There’s a line, of course. While we’re waiting, Nessa appears with her mother. She runs over to see what I have, asks where I found it, and picks out something similar. Her mother is holding up a barf green sweater. Nessa is just as embarrassed as I’d be.

Next stop is Brown’s Shoe Store, where I find a pair of black sandals, little strappy things, and Mom buys them for me. Then it’s on to lunch. Luckily she heads for the café in Nordstrom’s. It’s a mom place. My friends will definitely not be eating there.

We order sandwiches and choose a quiet booth in the back of the café. While we’re eating, Mom asks if Skylar wants to ride to the memorial with us.

“She isn’t going.”

Mom looks surprised. “Why not?”

“She doesn’t want to see Mr. Boyce.”

“I don’t think he’ll be there,” Mom says. “Not after what happened.”

“He might be.” I pull the fancy toothpick out of my sandwich and twirl it in my fingers.

“Are you worried about seeing him?”

I snap the toothpick in half. “Kind of.”

“Because you and Skylar reported him to the police?”

I nod, too ashamed to look up. “We shouldn’t have done it. Skylar feels bad too, but she won’t admit it. I think it’s messing up our friendship.”

She puts her finger under my chin and lifts my head so I have to look at her. “I wish you’d talked to me before you went to the police, but you had reasons to distrust Mr. Boyce, even to suspect him of murdering Ms. Sullivan. The police had no way of knowing about the relationship or that he was the last person to see her alive. You and Skylar didn’t act out of malice. You thought you were doing the right thing.”

I poke at the mound of uneaten french fries on my plate. “You don’t think I ruined his life?”

Mom squeezes my hand. “Of course not. I’m pretty sure Mr. Boyce doesn’t blame you and Skylar for what happened. He knew it was wrong to get into a relationship with Ms. Sullivan. As an adult, he has to take responsibility for his behavior.”

I listen to what she says, but I still feel bad about what Skylar and I did. Maybe Mr. Boyce wasn’t who we thought he was, but how did we convince ourselves he could murder anyone? Even Jason, who never had Mr. Boyce for a teacher, laughed at us for thinking he was a killer.

Mom squeezes my hand again. “Mr. Boyce made some big mistakes. You and Skylar made some big mistakes too. Unfortunately, you can’t go back in time and change anything. You just have to live with it.”