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It was a Wednesday morning, which meant that Maggie Lawrence was lying upside down on her double-quilted down comforter busy at work on Twitter. So far that morning, she had tweeted:







She was halfway through a tweet about her plans for that afternoon when her mother called her downstairs for a late breakfast. Rolling to the edge of the bed, she wriggled into a pair of pale pink pajama shorts and padded down the stairs with an extra bounce in her step. And why not? She had a week until school was back in, and that meant plenty of hours to do a whole lot of nothing before classwork became her main focus once more. Well, second to her boyfriends. All of them: RPattz, Biebs, TayTay, One Direction -- pretty much any boy that most teenage girls worshipped, really.

Swinging around the corner, Maggie smiled widely at her mother who was typing on her laptop. “Is this an early morning, or a late night, Cynthia?” she asked, swiping past the kitchen table toward the fridge. Her stepdad, Rick, was frying eggs by the stove. He gave her a little salute with the spatula and then went back to work.

“I’m Cynthia, am I?” her mother said, not looking up from the screen.

“When you work at the breakfast table, you cease to be Mom and transform like a butterfly into Cynthia,” Maggie said, burying her face in the fridge and popping back out with a bottle of orange juice.

Without missing a beat, Rick placed a cup on the edge of the kitchen counter for her. “Take it easy on her, kid. It’s a big case,” he said.

Maggie quirked an eyebrow. “When is it not a big case, oh dearest stepfather?” She smiled sweetly.

“I’m sitting right here, you two,” her mother said, still not looking up from the screen.

Maggie widened her eyes. “Rick, who is she talking to? I know it’s not me, and it’s not you -- oh no! Does she believe her computer has gained sentience?” She gasped dramatically and then dissolved into laughter.

Her mother sighed, but did not stop typing avidly on the keyboard. “Ha ha,” she said. “If I didn’t work at breakfast, then you would not be able to rack up those charming data overages on our phone plan, my darling daughter.” 


“Hey, I told you to get unlimited,” Maggie said, twisting the lid off the OJ and tipping it into her glass.

Rick shot her a warning glance, but it was too late. Cynthia looked up from the keyboard. “Excuse me?” she said, voice tense. “The overages are not a joke, Margaret. You have 2GB of data a month. That is more than enough. This is the third month in a row that you have gone over, after being told explicitly not to go over. I do not ask a lot of you. You are a lucky little girl who gets what she wants nine times out of ten -- and maybe that is my mistake. Maybe I need to shut off your cellphone again to remind you why we respect our parents.” Lawyer Cynthia was in full-swing, and if Maggie did not tread carefully, she would be slapped with a guilty verdict and a hefty sentence.

The container of orange juice came to rest beside her glass. She screwed on the lid slowly to give herself a moment to think. “I know, I know,” Maggie said at last. “I know I should be more careful. If it was the school year, I swear it wouldn’t happen, but I get bored and I lose track of it. I know I should be more responsible, okay. I’m sorry. I won’t do it this month.” She met her mother’s eye, knowing how much Cynthia valued strength of character.

A few moments passed and Cynthia relented. “All right, Maggie,” she said. Her fingers were immediately back to work on the keyboard. Crisis averted.

Rick crossed to the kitchen counter with the steaming pan in his hand. He shoveled two eggs onto his and Maggie’s plate and then just one onto Cynthia’s. “Close call,” he whispered to Maggie with a wink.

As far as stepparents went, Rick was pretty cool. He met Cynthia at court. She was a high-powered attorney. He was a small business owner suing his landlord over a rent dispute. Apparently, she dropped her briefcase in the hallway, and he picked it up for her. Rick described the chance meeting as “magnetic,” and Cynthia said he was “goofy cute.” Two years later, and Maggie had a new stepdad moving into the house. She was 7 years old when they got married, but he had won her over pretty quickly. The man could cook.

Besides, her parents had one of the most amicable divorces that Maggie had ever heard about -- definitely compared to all the celebrity divorces she read. Maggie’s parents, Cynthia and Andy, got together when they were in law school. It seemed like they had everything in common, and Andy was the nicest, most loving man that Cynthia had ever met. He proposed just before they graduated, and they were married in a massive ceremony at Andy’s parents home in Napa Valley. After two years together, Cynthia got pregnant with Maggie, and Andy proved to be a better father than Cynthia could have even hoped for her daughter to have.

Unfortunately, their marriage wasn’t perfect. Despite their complementary personalities, Andy and Cynthia never quite had the passionate spark that either of them wanted. They began seeing a marriage counselor, and after a lot of soul-searching, Andy came to terms with the fact that he was gay. It was a shock to Cynthia, who had always been the more analytical of the two. There were a lot of pained, tearful conversations on both sides. There was no doubt that Andy loved her, really loved her, but at his core, he realized that he was not attracted to his wife in the way that a heterosexual man would be. The two struggled with what to do for some time. Andy was not ready to come out to his conservative parents, and Cynthia had just taken a job at an extremely lucrative law firm in Destiny City. The couple was in the middle of a major move and had an infant daughter to worry about. In the end, they decided to stay together, but have an open marriage in secret.

This arrangement worked until Maggie was five years old. By then, Andy had fallen in love with a nutritionist named Tyrell, and Cynthia was tired of pretending to be happily married in front of her work colleagues. Together, they sat Maggie down to explain why the marriage was ending, what it meant for her, and how much they all still loved each other. Maggie and Cynthia stayed in their suburban house on the outskirts of Destiny City, and Andy moved into Tyrell’s apartment downtown. Now Maggie had more loving parents than a kid could ask for, which she appreciated most days. Other days, it just meant that she had four people crawling all over her with their judgments.

But Maggie was focusing on the positive -- because it was summer and summer was awesome.

The family ate breakfast quickly. Cynthia never stopped typing on her keyboard until the alarm went off to tell her to head to work. She ignored the plate of food that Rick had made, instead grabbing a PowerBar on her way to the door. “I’m sorry, sweetie,” she said, kissing him on the cheek. “Duty calls -- I’ll save time for eggs tomorrow.” In a flurry of suit jacket and briefcase, she was out the door in a minute.

Rick glanced over the table to Maggie. “I’ll go 3 to 5 odds she’ll eat eggs tomorrow,” he said, shoveling Cynthia’s uneaten food on to his plate.

Maggie took another bite of hashbrowns, finger dragging down the face of her iPhone. “I’ll go same odds -- but that she’ll just eat the toast.”

“You’re on,” Rick said.

“Oh, Rick, you are such an optimist.” Maggie pointed at him with her fork and then took another bite of eggs. “And a chef.”

“Danke,” he said, quickly finishing up his plate and taking all the empty dishes to the sink. “So am I going to see you at the store this afternoon?” Rick ran a library bistro -- basically a cafe where you could check out books in the back. The place was actually pretty cool, but Maggie was still a little too young to appreciate it. Besides, it was her stepdad’s place. Her idea of a good time was not chatting with her friends when a parental was within earshot.

“Probably not today,” she said. “I’m meeting Meredith for brunch and then some shopping.”

The sink hissed to life, and Rick began rinsing dishes. Maggie brought hers over to him. “Just don’t rack up too much on the credit card. Your mother nearly had an aneurysm when she saw that $300 bill from The Gap.”

“It was back to school shopping!”

“It was May.”

“I got an early start. Your stepdaughter is no procrastinator.”

“You wear a uniform to school.”

Maggie opened her mouth and then closed it. “Touche, Rick. You are a gentleman and a scholar.”

“Mags, I’m serious,” he said, turning off the water. “Your mother is really stressed right now at work. Let’s not add anything extra on her plate, okay?”

“Aye, aye, captain! I will be my most frugal."



Three hours later, Maggie and Meredith were walking down the street, arms heavy with bags. There had been sales at all of Maggie’s favorite stores, which were, of course, mostly every store. It would be a month before her mother saw the charges on her account, and by then, Maggie would come up with a convincing reason for all of her purchase. If she had to, she would make a PowerPoint presentation. She had done it before.

For now, she and Meredith were giggling over two cute boys who had flirted with them in The Gap and trying to decide whether they wanted to go to Starbucks or a local place for a drink. “That guy would NOT stop looking at you,” Meredith said. “In some countries, you would be, like, married by now.” She was a tall girl with bright red hair and thick-rimmed glasses. Meredith went to Meadowview, and so the girls didn’t see each other as much now that they were in high school.

Maggie waved her words away. “Yeah, but the other one was cuter. And when we left the store, he said ‘hey’ to you.” She was in good spirits. The teenager was high on shopping and drama and was on her way for a caffeine fix.

Up ahead, Meredith spotted two familiar shapes. “Oh my god,” she said, grabbing Maggie and pulling her behind a tree lining the street. “That’s them! Look -- the two guys, that is so them. Do you think they are following us? You might get that marriage proposal yet.” The giggles that spilled out of her were especially shrill.

Peeking around the corner, Maggie glanced at the two guys Meredith had seen. She squinted her eyes -- yep, it was definitely them. She recognized the Sovereign Heights t-shirt on one and black button-up on the other. The taller of the boys seemed to sense their eyes and glanced over to where Maggie and Meredith were hidden. He smiled, and Maggie jumped, darting back behind the tree.

“Did they see us looking?” Meredith asked. “Oh, they probably think we are the dumbest. Did they see us? Did they?”

“Shh!” Maggie said. She waited a second and then peeked again. The two guys were slipping around the corner into an alley. “They went into an alley, weird.”

“Why would they go into an alley?”

Maggie turned to face Meredith, her eyes dancing with glee. “Sounds like we should find out,” she said. “Come on!” Painted nails gripped on to Meredith’s wrist and began tugging her in the direction of the alley. They were still carrying bags, but there was no good place to put them.

“Maggie, are you sure about this?” Meredith asked. She was plodding along, straining against the grip her friend had on her. “I don’t think my dad would be happy to know I slipped into an alley with two strange boys.”

“Your father is unhappy if you get an A- on your report card. He never has to know. And besides, we aren’t following them into the alley. We’re just going to go see what they’re up to, that’s all.” Adventure was no stranger to Maggie. She had the curious heart of Harriet the Spy, and once she decided to look into it, she was difficult to dissuade.

The two girls crept along the wall, stopping just on one side of the alley. It was early afternoon, and people swarmed through the street. The alley, however, was silent. Slowly, very slowly, Maggie peeked one eye around the corner and -- there was nothing there. She stood straight up and walked several steps into the alley, bags bumping against her legs. “Weird, where did they go?” she asked. Meredith came up beside her.

“Right here, ladies.” The voice came from above, and Maggie looked up just in time to see a boy dressed in red and black descend from the fire escape. He landed with a thud between the girls and the exit to the street. “So nice of you to follow us back here.” Another thud. A boy in electric blue and brown landed beside him.

The boys stepped forward, forcing Meredith and Maggie to step back. Maggie subconsciously took a step in front of Meredith. “Oh, sorry, we just got a little turned around,” she said, as calmly as she could manage. “We’re just on our way to the subway, if you’ll excuse us.” She tried to step forward.

The boy in red and black shoved her backwards so hard that her bags flew from her arms, spilling blouses and shoeboxes. Maggie landed hard, a bloody red gash springing up on the back of her thigh. Meredith managed to step out of the way. “Please, it’s okay, we can leave. We won’t tell anyone, I swear,” she said, tears welling up behind her thick glasses.

The other boy grinned at her. He took a step forward, brushing her cheek with his hand. “I know you won’t, sweetheart,” he said, voice almost a whisper. In a flash, he thrust his hand out, piercing right through Meredith’s chest. Maggie erupted in a scream, so blood-curdling that both boys jumped. The one who had his hand in Meredith’s chest pulled it back quickly, a small glow bouncing in his palm.

“Let’s go,” the red and black boy said. “But shut her up.” He leaped up to the fire escape again and scrambled up to the roof, out of sight. The blue and brown boy ran at Maggie and kicked her in the face before she had time to react. The last thing that she thought before she slipped into unconsciousness was how crisp the sound of her skull hitting the pavement sounded, almost like a bell ringing.



Two days later, Maggie Lawrence woke up in a hospital bed. Her arm was sore where the IV punctured her skin, and there was a throbbing in her head unlike anything she had felt before. Her lips slurred out an inaudile word.

“My god, she’s awake -- Tyrell, go get Cynthia, run!”

Even in her drugged out state, Maggie knew the sound of her father’s voice. A warm hand found its way into hers, rubbing gentle circles into her palm. “Dad,” she stammered. Then, a little stronger: “Daddy?” The tears sprung to her eyes before she could see clearly.

Her father was crouched beside her, smoothing her hair from her eyes. “It’s okay, baby. You’re okay. I promise -- everything is going to be okay. I love you, oh honey, I love you so much.” His voice was pleading, scared. It was not a side of her father that she was used to seeing.

The door to her hospital room slammed open. She could tell by the frantic click of heels on the tiled floor that it was her mother, long before she felt her smooth hands gripping her arm. “Maggie, oh my little girl, sweetheart, we are all here -- Dad and me and Rick and Tyrell. I called your grandparents. They are on the first flight out, and Aunt Susan is packing up your cousins as we speak. I told the office that I would be out until further notice, and they are letting me work from home. I got Laura on the phone, and she said Dr. Bob could come by and see you every day until you feel better.” Cynthia was speaking so quickly that she had to stop to breathe. But this was what she did. Crisis happened, and she took action.

Wet splashes of tears fell on her arms -- both of them. She was shrouded in crying parents. Tyrell’s voice was the next she heard. “Maggie, take all the time you need to say anything. We aren’t going anywhere.” Rick didn’t say anything, but she could feel him there. He was the strong, silent type anyway.

Minutes felt like hours, but then the doctor arrived. He checked Maggie over, adjusted her bed to a seated position, and then finally said, “Maggie, we kept you under for the night to make sure you didn’t have any internal bleeding, but the police have been waiting to speak with you.” Her mother guffawed at her side, but the doctor did not pay attention to it. “If you are able to, it would be good to talk to them now. If you aren’t ready, they can wait.” He paused, giving her a few seconds to process the information. She appreciated this immediately about him.

Her vision had cleared. She could see the four huddled parents, all wearing their own version of a concerned expression. Rick was leaning against the far wall, brooding. She didn’t expect him to say anything. No, he would be the one to do anything and everything to take her mind off of it. Tyrell had his hands on his hips, eyes flipping around the room. There was no doubt in her mind that he was already planning all the helpful things he could do to take stress off of everyone else. She was certain he would purchase her a new gadget to play with before the week was done. Her parents, on the other hand, were like open wounds -- weeping and surface. They tended to process their feelings in the same way, especially when it came to her. Just seeing them so destroyed brought a lump to her throat.

The doctor stood at the center of them all, still waiting. Maggie drew in a deep breath and then exhaled. “Maybe they could talk to Meredith first. It would give me a chance to get my head together,” she said. All the air in the room seemed to disappear. It was like everyone around her was holding their breath.

Maggie’s brow furrowed. She looked from her mother over to her father. Her parents shared an uncertain glance. Finally, her mother said, “Maggie, honey, do you remember what happened? In the alley?” There was an uncharacteristic wiggle in her voice. It sounded unnatural.

Maggie thought back to the last thing she remembered. She had gone shopping with Meredith. They were on their way to Starbucks or something when they had seen those two cute boys. The alley. Two different boys, mean boys. One of them had shoved her. Her palms grew sweaty in her parents’ grasps. Meredith had tried to reason with them and -- the image of a bright light ripped from her friend’s chest flared in Maggie’s mind. Her breath shuddered, tears spilling immediately.

“Meredith’s dead?” she said, voice cracking. “Is she dead?”

Her father’s grip tightened on her hand, but it was the doctor who answered. “I’m afraid so, Maggie. She did not make it.” Not make it? It wasn’t like she was MIA for a movie date, or too sick to go to a dance. She was dead. Permanently dead.

A wail split Maggie’s chest. She ripped her hands away from her parents and covered her face, sobbing so hard it made her throat hurt. The doctor excused himself from the room. “I made her go to the alley,” she stuttered. “It was me! She said it was a stupid idea! But I told her we should just check where they had gone! It was two in the afternoon! There were people everywhere!” Her cries echoed down the hallway of the hospital. All four parental figures took turns trying to calm her down. Eventually, she exhausted herself with crying and fell asleep.

It was several more hours before Maggie was finally able to see the police. They were kind with her, gentle. Unfortunately, these kind of conversations were fairly common in Destiny City. They took down her notes, but paused when she mentioned the glowing light. One remarked to her parents that it was common for confusion in head trauma reports. He said it quietly, but it still bothered her.

Of course, her mother immediately began lamenting staying in Destiny City after the crime wave. It didn’t mean that they would move, just that she felt guilty. Cynthia’s high profile lawyer job was specific to Destiny City. She had put in for transfers before, but most of the senior partners were doing the exact same thing. It didn’t take her long to realize that just staying in DC might be enough to skyrocket her to upper management in the firm. Most of the employees in the company were staying for similar reasons. There was even a special stipend for ‘extenuating circumstances.’ In just the few years since the crime wave had started, Cynthia’s salary had nearly doubled. She would not be able to match that success anywhere else.

Yet here was her daughter suffering for her choices. Maggie could see the pain in her mother’s face, but she was too upset to do anything about it. The Lawrence Family had been lucky. They had never been victims before, not even a little bit, the entire time they had lived in Destiny City. For the first time, Maggie felt a prickle of fear to live in this place. She had been protected from its dangers for so long. Now she had seen it face to face, and her friend had died. The memory was a lump in her throat.

It was another day before the hospital released Maggie. They had to make sure that the kick to the head had not caused any permanent damage. So far, it seemed like she was just going to have to face the two black eyes from the kick to the face... and right before school started. It was something she would fret about in no time, but for now, she was lost in the chill of her emotions.

Her parents took turns watching over her in shifts. She could barely get up to the bathroom without one of them rushing in to see what had happened. After a few days, Andy and Tyrell went back to their apartment, and Cynthia and Rick returned to normal work hours. She was still recovering when Meredith’s parents held the funeral. Her parents went in her place, and Maggie was grateful for it. She couldn’t face her friends, not right then.

By the time school started back up, Maggie would have a plan for coping with the loss. She would have to tell the story of what happened, and it was time for her to figure out just how much she wanted to tell. All the girl knew was that the pain in her stomach was too much for her to bear. Meredith was not her best friend. Meredith was really a pretty new friend, one she had only begun to get close to, but it didn’t take away the horror of what had happened.

Little by little, Maggie took steps back to her old self. It started with Twitter: