On a Tuesday night when Blair was gone, the doorbell rang, and I was the only one home to answer it. Standing there was Caleb Evers, who—look, I’ll just say it. If you weren’t a little bit in love with Caleb Evers, you were blind. He was tall and muscley, but not in a weird protein-shake way, with brown hair that flopped in his eyes a little bit, especially when he played drums. He probably helped little old ladies cross the street in his free time. Basically, he belonged in a movie. Definitely leading man material.

Caleb was in love with Blair, and that meant so much to me. Because it was getting harder and harder lately to see why Blair was so special. Memories of when she was my best friend were slipping away. The old, fearless Blair was being replaced with a crying, scared mess. Spending time with someone else who loved her reminded me. People who remembered that spark of life she brought into a room, and people who knew how kind and silly and adventurous she could be—those were the people I wanted her surrounded by. Not Aleksander and his critical glare, always measuring the arch of her feet and the height of her jump.

Blair let me hang out with her and Caleb, sometimes. One night, a month before prom, they’d taken me to a movie so we could visit Jade at work. She gave us huge buckets of popcorn for free, because even Jade loved Caleb. Blair hadn’t eaten a bite and reminded us that the movie theater shouldn’t be allowed to call the butter flavoring butter because it’s so fake. But Caleb and I had had competitions during the previews to see how many kernels in a row we could each catch in our mouths, while Blair narrated the entire thing in a sportscaster voice.

I wondered if he even remembered that.

“Hi!” I said, surprised. “Blair’s not here.”

He grinned. “Yeah, I know. I actually came to see you.”

“Me?” I suddenly realized I hadn’t washed my hair in three days, but whatever. It was fine. No big deal.

“Yeah, you. Or Jade or your parents. Are they here?”

I shook my head. “Mom’s grocery shopping and Jade’s with her friends. Dad’s just in the office.”

“That’s okay. I can talk to you. Can I come in?”

I opened the door wider and Obi took that golden opportunity to dash outside, practically plowing Caleb over. He laughed. “Dumb dog. I love that dumb dog.”

We went into the kitchen and sat down. I felt so grown up. Caleb was here to see me. But then I realized that he looked jumpy. He was glancing around a lot and playing with his hands. This wasn’t some visit to ask what color Blair’s prom dress was.

“What’s going on?” I asked him.

Caleb leaned forward and stared at me, hard. Those eyes could burn a hole in you.

“Abby, I want to ask you a few questions, and I need you to tell the truth, okay? It’s super important.”