Dawn frowns. Brielle catches her expression, and for the first time, Dawn thinks the other girl looks unsure of herself.

Just as quickly, though, Brielle’s expression hardens. She closes up again. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she says.

“It’s cool,” Dawn says. “I didn’t mean—”

“I know it’s cool,” Brielle replies. “Thank you. End of discussion.”

Dawn doesn’t say anything. She takes a drink of water and when Brielle reaches for the canteen, Dawn hands it back to her. They stand in silence for a few awkward minutes, Dawn wanting to apologize but afraid of pissing off Brielle more than she has already.

Then Brielle shoulders her pack again. “Come on,” she says. “Let’s get moving.”

“I just,” Dawn says.

Brielle stops. Looks at her. “What?”

Dawn hesitates. Can’t look at Brielle. “You’re going to go back to headquarters,” she says. “You’re going to turn yourself in.”

Brielle says slowly, “Yeah?”

Dawn gestures to Brielle’s pack. “You could have gone for the highway,” she says. “They’ll just send you back to your family.”

Brielle doesn’t say anything for a beat. Just looks out across the forest some more.

“Amber needs saving,” she says, finally. “Lucas, too. I’ll deal with my family later.”

Then she turns and walks away.

Chapter 100

“I KILLED MY DAD,” Dawn tells Brielle. She’s hurrying to catch up with the other girl, feeling like she has to say something, confess something, to evaporate the awkwardness between them. “I messed up, and my dad died, and that’s why they sent me here.”

Brielle stops walking. Turns back and looks Dawn over, appraising her. “Explain,” she says.

So Dawn explains. About Olivia and Madison and Avengers. About the party and how she’d puked and had to call her dad. About how her dad had come to get her, and how the drunk driver had run the red light. And how it was Dawn’s fault, all of it.

It feels good to talk about it. To confess.

And then Dawn tells Brielle the rest, what came after. How she couldn’t cope with the grief or the guilt. How she began to cut class, how she began to self-medicate.

How her mom met someone new, and Dawn ran off with Julian.

“None of it would have happened,” she tells Brielle, “if I hadn’t killed my dad.”

Brielle shakes her head. Her lip curls. “That’s stupid,” she says. “You’re not here because you killed your dad. Your dad’s death was an accident.”

Dawn starts to argue. Brielle cuts her off. “You’re here because you don’t know how to cope. Because you chose drugs and some asshole named Julian instead of dealing with your feelings like an adult,” she says.

Brielle says, “But you didn’t kill your dad.”

“And you already know that,” she says.

Dawn stares at Brielle. She doesn’t say anything.