The girls meet at their usual cafeteria table. Peyton comes in late and sits down without food.
Kinslee
Hey, where were you first period?
Peyton
Late. I don’t want to be here.
Cassie
None of us do. It feels wrong. I can barely sit in class.
Kinslee
You’re not going to eat?
Peyton
Not hungry. And if one more person comes up to me to tell me they know why Ella killed herself, I’m going to snap.
Cassie
What have you heard?
Peyton
That she was sleeping with a teacher and he dumped her.
Kinslee
Oh, no. I heard that she was pregnant and couldn’t face telling her family.
Cassie
That’s horrible. Do these people really think any of that could be true?
Peyton
People like to think the worst. They live for drama.
Cassie
Hey, I wanted to wait until we were all together to tell you…
Cassie
Well, I told Dad what we thought about Ethan.
Cassie
And he said they pulled up street cam footage and found them a few blocks away from the party, with Ella in his car. And then another one closer to the frat house.
Kinslee
What? So she was really with him?
Peyton
Are they bringing him in for questioning?
Cassie
They already did. There was nothing in his story that was off—
Cassie
The cameras showed his car taking Ella back to her house at three that morning. He was wearing a hoodie, but they could see Ella’s face.
Cassie
That’s it. He picked her up from the party. Four hours later, he dropped her off at her house.
Kinslee
That doesn’t explain how she died—
Kinslee
That doesn’t tell us why those pills were scattered across her bed.
Peyton
Ashton’s snapchat. Look at the photo in his story—
Peyton
He took it the night Ella died.
Kinslee
That’s at the frat house?
Peyton
Yeah. They had a party.
Cassie
Is that who I think it is?
Kinslee
What’s the timestamp?
Peyton
Almost one in the morning.
Cassie
Look at that girl behind Ethan — that looks like Ella’s hair.
Peyton
It IS her. That’s the skirt she was wearing.
Kinslee
Ella was at a frat party? With her sister’s boyfriend?
Kinslee
Was Ava even there?
Peyton
She’s not in any of these photos.
Cassie
Wait. That’s not what Ella was wearing in the photo my dad showed me—
Cassie
She was wearing something different at three when he took her home.
Cassie
Positive. She wasn’t wearing that.
Kinslee
Does Ethan have a room at the frat house?
Peyton
Yes. I asked Ashton.
Cassie
Have you asked Ashton if he knows anything else?
Cassie
I mean, if Ella was there, wouldn’t he have said something to you?
Peyton
Maybe he didn’t see her. There are a ton of people in these photos…
Peyton
And that’s the only one with Ethan and Ella.
Kinslee
So what were they doing there?
Kinslee
Ella’s never mentioned him, ever.
Cassie
You think it’s possible something was going on that we didn’t know about?
Peyton
I don’t know. But there’s another party this weekend on Halloween—
Peyton
We could look around, see if we could find Ethan’s room…
Peyton
Or ask if anyone else knows anything.
Cassie
How will we get in?
Cassie
Your brother’s going to recognize us — and so will Ethan.
Kinslee
It’s a Halloween party. We get some wigs, some masks—
Kinslee
No one will even look twice at us.
Cassie
You think this will work?
Peyton
It will. We have to do something.
On Friday night, the girls, dressed in costumes, arrive at the fraternity party.
Cassie
This is never going to work.
Peyton
Sure it is. We’ve made it through the front door—
Peyton
That was the hardest part.
Kinslee
No, the hardest part is going to be getting LESS attention than we are right now.
Cassie
Yeah, Peyton. Why’d you have to choose these outfits?
Cassie
They make us look like Anime hookers.
Peyton
Because you look so good in bubblegum pink hair down to your butt, Cass.
Kinslee
Yeah, and I can almost see your butt in these ridiculous skirts.
Cassie
It would be hilarious if we were here for fun…
Peyton
Quit complaining. The point was not to look like us.
Kinslee
Mission freaking accomplished. My own mother wouldn’t even know it was me.
Cassie
And when she did, she’d drop dead.
Peyton and Kinslee both stop and stare at Cassie.
Cassie
Oh. Right. Bad joke.
Peyton
Come on. Let’s find out if Ethan’s here.
Kinslee
Well, your brother is.
Cassie
There, by the keg.
Peyton
Let’s go the other way.
Kinslee
You know he’s staring at us, right?
Cassie
You think he recognizes us?
Kinslee
What? Is our cover blown?
Cassie
What’s worse than that?
Kinslee
Just spit it out, Peyton!
Peyton
That grin. That’s his charming face.
Cassie
Why would your brother be looking at us with his…oh, you’re kidding.
Peyton
Nope. Run. Hide. Now.
Kinslee
If your brother tries to hit on you, Peyton, I’m going to fall on the floor laughing.
Kinslee
Like, I almost want to see that — just to see you try to keep your cool and play along.
Peyton
No way in hell. Look, there are the stairs. Move.
Cassie
Look, there’s Ethan.
Peyton
Who’s he talking to? Wait. Is that…?
Kinslee
Why is Mr. Stevens here?
Cassie
I’m seeing things, right? Like, is our history teacher really at a frat party?
Peyton reaches out and grabs the nearest guy.
Peyton
Hey, who is Ethan talking to?
Boy
Um, that’s our alumni sponsor.
Boy
Yeah, he’s always around.
The boy walks away and Cassie turns to her friends.
Cassie
Guys, cameras — Mr. Stevens told Ethan he could pull up the cameras for proof.
Kinslee
Does that mean the house has them? We could see what Ella did here.
Peyton
He’s looking this way. You two, see if you can get upstairs.
Peyton
I’ll see if I can get closer to them, and distract Ethan if I need to.
Kinslee
Your brother’s coming this way, too.
Peyton
Before this all falls apart…
