Ava sets her glass down with a thunk. Her expression looks hurt, eyes big and droopy like a puppy that’s just been kicked. Her bottom lip quivers again, like she’s holding back tears. And then she takes a breath, pressing her lips together in a hard line. Her eyes narrow, hurt flashing into anger. “I wrote everything.”

Danielle doesn’t move, doesn’t give any indication she’s heard Ava at all. But then I see her hand, the one resting on the table, clench into a fist. She turns to Ava slowly. “I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you outside so there won’t be any witnesses when I kill you.” She stands up, her knees knocking against the table, and grabs Ava by the arm.

“Ow!” Ava whines, trying to shake off Danielle’s hand, which has settled clawlike into the skin of her arm. They disappear through the side door. I look up at Hannah, hoping she’ll know what to do.

“I think she might really kill her,” I say. “Should we . . .”

She follows my gaze over to the door and then we both jump up and follow them. When we get outside, we almost run over Susie Palmer, who’s leaning against the wall, smoking. I know she’s probably hiding—from Ryder and Ava; from the fact that she was his first choice last night and now she’s not. It’s easier to hide than to act like you don’t care.

“They went down to the dock,” she says, motioning with her cigarette.

“Thanks,” Hannah says, and we head in the direction she pointed.

The light shining from the windows of the Walcott makes it difficult to see anything beyond, but I can just make out the shape of the lake, spread out huge and dark in front of us. We walk across the grass and over to a set of steps leading down to a wooden dock. I can hear Ava and Danielle before I can see them, their voices high and shrill. We walk closer and their fuzzy dark outlines come into view.

Hannah holds out an arm to stop me. “We should let them fight it out. They have a lot to resolve.”

“Did you know it was Ava?”

Hannah sighs. “I didn’t know for sure, but I guessed.”