In the end, she couldn’t. Amelia had used a permanent marker, and while Whitney was able to get out some of it, she could never successfully get it all off. What started as a hard lesson for Amelia turned into an inside joke that lasted long after the incident.

Red jacket became their safe word. The one Amelia could use when she was scared or in over her head. Like at a sleepover when she wanted to leave, or at her dad’s and she needed her mom to make up an excuse to swing by for a quick hug and chat. All she had to do was call her mom and say anything with the word red jacket in it.

“Mom, can you make sure to wash my red jacket tonight?”

Or:

“I couldn’t find my red jacket earlier. Do you know where it is?”

Whitney always responded with a “yes,” which really meant, I’ve got your back. I’m here for you...always.

She dropped the jacket. Sniffed. Wiped a palm down her face. Continued her search.

On the shelf above her clothes were some hats, a few belts and a stack of computer paper. Whitney pulled down the paper and riffled through it, but the pages were all blank. Reaching up, Whitney slid her palm over the shelf to see if she’d missed anything. But all she succeeded in finding was dust. It coated her hand. She wiped it on her pants.

Next, she went to Amelia’s desk drawer, sliding it open. It squeaked in protest as if it hadn’t been opened in years. Papers sprung from it like an accordion being opened. She sifted through them.

Nothing interesting.

Some old school papers. Assignment sheets. Syllabuses. A few pages that looked like journal entries or letters but ended up being half-written essays. Her own smiling face peeked out from under some of the papers. She yanked out the strip of photos. They were ones she and Amelia took in the photo booth at Marc’s wedding a few months back. Smiling, her gaze slid down all four poses—in three of them they were in costume, giant glasses, big hats, reindeer ears, but in the last one they’d tossed the props aside, hugged each other tight and smiled broadly. Amelia’s skin was shiny, her eyes bright. It had been such a fun day. She and Amelia had danced and laughed together. They’d enjoyed themselves so much they’d been two of the last people to leave.