Chapter 2
Wren's POV
When I get home, my mom is in the kitchen with her apron on, wiping her hands on a dish towel when she sees me walk in early. "Wren, what are you doing back? I thought you were putting together those treats for your class tonight."
I look at her face and something in my chest tightens. I go to her and pull her into a hug.
"Mom, I need you to close up the shop today. Put a sign on the door, something like 'Owner out of town, back in a week.'" I keep my voice steady. Not a suggestion.
"What? Wren, the SAT's tomorrow, this is one of our busiest—"
"Just trust me on this. Someone's coming after us, and the shop isn't safe right now." I don't have time to explain. I walk to the front and lock the door myself, both deadbolts.
Once I get my mom settled, I go to my room. I lock the door behind me, pull the curtains shut, and dig a wide-angle camera out of my desk drawer.
Lainey already set this in motion. She's not going to let it go just because I didn't hand over the pastries. I need to get ahead of this before she has the chance.
I mount the camera on the bookshelf so it covers the desk, the bed, and the door. Then I open my laptop, log into the account I use sometimes to post study notes, and start a livestream.
Title: SAT Eve — Studying until it's over. Not leaving this room.
The timestamp runs in the corner. The window behind me shows the sky outside. Every sound in the room gets picked up. I pull out a practice test and start working through it. I don't move from that chair until the next morning, when my mom knocks to tell me it's time to go. That's when I end the stream.
The test go by fast.
When the last session ends, I don't cheer like everyone else. I just pack up my things and walk out.
I'm barely through the exit when I see the patrol cars pulled up at the curb, lights flashing.
"Wren Monroe! You poisoned us!"
A few of my classmates push through the crowd toward me before I even have a chance to process what's happening. Lainey is leaning against her friend Colton Shaw, face drained of color, eyes puffy and red.
"Officer, that's her!" Colton shouts. "She was pissed we didn't buy from her bakery, so she put something in our drinks and our food before the test!"
Two officers step up to me, expressions flat. "Wren Monroe? We got a report saying you tampered with food and interfered with a standardized test. We're going to need you to come with us."
The crowd erupts. Parents, other students, everyone turning to look.
"How does someone that young even think to do something like that?"
"She should have her scores pulled. Lock her up."
Lainey watches me from the back of the crowd. The corner of her mouth pulls up, just barely.
I don't fight it. I get in the car.
At the station, the detective drops a stack of photos on the table. "Monroe. Someone saw you slipping into the school's supply room last night. We also found a bunch of empty laxative boxes in the trash outside your bakery. You want to tell me what's going on?"
I lean back and look at what they're calling evidence.
I almost laugh.
"I don't know who they think they saw, but I can prove I never left my bedroom. Not once. From seven the night before the SAT to seven the next morning."
I take out my phone, pull up the saved recording of the stream, and slide it across the table.
"Twenty-four hours, uninterrupted. The timestamp runs the whole time. You can see the window in the background, the light changing as the night goes on. And I never once stepped out of frame."
The detective picks up the phone and scrubs through it, checking a few different points in the recording. On screen, I'm at my desk the entire time. The one bathroom break I take is in my bathroom.
There it is.
He sets the phone down. Something shifts in his expression. "Monroe, we pulled your account history. You've basically never gone live before. So why that night? Why stay on camera the whole time? You never moved once."
