Caitlin, who had a summer job peddling jewelry at Bobbles and Lace in Portsmouth, had suggested they meet at Popovers on Congress Street. Alexa, cautiously optimistic, arrived first and saved them a table. When Caitlin slid in across from her she said, “Hey,” breathlessly, followed by, “I’ve only got twenty minutes. It’s crazy at the store today. I’m super stressed.” She was wearing a simple pink sundress and a beaded knot necklace—a bobble, no doubt bought with her employee discount.

Alexa wanted to tell Caitlin she was selling earrings and sandals, not performing open-heart surgery on premature babies, but she bit her tongue. It was the first time she’d hung out with Caitlin since March, and Alexa wanted to see where this might go.

They took turns holding the table and going up to the counter to order their salads. (Alexa had the Wedge and Caitlin the Caesar; each came with a popover, hence the name of the restaurant.)

“Hey, so listen. I’ve been feeling so bad about what happened. That night at Destiny’s, that stupid game, the whole thing. We really didn’t mean to upset you. We feel terrible about it. We talk about it all the time. We never thought we’d go this long without hanging out with you.”

Alexa felt herself softening. “I know I overreacted,” she acknowledged. She’d been just as angry at—felt just as excluded from—her mother and Morgan as she did from Destiny and Caitlin that night, to be fair. “There were a bunch of things bugging me that night, I don’t know, I didn’t mean to take it all out on you guys.”

You can be a little prickly sometimes, Alexa.

One thing she remembered learning about porcupines for a school project in seventh grade was that their quills lay flat until they were threatened. And then, bing, they came out, and victim beware.

Caitlin was looking at her beseechingly. “We wanted to hang out with you so many times, Dest and I. Around graduation and everything? It wasn’t the same without you? But we still felt like you were mad at us. And you were always—busy. With Tyler, I guess? Or whatever. You just weren’t around.”

“Yeah,” said Alexa. “Thanks. I appreciate that. I’ve been pretty busy with a whole bunch of stuff.”

Caitlin glanced at her phone, probably checking the time; she wanted to get back to her hugely taxing job at Bobbles and Lace.

“There’s one more thing,” she said. “To be honest, though? I’m only telling you this to be a good friend? You know that’s the only reason I would ever tell you something like this.”

“What?” Alexa felt her quills rise.

“I’m not mentioning any names but someone I know says they saw Zoe Butler-Gray getting out of Tyler’s car in the parking lot of Blue Inn on Plum Island. Recently.”