I can feel myself getting smaller and smaller. Lucas is talking about me as if I’m not here. Why are they doing this? What could be so bad that they don’t dare trust me?

But then I see the room.

Our beautiful room.

There’s nothing left of it.

It reminds me of the bridge downtown, completely covered in graffiti.

Individual words, scraps of sentences, and my friends’ names are written all over the room. I stare at the words above the bed.

KATE, FENDER, AND LUCAS.

MY SO-CALLED BEST FRIENDS.

“It’s from the suicide note.” Fender is standing behind me. “Room Service left this here for us.”

“What are you doing?” cries Lucas.

“She already knows,” hisses Fender. “So what difference does it make?”

I read all the words and try to solve the puzzle, but at the same time I’m not sure I really want to.

My name isn’t on the wall, but it is on the envelope. Why does Room Service think I have something to do with this? I wasn’t even around last year on Kate’s birthday! He has the wrong person.

I turn on my heels.

“What are you doing?” asks Fender.

“Going home,” I say. “This is your past, not mine.”

I should have left straightaway, before I went with Claus to his room. I don’t want anything to do with this. This is some really sick stuff.

“Good,” Fender says. “You go.”

“Wh-what?” Lucas stammers in surprise.

“She’s right.” Fender looks at him. “She has nothing to do with this. If she wants to go, she can go.”

I look at Kate. Her eyes are so puffy. It looks like she’s cried gallons of tears.

Why did she never tell me anything about Isolde?

She was her best friend!

And what happened last year that made Room Service want to punish them?

I remember what Lucas said in the bar.

Kate thinks we’re all best friends forever.

Are there other things I don’t know? It’s like this is just the tip of the iceberg, and the rest is still underwater.

I look at the words above the bed again.

My so-called best friends.

Did they betray Isolde? But how? Did she feel as lonely within the gang as I do? Maybe she was an outsider too.

I look at Kate again. She’s staring at her sneakers. Who are my “friends” really? How can they call themselves friends if they can lie to me like that? An hour ago, Lucas even claimed not to know Isolde at all!

The hallway is calling to me. Leave. This is your chance! Go!

But if I go now, I’ll never get answers to the questions I haven’t even asked yet.

“He has us in a corner, but he doesn’t have anything to attack you with,” says Fender. He is still holding the door open.