“Which means Nishi’s not here until after the holiday weekend.” Maddie climbed down and perched herself on the desk. Her foot hit a ball of black fabric crammed into the trash can underneath. Lucy’s torn dress. She pulled it out and turned to Delia. “We could try the Head of House though.”

Delia sat up. “For what?”

“For reporting Ryan.”

“Does she want to?” Delia whispered, pointing to the lump in Lucy’s bed.

The lump that should have moved when the explosion went off. Maddie dropped the dress back into the trash and gently touched the comforter, which had zero resistance. It was soft, but not that soft. She pulled it back. Lucy was gone.

*   *   *

They found her in the common room surrounded by vitamin waters, kale chips, a stack of zucchini-flour pancakes, and half a dozen cashew cheese Hot Pockets. The light from a projector traversed the room, and on the screen at the front was a slide with the words “Lit: We Hook You Up” above the logo Maddie had designed.

“Finally!” Lucy cried. “Sleepyheads. If it weren’t for me nudging Marty to shoot off one of his pop rockets a bit early you’d both still be in bed! Now, grab some sustenance and let’s get moving. I reserved the common room for the full day, and we’re going to need every hour of it to go over the beta test and start practicing for Demo Day.”

Delia looked to Maddie for direction.

Maddie stepped deeper into the room. “Lucy, we don’t have to do this today.”

“Of course we do.” She whipped out a lavender-scented sanitizer wipe and began scrubbing the table. “Now that we’ve got an edge, we have to build on it. Momentum is everything in diets, darts, and tech.” She pulled in her lower lip. “Still working on that one. But you get the idea.”

Lucy’s effervescence filled the air around them, and Maddie wasn’t eager to be the one to start popping bubbles, but Lucy was right about momentum. The more time that passed, the harder it would be for Lucy to come forward. Not just because outsiders might question why she waited so long, but because Maddie knew Lucy. The Lucy who planned and prioritized and pushed anything that didn’t fit in her notebook out of her head. And Maddie was certain this was something Lucy wanted not just out but erased from existence.

“Lucy,” Maddie started.

“In, in.” Lucy waved her hand. “Sit, let me just grab my notebook.”

“Lucy, wait,” Maddie said again. “Let’s talk.”

“We are, and we will, believe me.” She dug through her tote bag. “I emailed you both the agenda. Six pages. Single-spaced.” A packet of sanitizer wipes flew to the ground, followed by a makeup case, three bottles of nail polish, a scarf, and a phone charger. “Oh, come on, it’s not like it’s invisible!”