We weren’t sure it was a good plan, or even a viable plan, but it was nonetheless a plan. And we only had one shot to get it right.

His footsteps echoed beside mine on the vinyl floor as we shot through the empty hallways. I could tell he was nervous because he wasn’t really speaking; he was worried about getting caught. That hadn’t really been a concern of mine, because the one person I’d worried about finding out already had. Mom found Leo and me scheming a couple of days after he’d managed to pull the file from my phone’s mangled hard drive. I’d pleaded with her, expecting her to put on some big song and dance, but she just stood and listened, sipping her coffee. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said.

It makes sense, though. She was pissed off when we took the file to the police and they’d taken it, but sort of half-heartedly, like nothing would come of it. So we decided some vigilante justice was in order.

The graduation ceremony had already begun.

It wasn’t really the sort of plan that required Excel spreadsheets or precise timing. All we needed to know was that we had the file, and that Olivia would be there to open the door.

A week after the night of the crash she’d slipped a piece of notebook paper into my mailbox, folded into a triangle: sydney,

ur mom told my mom what happened and then my mom told me. u might not believe me when i say it but i’m glad ur ok. june too. like, really glad.

i think maybe stuff has gotten a bit too complicated and that our friendship was becoming more work than a good friendship should. and i don’t rly think it was anyone’s fault which honestly might be the worst part. it’s just sad, u know. so. i don’t really know what the answer is. idk if there is an answer. we can talk about it, if u want.

regardless of what happens between us i propose one last hurrah so we can nail this clown for good. idk the whole story obviously but i guess i wanna help u make things right.

So we did talk. It was ridiculously awkward at first but eventually we settled into it, made old jokes, and decided that maybe we’d try again. Take it slow and all that. No obligations. Because we weren’t sure we wanted to lose each other for good. And as we were talking about what we could do, I told her about the video Leo had managed to retrieve from that night, and she realized: the ring of keys she had for all her theatre tech stuff included the projection booth.