the surrealness I was already battling, now there’s an actual, physical newspaper to contend with. How retro.

I skim the recitation of facts, measure them against my own murky memories, which my mind is already trying to block out.

SEAVIEW—The body of a student was discovered at Seaview High School last night, police said. The young woman, identified as Natalie Bergen, was the daughter of Mayor Bradley Bergen and prominent child psychologist Dr. Marisha Shelby.

A fellow student discovered the body at approximately 9 p.m. in the school’s main building. Bergen, 17, was on the Seaview High homecoming court and, earlier in the evening, had taken part in the procession during halftime of the face-off between the Seaview Vikings and the Bay Town Tigers. The football game was subsequently canceled. A replay date has not been set.

Police did not release any details about the manner of death but did say they are treating it as suspicious.

I catch the byline: Laura Escano, Bronte’s mom. I wonder if she’ll want to interview me. Not that I’d be much use.