Peter was surprised that Noa allowed him to visit. After being turned away so many times with his parents, he was getting used to disappointment.

When Peter entered the small room, Noa was drawing. He’d been given some charcoals and paper, and it looked like he’d gone to town. There was a stack of art next to Noa on the bed and currently…

Currently, he was colouring an entire page black.

Peter took that as a sign to tread carefully. He wanted to go easy on Noa, especially if he was in a bad mood. Noa hadn’t turned him away and he didn’t want that to change.

This was going to be a difficult conversation.

“Hey, Noa,” Peter said. “I wanted to have a quick visit and ask you some things. Is that okay?”

Noa nodded, dark eyes flicking up only briefly before darting back down. He looked sicklier than when Peter last saw him. He was paler and ragged, hunched over the overbed table. He continued to scribble away at his paper.

Peter pulled up a chair that was off to the side and took a seat.

“How are you doing?” Peter began, trying to ease into the conversation.

“Horrible,” Noa said.

Not a good sign. But he didn’t expect Noa to be okay. At least he was willing to talk and that was a step in the right direction.

“Fair enough,” Peter said. “I’m sorry things aren’t going well.”

Noa let out a noncommittal hum. He was going hard on the small stub of charcoal pinched between his fingers.

“I’m happy you’re letting me visit,” Peter continued. “Mom and Dad are really worried about you. Do you think you’d be okay with them stopping by tonight?”

Noa nodded, still scribbling away at the page.

“I’ll let them know,” Peter said. “They’ll be happy.”

He felt like he was having a one-sided conversation again. Closed-off Noa was back. It was good that their family could visit again, but Noa was back to square one.

And right now, Peter needed to talk to Noa. Because he needed the truth.

He was sure that Rion was lying. He was so sure. After all, how could Rion drop a blow dryer in the bathtub with Amber? How could he do something like that after what happened to his mom? It didn’t make sense. It didn’t line up.

Rion was a good person. He had to be. He’d been protecting Noa all this time, taking beatings from Sarina just because of a friendship bracelet. He wasn’t the kind of person who would hurt anyone.

Peter was sure Noa would agree.

“I’ve been visiting Rion a lot,” Peter said.

Noa stopped scribbling and looked up. His expression was flat, but Peter could tell he was interested, attentive, studying him.

“I saw him just now, with everyone else,” Peter said. “We were talking, and… I have some things I want to ask you.”

“Why?” Noa said. “What did he say?”

Peter took a breath and let it out slowly. There was no easy way to say it and he had to brace himself. He hoped that it wouldn’t do too much damage to Noa. Maybe he could call Dr. Maes if things went wrong.

“Rion said he killed Amber,” Peter said.

Noa sat up straight, stiff as a board.

“That’s a lie,” he said.

Peter was relieved. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. He smiled faintly in relief. But he couldn’t get too excited. Not yet.

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Peter said. “You were there. You know the truth–”

“What else did he say?” Noa cut him off. “What did he tell you?”

“He… Well, it was uncomfortable,” Peter said. “I don’t know if you want to hear it.”

“I do. Tell me.”

Peter didn’t think Noa was ready to hear what Rion said. But the way he was looking at Peter… He didn’t think Noa would let it go or be willing to change the subject. Peter knew better than anyone just how stubborn Noa could be.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m not saying anything else unless you tell me what Rion said.”

That was a problem for Peter. As much as he didn’t want to, he had to concede. It was that or sit with a silent Noa.

“Okay. Fine,” Peter said. He hesitated, carefully considered his words. “Rion said… He said that Amber went for a walk with the two of you and that she slipped on the trail behind the cabin and hit her head. The two of you brought her inside, and he… He said that he electrocuted her in the bathtub. He said he was trying to fix things somehow…”

Even though Peter tried to keep it short, he still felt uncomfortable saying it. And he felt even worse that he was saying it to Noa.

But Noa… His gaze was turned down, eyes darting around. His face was impossibly white and he was picking away at the charcoal stub between his fingers. He looked shocked, uncomfortable, and Peter immediately felt guilty.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said. “Are you okay? I tried to warn you…”

“It’s a lie,” Noa said firmly. “That’s not what happened. Rion is lying.”

“Okay,” Peter said. His relief was held back by Noa’s strong reaction. “That’s good. I know he’s not that kind of person…”

“Rion is good,” Noa said. “He’s a great friend. He would never do anything bad. He didn’t kill Amber. Never. He would never do something like that.”

“Can you tell me what happened then?” Peter asked.

Noa opened his mouth then closed it and shook his head.

“Please?” Peter tried. “Rion told this story to all of us, even Jesse. He’s really upset. We all loved Amber, and…if there’s anything you remember…”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Noa said.

He curled in on himself, lowering his head. Noa looked like he wanted to escape. Hoping that his parents would have a chance at visiting later, Peter decided it was better to drop it.

“Okay,” he said. “That’s okay. I understand.”

“Don’t be mad at Rion,” Noa said. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m not mad,” Peter said.  “I know he’s trying to be a good friend, in his own way.”

“He is,” Noa said.  “I…I don’t want to talk anymore. You’re coming back later?”

“I will. With Mom and Dad.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Peter repeated, getting up. “I’ll see you tonight. Take care.”

He left Noa and headed back out.

Peter was satisfied but also felt guilty. Noa had agreed to speak to him and then they’d just talked about something really upsetting.

But Noa said it was a lie. He had to be telling the truth.

It lined up. Everything made sense. Rion couldn’t have put Amber in the bathtub. He couldn’t have put the blow dryer in there with her. There was just no way.

Peter made it back down to the others. They were waiting for him. Celeste and Danny were staring down glumly at their coffee but Jesse looked like he could burn a hole through something with the intense stare he had fixed on the table.

“It’s a lie,” Peter announced as he came and sat back in his seat. “Noa said so.”

Celeste heaved a breath of relief and Danny let out a small laugh.

“Yeah. Figures,” Danny said. “That settles it then.”

“Noa said Rion was lying?” Jesse asked.

He didn’t look any happier. He was staring Peter down.

“Yes,” Peter said. “He told me that Rion would never do something like that. So there you go. There’s your answer.”

“What happened then?” Jesse asked.

“He didn’t want to talk about it,” Peter replied.

“Oh…” Danny said, blinking. “That makes sense, but… He didn’t say anything? Nothing?”

“Just that it was a lie and that Rion is a good person,” Peter said. “I wasn’t going to force him to talk. I already felt bad telling him what Rion told us. Noa… Noa isn’t okay. I don’t want to upset him even more.”

Noa was basically locked in a room in the pediatric psychiatric ward. It was obvious that he wasn’t well and that he was struggling. The fact that he hurt Rion and then refused to even see his family… Clearly he wasn’t okay.

Peter felt bad enough asking. He wasn’t going to pressure Noa into anything else.

“But what if Noa is lying,” Jesse said.

“What?” Peter said, feeling his eyebrows rising. “Are you serious?”

“Rion is his best friend. You think he wouldn’t try to protect him too? If he did something wrong?” Jesse said.

“It’s almost like you want Rion to have been telling the truth,” Peter said, finally getting fed up with Jesse. He didn’t want to admit that he had a point. “There is no reason for Rion to be telling the truth, okay?”

“Of course I don’t want it to be true,” Jesse said. “I want you to be right, Peter. I really, really do! More than anything… But I just… Something’s not right. Don’t you feel that way too?”

“Guys,” Danny said. “Guys, come on… Let’s…”

“Don’t fight,” Celeste added.

“We’re not fighting,” Peter said.

“I’m perfectly calm,” Jesse said, though his stiff tone made Peter suspect otherwise.

“Let’s take a break,” Danny said. “Let’s all go home and just…have some water and air and breathe. This had been a lot and with everything Rion said… I’m spent.”

“Me too,” Celeste agreed. “I just want to go home and cry into a pillow. I can’t think about this anymore…”

“Fine,” Peter said.

“Talk to your parents,” Jesse told him, jabbing a finger at him. “I don’t care what Noa said. I want to know what your parents know.”

“Of course I’ll ask them,” Peter said. “We’ll settle this whole thing in no time.”

“Good,” Jesse said.