Daniel got up from the table and walked over to her. He stood in front of her and put his hands on her arms, but she wouldn’t look at him. She stared off at a point on the floor, crying.

“We saw him that day,” Harper went on. “The day he disappeared, at the picnic. And I just keep thinking, if I’d invited him to hang out with us, he’d still be alive. When I saw him, I was upset because everything was so awkward between us now. And he was a nice guy! If I’d just…”

She started sobbing then, her words getting drowned out by her tears. Daniel took the coffee mug from her hands and set it on the counter behind her. Then he reached out, and, almost tentatively, pulled her into his arms, hugging her.

“It’s not your fault,” Daniel told her as she cried into his shoulder. “You can’t save everybody, Harper.”

“Why not?” she asked, her words muffled.

“It’s just the way the world works.”

Harper allowed herself to cry for a little bit longer, feeling both grateful and ashamed at having Daniel’s arms around her. When she’d calmed down enough, she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. He retracted his arms, but he stayed right in front of her, in case she needed him.

“Sorry,” she said, pressing her palms to her cheeks to dry the tears.

“Don’t be. I’m not.”

“Well, you have no reason to be sorry. You’re not being a total freak.”

“Neither are you.” He brushed a lock back from her forehead, and she let him, but she wouldn’t look up at him.

“And I know you’re right. I mean, that it’s not my fault.” She sniffled. “But I just can’t stop thinking about that day at the picnic. I mean, we saw him that afternoon, and he went missing that night. If I’d just said, Hey, why don’t you hang out with us? instead of letting him go off with that girl…”

“You can’t beat yourself up like that. There’s no way you could’ve known.”

“Yes, I should’ve.” Her eyes widened as she realized something, and she looked up at him. “The last time I saw Luke alive, he was going off with Lexi.”

“Who’s Lexi?” Daniel asked.

“One of those really pretty, creepy girls.”

“So he left the picnic with this Lexi girl, and then disappeared?” Daniel asked. “Did you tell the cops that?”

“No, I mean, yes.” She shook her head. “I told them what I knew, but that didn’t seem very important. He went home after the picnic and had supper with his parents. It’s after that that he left, then went missing. But he did go off with Lexi, for a little while.”