One of Wren’s classmates, a pretty, sure bet for prom queen type, walked over to Wren with a group of girls trailing behind her.

She looked Wren up and down, then tilted her head and laughed.

“Oh, wow,” she said loudly. “This is actually kind of sad.”

The room quieted. Wren went still.

“You tell her, Chloe,” one of the other girls said

Chloe smirked and stepped closer. “You really made your whole personality about a dead cop, bird girl?”

“This is actually kind of sad.”

The room got quiet in that awful, hungry way rooms do when people sense a scene and decide to become furniture.

My hands clenched into fists.

Wren tried to walk away, but Chloe stepped in front of her.

“You know what’s worse?” Chloe said, sharper now. “He’s probably up there right now, watching you…” she paused. “… and he’s embarrassed.”

I took a step forward, but before I could say anything, Chloe lifted her drink.

“Let’s fix this.”

Wren tried to walk away.

Continued on the next page