Alfie runs up to the office the second he comes home. "Eve!"

"Alfie!" I answer too quickly, wiping away my tears and shoving the murder book underneath my biology revision guide. "How was school, mate?"

"We had fish fingers again!" he informs me excitedly. "Gaelle says there was a mix-up with the days but who cares? We got fish fingers twice in a week! Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm okay," I assure him. "Give me a hug?"

He obliges, wrapping his arms around me tight. "Are you sad about Josh?"

"Kind of," I say. "It's hard, y'know?"

"I would be so sad if Gaelle died," he tells me seriously. "She's, like, my best friend in the whole world. Who else would I play with?"

Gaelle is his best friend. A little girl who loves action figures and fish fingers and those ninja cartoons just as much as Alfie, if not more. I like Gaelle, she's sweet. She and Alfie have the kind of friendship that doesn't just fade after primary school. Even if Alfie ends up going to Dugray in two years and she doesn't, I don't doubt that I'll still be seeing Gaelle around the house. She hasn't been around much lately because they're loud while they play together which isn't great for revising.

"I know," I tell him. "And you won't have to worry about Gaelle dying for a long, long time, okay? You'll both be old then. You'll have a grey moustache and she'll have grey hair and you'll both be wrinkled like princess."

Alfie wrinkles his nose. "Prawns aren't wrinkled, aren't they?"

"Prunes, Alfie. They're fruit I think."

"I've never had this fruit. Can you show me a picture?"

I pull up a picture and he immediately snatches my phone to run off and show Mom. I'm pretty sure he's also going to snap a photo of his forehead and our ceiling on Snapchat and accidentally send it to everyone I have added in my contacts.

"Mom says she'll get me some! Oh and here's your phone."

He has sent a blurry snap of himself running down the stairs, half out of frame to everyone I have added. There are replies coming in, some jokes about how I've morphed into a ten-year-old boy and some just stating that Alfie is cute.

he should join cross country

I stare at the message for a few seconds. Eden's avatar pops up, a thought bubble materialising over her head.

sorry that was a weird thing to say.

it's ok. how are you?

a little bored but it's fine. they're setting up a trial date

hope it goes well for you

you don't have to say that. i did kill you ex

if your motivation was to get me to kill granger i get it. i don't support murder but i get it

you talked to erin right?

yeah

i didn't kill granger but i'm glad whoever did did it

so you don't know either?

maybe someone understood my rage & decided to do it themselves

who else did you tell about our murder deal?

sick name

sorry

i told the police (obvs), erin and josh's little sister. you know the one with the pink claw clip?

jenny? why did you tell her?

she called me all angry and upset because you know i fucking killed her brother and she heard

so i told her about erin & granger and how it was to get to him and idk she hung up randomly

when was this?

about 11? it was after i texted you about confessing

i need to go

I put my phone down and take a deep breath.

This is Jenny we're talking about. Sweet little Jenny Hartley who practically runs the Year Nine-Year Seven mentor-mentee program. Netball playing Jenny who plays defence because she hates attacking. Jenny who does dance where I did. Jenny who still stayed friends with me even after Josh and I broke up. She wouldn't kill someone.

Right?