When we reach my house, I already see a News van parked outside our lawn. News must have traveled fast if they are already here poking around for quotes about the attempted school-shooting story. My mother doesn't let us say a word as she hurries us inside. She lets me know my father is on his way home and she gives me another long rib-crushing hug. She lets Liam and I both go upstairs and as soon as we find the safety of my room, we toss ourselves onto my bed and go over every detail of the morning.

"Where were you this morning?" This is the first of many questions I have for Liam.

"I followed Ian to school, as planned and I got confused when he was running late. He didn't even leave his house until the first bell was about to ring," he explains while holding my hand tightly. "He met Elijah outside the main doors and they split ways in front of the math hall. This is where I learned about everyone's connections. Elijah was using his hatred as fuel all the way down the hall. I never saw Marissa. Ian headed into the math hall alone and I could hear him calming himself the entire way to Mrs. Holloway's class. I saw Mike and Aaron in the last row and Ian just walked into the classroom put the gun right up to Aaron's back and told him and Mike to get up and follow him out of class. Everyone else climbed under the desk once they realized Ian had a gun, but Ian was out with both of them before Mrs. Holloway could reach the door."

"So what you told Kensington was almost true. You were just invisible and not hiding somewhere," I say and he nods. I add, "But the hallways were empty by the time Marissa got me and Derek."

"Ian fired two shots into the common area and everyone scattered. I saw Elijah up ahead with Lily leading her into the locker room. I waited until you got there and quietly snuck out. I had to make sure I didn't get locked out since the door was locked from the inside. I didn't want to leave you but I knew you would do everything in your power to save your friends."

"That must have been when we heard the noise at the door," I say as Liam runs his hand through my hair. I am lying on his shoulder with his arm around me and his head leans against the top of mine. I think we have had some part of us touching since I collapsed into him in the locker room.

"Yeah, well obviously the police had been called by then and I went and found Mr. Anderson who was instructing the onsite officer what to do. I let them both know who was all in the locker room, but they didn't want to act until reinforcements got there in case they spooked Ian and he killed all of you or himself. There are no windows in the locker room so they weren't sure how to communicate." Liam says plainly and chills run down my spine just thinking of the multiple outcomes.

"After that, you know what happened. I snuck back into the locker room and witnessed the rest," he says with a shrug.

"I still don't know why Ian thought it was me and not Harper who was there that night. I'm somewhat glad that I was wrongly accused because I don't think any of them would be alive right now if I wasn't," I say as I sit up to look at Liam. "But I swear Liam, I wasn't there. I've done some shit things but I had no part of that." I think back to two years ago and remember the fight I had with my mom about missing the party to go to another stupid charity event. I'm now thankful my mom forced me to go.

"That night obviously ruined Ian's life. Bad enough to want to do something like this," he says as we both nod. "The others were just done with being bullied. They all had just... snapped."

"It's unfortunate that they were going to get their revenge by killing people. There are so many other ways to get a point across, but taking someone's life away..." I tell Liam, while not being able to fathom that kind of hatred.

"I think they saw it like the football players took a piece of Ian's life away. They outed him, bullied him...I'm not saying what Ian did was right, he obviously has some screws loose but I also can't imagine going through that kind of humiliation." I lay back down on his shoulder and as he runs his fingers through my hair he says, "It's weird to see how awful Mike and Aaron can be but then they seem so chill and laid back when we all hang out. I don't get how these easy-going guys can ruin people's lives. Derek is a little more obvious in his jackass ways but I don't even understand why he does it?"

"Because for some reason we feel like we have to tear others down to feel better about ourselves. We can't just be happy with who we are," I tell him, feeling guilty. He glances at me and pushes himself up so he's resting on his elbow. He sighs before saying, "I think this needs to be a wake-up call with Harper too, Ellie. I get she's your best friend but you let her say a lot of hateful things."

I pop myself up onto my elbow with my jaw slightly dropped, "I can't control Harper, Liam. She does whatever she wants."

"She does what she thinks is cool. There is only one person she thinks may be cooler than her at school and it's you. No one else can get through to her like you can. Start speaking up when she says mean shit and I bet you she'll cut it out."

I shake my head, "Or put a target on my back."

"You're friends with her because you fear her. She's not a good friend, she's constantly thinking bad things about you and competing with you. I don't get why she's your friend other than the whole keep your enemies close idea," he says, puzzled that Harper and I could possibly call ourselves friends.

"When she's not being horrible she is really fun, and she is loyal. She always has my back, no matter what."

"She hit you in the face because you dated the boy she liked," he says completely exasperated.

"If you date the boy your friend likes, it's breaking girl code. Maybe I deserved to get hit in the face?" I tell him with a snap. He shakes his head, knowing he'll never understand girls or their friendships.

"Fine be friends with Harper but try and make her a better person. Don't be friends with assholes, you'll only turn into one," Liam says flatly. He flops back onto his back and then mutters, "I bet this will put an end to all of the stupid tory and dirt bullshit though." I nod to him and we both sit in silence while we process everything.

Suddenly I sit up, determined to change out of my tightening cheer uniform. I grab some sweatpants and a T-shirt and quickly change. I'm tightening the string on my pants when a thought occurs to me. I walk out of my closet and jump back onto my bed.

"Liam, what the hell was with those bullets? He aimed the gun right at his target but they came nowhere near us." Liam flits his eyes to me while sitting up.

"I had wondered about that too. I tackled Marissa the first time when she had no idea what happened. I had to be quick so she wouldn't disappear underneath me," he explains. "When she forced herself up and you had the gun, I held my arm next to Ian's in case he went to shoot. I didn't want to tackle him in case he accidentally pulled the trigger. I wasn't expecting him to put his arm down and shoot with one hand. I wasn't close enough to do anything. It wasn't me that made them miss. But I wondered if it was you."

I replay the image in my mind and Liam follows it in his head as if he were watching a film clip.

"Do you think I could have controlled them? Like I somehow moved them telepathically to where I wanted them to go?" I ask. Liam leaps off the bed and crosses over to my vanity. He swipes my hairbrush off the glass and before I realize what he's doing, I feel the brush hit my shoulder.

"What the hell was that about?" I ask as I throw the brush back at him.

"Okay Ellie, I am going to throw this brush at your face!" He throws it again quickly, but this time it goes to the right and hits the post of my bed. I look at him in awe and then scramble to find the brush. I pluck it off the floor and toss it back to him.

"I can make things move?" I ask in amazement.

"I think if you know when they are coming." He throws the brush at me again and just like before, it hits the bedpost. It looks as though something in the air is swatting it away.

"Ellie, I think you discover your abilities when you're under pressure," he says in shock. "You can create what you need at the time. You found out you could read minds when you needed someone to tell you an answer. You found out you could create illusions when you didn't want to get in trouble with your mom. And now I think you can move moving objects when you want them away from you or someone else."

We both stare at the brush with awestruck expressions. I grab the brush from his hand and turn it over in mine.

"I wonder if I am capable of anything else?" I ask knowing I won't get an answer from him.

"I don't know, but this means you have three abilities... or talents or whatever the hell you call them," he replies back with a grin. I let out a light laugh before tossing the brush on my bed. I shake my head, unable to process the new information about me. I lie back down and Liam silently follows. I realize my phone is still at school and I haven't talked to anyone but Liam since I left school. Liam pushes himself off the bed again and walks toward my dresser. He plucks something off it and suddenly he is standing there holding his phone out to me. I smile as I grab it from him and dial Lily's number. Seconds later she conference calls Harper and all three of us are now on the line.

We take turns telling our perspectives on the day's events and I lay against Liam's chest while he strokes my hair as I babble on. Harper lets us know that the school went on lockdown minutes after Marissa led us out of class. Everyone turned the classroom lights off and ducked under desks to stay hidden. No one knew Ian had no intention of harming anyone outside the locker room. Harper immediately bursts into tears as soon as we tell her why Ian had us in there in the first place. Any weirdness between Harper and I is long gone and it's nice just to talk to her.

"That video was taken like, over a year ago! And we helped him come out of the closet, he even has a boyfriend now!" She whines. Leave it to Harper to make her horrible bullying look like charity work. She really can't believe she did anything wrong. Liam glances at me as Harper is denying any wrongdoing so I sigh and say, "Yeah, I think this whole thing should just be a reminder to be nicer to people. Keep any judgments to ourselves."

"If Marissa would have kept her body odor to herself no one would have said anything," Harper snaps and Liam gives me a knowing look.

"Harper, I really don't think you understand what Lily and I went through today. Let's just try and be nice, okay? Go an entire week without talking shit?" I snap at Harper and she reluctantly agrees. I am forced to hang up when my father gets home and when I get downstairs, I see him hugging my mom.

It's the first time in years that I have seen any kind of emotion from my father and it doesn't end when he sees me. He holds his arms out and I run into his open arms. Liam decided to stay in my room for our family moment so he didn't have to hear me re-tell my version of today's events. My parents were both devastated to think that I hung with the bullying crowd and weren't that impressed when I told them I had no part in that awful night. They thought I was more of a leader than a follower and I sat at the dining room table feeling an inch tall. I really do need to be a better person. I need to start speaking up.

My mom orders all of us dinner after answering the endless phone calls that pour in from my other concerned family members and reporters looking to get a quote from me. She keeps my lips sealed and eventually, there is no more talk about Ian. We all sit at the dining room table with Liam sitting right across from me. My father finally gets a chance to have a conversation with him and he flawlessly answers all of my dad's grilling questions. Liam's interrogation went much better than mine did. He seems to have gotten stamped by my dad's seal of approval when our phone rings again.

"Let the machine get it," my mom demands and we all stay glued to our seats. We hear the ping and then Mr. Anderson's voice fills the room, "Hello Adler family this is Paul Anderson from Highland Park High, I just wanted a moment to speak with Ellie about tomorrow night and the homecoming dance. We are debating whether to cancel it but need to talk to all involved today to get their feelings. Please call me back."

He leaves a number and the message ends. I look to my mom and then to Liam.

Is it bad that I still want to go?  Liam shrugs and then I decide to get my mom's opinion.

"I don't think they should cancel the dance. It's our senior year so we won't have another homecoming. I also think it will give the student body a chance to come and heal together," I say as I look at her.

"Ellie, I think it might be insensitive. People need some time to digest this," she replies back.

"But the popular people got called out. Our horrible behavior is what led us into that locker room and I think the school should see that we are going to fix our mistakes. We were punished and I don't think us showing up to school on Monday will make a big enough impact. We should get ahead of this. Let the student body come together and celebrate change. I think Mr. Anderson should address it at the dance," I tell the table and then I stand up and beeline it to the phone. I pluck it off the receiver and punch in Mr. Anderson's number. It only rings once before I have him on the other line.

He tells me that Lily has begged him to allow the dance to go on but Mike thinks we should cancel it. Aaron and Derek have no opinion so it's up to me to decide. I bite my lip as I listen and I still don't know what the right answer is. Liam is now standing behind me and he places a comforting hand on my shoulder Do what you feel is right Ellie.

I nod and then tell Mr. Anderson my thoughts, "I think we should have the dance. I think it should be a time to come together and celebrate the fact that this tragedy had a different ending than the one originally planned. Mike was seriously injured so I definitely think his opinion is extremely important. But I also think this could be a great chance for you to make a speech about bullying. Remind everyone that five of us were almost unable to be there because of our poor choices. And there should be no queen or king announced. We shouldn't put a crown on any of the people nominated."

Mr. Anderson stays silent for a few moments after I'm done talking and then agrees with me. I also negotiate to have Liam come to the dance and he reluctantly agrees with me on that too. He says the announcement will go up on our school's website.

I leave my mom and dad in the living room and Liam and I go back up to my room. My mom gives Liam a curfew of ten, so we only have less than an hour to hang out. We both float over to my bed and it's only seconds until we both have our hands all over each other. He has his hands running through my now wild hair and I have my hands reaching under the hem of his shirt. His skin is smooth and I feel his hip bone jutting out above his pant line. He pulls his hips back and I'm now on top of him. He slowly slides his hands under my shirt but then immediately removes them. He pulls back and pulls himself upright.

"What's wrong?" I ask, still breathing heavily. My lips feel swollen and I have beads of sweat forming along my hairline.

"I don't want to push it. I try Ellie, I really try to stay out of your head but sometimes your thoughts just scream at me," he says as he catches his breath. I pull myself off of him and sit on his side.

"I'm not ready for ya know, that just yet. I like kissing and stuff I just haven't decided how far I wanna go yet," I confess and it comes out flustered, even though I'm not trying to be. Liam sweeps his thumb across my cheek and plops his hand face down above my knee. The feeling is comforting.

"It's a big deal, the first time. And I want it to be right. I want to make it perfect. If it ends up that we are each other's firsts, then I want it to be special," he says with a grin. There are now swarms of butterflies in my stomach and I can feel them rush up to my cheeks and paint them red.

"Have you had visions, of us...ya know...doing it?" I ask. I'm so embarrassed as I say this but I can't take the words back. I've been curious about it. He turns the same shade of red and puts his head in his hands. He shakes his head and when he removes his hands, he's smiling.

"I don't know how far in the future my visions usually are. Sometimes I can pick up clues here and there, but they come to me randomly. I've seen us...doing stuff." Liam's face is now bright red and he doesn't make any eye contact. I'm probably a similar shade and seeing how embarrassed we are just talking about the subject proves we aren't ready to take any action.