It wasn’t to understand why Marley wanted to die. It was to drag us to the crooks and corners of Cadence and dust off the cobwebs. Find what made our town so wondrous. What made us so wondrous.

We would all see that we’d already done it. We’d taken all of these simple things—letters, boxes, journals, phrases—and we’d made them into something memorable. We’d ridden our bikes across town. Snuck out of our houses. Met up at Cadence Park and conversed with all the seriousness of CEOs at a board meeting. We’d found the ending, because we’d rediscovered the magic we’d let die alongside Marley.

My Marley.

She would be so proud of me. Finally, I’d reminded everyone that she was not an idea, or a symbol, or a lesson, or a bargaining chip. Marley Bricket was a prism of a person, glinting from every surface.

I needed her to help me make my plan a reality. All the times I’d called out to her to give me the strength to get through something, I’d meant it. In her way, she’d always delivered. She’d given me her personality to hide behind. She’d kept me calm when I wanted to scream. She’d taken me to her house on the night of the memorial and kick-started the Adventure.

I needed her to guide all of us to the appropriate finish.

For once, I needed to willingly share her.

The movie in my mind turned to static when I heard our front door unbolt, followed by the unmistakable jangle of my mom’s keys as she hung them on the hook in the kitchen.

I hurried to the mirror beside my dresser, rummaging through my makeup bag for the necessary products. My mom moved through the house in a series of formidable squeaks, each seeming to dance around my door like a threat. The face I wore would disappoint her. It held too much unwanted truth in it. My swollen nose and bruised eyes could not be covered completely, but with the right amount of concealer, foundation, and eye makeup, I could downplay the damage enough to make her wonder if she’d misremembered my appearance all this time. Or if puberty was turning yet another swift trick, evolving me further into the adult I’d one day become.