This was the cusp, a flicker, the edge of it all. And we were finally ready to tip. It only took everyone saying it many times for it to be true. That, I discovered, was the difference between plan and execution. There’s always a delay that can’t be accounted for, even when you plan and plan. The delay is the nuance of reality, as fine as the fabric on the pillow Marley held in front of her the day she died. Each fiber was important, different from the next. Each changed the impact of the bullet. Each was an essential part of the story.

A hand pressed into the small of my back. “I’m right behind you,” Ruby told me.

As I ascended, I tried to guess whose footprints were whose, despite sufficient disturbance to the dust on the staircase. The tracks were untraceable, yet they all led to the same place.

Harrison emptied his backpack in the triangle of space between the string lights. “I think this is everything. I went everywhere on the map that we hadn’t been yet,” he said. He looked down at the pile, first smiling, his dimples pricking both sides of his face, making me ever so fond of him. Then he was crying, two perfect streams flowing right into the divots on his cheeks. “I tried to be as quick as I could. I used your bike, Ruby. I wasn’t in the right mind to drive. I hope that’s okay. I mean it’s done now, so I guess it has to be, huh? I’m sorry. It’s a nice bike. I can see why you like it so much.” His thoughts exploded out of him. “I wish you all had been there with me. I kept thinking that. Even though we know Olivia hid all of it, and it’s not the same kind of real we thought it was, I still wished you all were there.” His Adam’s apple disappeared and bulged, on and on, as he fought back tears. He looked at me and nodded. “But anyway, this is everything,” he repeated, then nodded again, remembering he already said that. His dimples danced across his flushed cheeks for one more embarrassed smile. “This is hard. Someone else take over.”

There was a hesitation. Each body leaned, contemplating stepping forward. A room full of leaders, I thought, first as a throwaway observation, then as a revelation. Each person in the room did not just go along with the flow. Together, we created a flow in which we all decided to follow. When one person faltered, there was always someone else to step up and keep us charging forward. Each person was the lead character in their version of the story, the stakes highest for them, always guided by choice, above all. Even the feeling of obligation was a choice.