“I would never have thought Gem snored,” he whispered.

The bathroom door creaked, and Lia shot up. Devon chuckled.

Gem groaned and rolled over. “Time?”

“Time.” Lia yawned. “Are you going to school today?”

“Emotionally, no. Physically, yes,” Devon said. He rifled through his bag. “I have orchestra rehearsal after, too.”

“Relatable.” Lia sighed. “I can’t believe we were allowed to sleep in the same room.”

Lia wasn’t entirely sure her parents knew about her eternal crush on Devon, but Devon’s knew. God, why?

“I have used up all my sleepover goodwill, I think.” Devon pushed a pair of glasses onto his face and blinked, grinning. “Good morning!”

Lia flushed. Yesterday was so hectic that Lia hadn’t thought about how her normal pajamas were a T-shirt and shorts, neither particularly nice. And now he was staring at her.

“You look nice in your glasses,” she said, desperate for a distraction. She gently tapped the clear plastic bridge of his glasses. “They’re cute.”

He rolled his eyes. “They make me look twelve.”

“Yeah, but like a distinguished twelve,” Gem said. They scrolled through their notifications. “Like anime protagonist twelve, the sort who somehow runs a demon-hunting business or something.”

“A twelve-year-old who knows how to file taxes,” Lia said.

“I’m going to put on my contacts,” he muttered. “Never again.”

“Wait.” Gem thrust their phone beneath Lia and Devon’s faces. “Look.”

A handful of people online were talking about the police reopening Abby’s case now that all the lab work was back. There was only speculation, no evidence. All they had said was that they weren’t comfortable closing it as an accidental death yet.

“I was there,” Lia said. “I heard her trip. I tripped. I had a bruise to prove it.”

“They’re keeping their minds open so as not to miss anything, it says.” Devon handed Gem back their phone. “Ignore it. Thinking about it will just worry us.”

“Sure.” Lia sighed, rubbed her face, and undid the short braid of brown hanging over her shoulder. “We definitely shouldn’t worry more.”

They got ready in silence, trying not to wake up Harrison. When they were ready, Gem drove, and Lia sat in the passenger seat. She scratched her arms.

“You’re definitely worrying,” Gem said as they pulled into the parking lot.

Lia tugged her sleeves down over her hands. “If someone killed Abby, why didn’t they kill me?”

Gem and Devon glanced at each other.

“There’s no use in obsessing over it.” Devon slipped his hand between the door and Lia’s seat. His fingers gently curled around her arm. “Same rules as playing Assassins. Don’t go anywhere alone and stay on guard.”

“My assassin made themselves known yesterday.” Lia let her head hit the back of her seat. “I hope that was my assassin.”

“It was,” Gem said, “and they were just angry you caught them trying to be edgy.”

Lia laughed, the sound an odd bubbling thing that she didn’t recognize, and followed Gem and Devon into school. The rest of the day went like that laugh—odd and fleeting. The teachers taught like normal, ignoring the empty seats and reading the announcement about grief counselors as if it were any other announcement. So quickly had the school buckled down and gotten over its grief.