My nerves are a jittery mess in the afternoon. One o'clock turns to two, then three. Then pretty soon, school has ended, and Zoe, Priya, Autumn and I are heading to the restaurant. We told our parents we were studying late after school so they wouldn't wonder where we are, and Mom took no issue with it since she has work.

After crossing two intersections, we arrive in a small shopping plaza. That's where the buffet is, a small, tan-stoned building sitting amidst the parking lot.

"So we all know where our stations are?" Zoe asks. We nod in unison. We stand on the walkway outside the buffet. Two large glass windows flank either side of the door with a small neon open sign hanging on the glass door. Peering inside, it looks empty.

"Priya, you'll be inside at a table facing the window," Zoe says. "I'll keep my eyes on the interior, and Autumn, you're going around the back."

"Will do." Autumn meanders toward the back of the restaurant.

A bell jangles overhead as we enter. Priya walks up to the counter first and pays for herself. She gets a drink cup and starts by filling it up, then puts some vegetable dishes on her plate. She hurries to a tall table by the window. While she unpacks her laptop, her eyes keep glancing around the parking lot in front of her.

Zoe goes next, assembling her plate and sliding into a booth at the far back of the store. Again, she pulls out her laptop. I barely see her behind the booth. She snacks on some chicken wings while watching the restaurant.

I walk up to the counter. My hands feel shaky, my body a jumble of nerves.

"H-hi," I stammer. "I'm waiting for someone."

"No problem. Take a seat anywhere."

I sit down by the front of the store, on the opposite side of Priya. I glance down at my phone. A message box pops up, enabling me to connect to the guest wifi. Moments later, a new message is popping up on my screen, a message from SoulDate. I click on it.

Sorry, I'm running a bit late today. Can you order us both a drink, and I'll pay you back when I get there?

I put my phone away, my brow creasing. My eyes drift to the drink fountain nearby, and my mouth waters. If I have to smell all this delicious food without him being here to begin eating, then I should at least get something sweet to sip on. Besides, the refills are unlimited. I pay for a drink and fill it to the brim with lemon-lime soda.

I sit back down, my fingers drumming on the table. I have fifteen minutes to go until four, but if he's running late, who knows how long it will take him to arrive.

My eyes drift to the time the message was sent, which is five minutes past three. Huh. Maybe he had a class run over today.

Not wanting to waste time, I pull my history textbook from my bag and try to read about the Medicis. It doesn't work. I can barely process a single word on the page. My eyes drift around to the empty buffet.

At five minutes to four, the bell jangles. I jump in my seat, whirling around. It's a man with two squealing kids. They pay for their meal and they start loading up their plates. Then, they sit in the corner, in the booth beside Zoe's. We make eye contact, and her lips press together.

Of all the booths to pick, they choose the one right beside someone else.

I turn back to my textbook. I manage to read half a page between checking the time on my phone.

Soon, it's twelve minutes past four.

At sixteen minutes, I give up on trying to read my textbook. It takes too many brain cells to concentrate. I go on Instagram for a bit, scroll mindlessly while watching the clock in the upper right hand corner slowly tick up.

Twenty-one. Twenty-three. Twenty-six.

Where is he?

Don't tell me he's going to stand me up. I get up from my seat and refill my twelve-ounce cup with Sprite, taking another sip. The sweet beverage tingles on my tongue.

The man and his kids actually finish eating, and his kids stop in the restroom before leaving. Zoe ducks in there after they leave.

Priya sends me a message. "Can you cover my post? I need to duck in the restroom, too."

I tell her yes, and she returns five minutes late, refilling her cup before returning to her seat. That's about all we can do, refill drinks and wait. And get more food, if Priya and Zoe's stomachs aren't bursting with food yet.

My date is officially forty-two minutes past time. I sigh, planting my elbows on the table and cupping my chin in my hands. Priya and Zoe get more food, pay less attention to the outside. Nothing's happening inside so it doesn't matter there.

At fifty-four minutes, the door jangles and a boy steps inside.

My eyes widen, and fire ignites in my cheeks. It's Isaac — the same boy I ran into the first day of school, knocking him and his lunch tray over. A fresh wave of embarrassment washes through me as I remember it. We stare at each other for a moment before he approaches, hands in his jean pockets.

"Hey, you wouldn't be here for a blind date, would you?"

I swallow, resisting the urge to reach for my sprite to help my dry mouth. "Yes."

"I am too. You're on SoulDate?" I nod. "Cool. Sorry I was late. I lost my phone and spent the past hour and a half trying to find it. He shakes his head. "Eventually I gave up."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I got you a drink."

"Oh, sweet. Thanks." He grabs the cup and fills it with cola. "Shall we pay for our food?"

"Sure."

"Actually, since you bought my drink, I'll buy you dinner?"

"Are you sure?" Warmth floods my cheeks again.

"Of course, no problem." He pulls out a twenty dollar bill and pays for us both. I excuse myself to duck into the restroom. After twenty-four ounces of sprite, my bladder is bursting.

I fill my plate with chicken wings, steak, veggies, pasta, salad, and a few miscellaneous dishes that seem interesting. We sit down at the table and talk for a bit.

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone I knew." Isaac takes a large bite of penne, his eyes drifting from his plate, to me, to the parking lot, then back to me.

"Yeah." My eyes seem glued to my plate, unable to make eye contact. It's been months but I still feel embarrassed about what happened. I lift my fork, busying myself with stabbing it into a carrot. "So sorry about what happened in the lunchroom."

"Don't worry, it's fine." He takes another bite, then pauses. "But you seemed more shaken than I'd have expected. Was everything okay?"

"Yeah. I was just... startled." Best not to get into mental health problems on a first date.

We chat about all sorts of things. He's surprisingly easy to talk to. We discuss school, his job after school, hobbies, TV shows. The conversation is going well, and I'm actually enjoying myself, when I realize he's here, right here, talking to me unlike all the former dates I went on. No one has attempted to kill him yet. Everything is going... surprisingly well.

Maybe I could see myself dating him. Or maybe he's more of a guy-friend type. Hey, it never hurts to have an extra friend.

I glance around, but I don't see anyone else in the restaurant. And we're still talking. I haven't killed him.

The strangest flurry of hope flutters in my chest. Maybe I'm not a killer after all. Maybe the other deaths were accidents.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a boy enter the room. He sprays a nearby table, then wipes the surface with a white cloth. I do a double take when I realize that it is Drake. He keeps his head down as his arm moves in a large circular motion, trying to stay inconspicuous I suppose, but once I notice him, it's impossible to keep the thoughts from swirling through my head.

Wait, Drake works here? That explains his location on Friday nights. Could he work on Saturdays too? But wait, why wouldn't his sister know about that?

"Madelyn? You good?"

Realizing I've been staring at Drake, I quickly look back at Isaac. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay. You just seemed a little spacy."

"Sorry." Heat returns to my cheeks.

We get some more food and drinks, talk some more. Before I know it, it's after six o'clock.

"Woah," Isaac says, looking down at his watch. "Time really does fly. This has been fun."

"It has. I enjoyed it more than I expected in all honesty."

"Especially with all the weird stuff that's been going on with the app." Isaac shakes his head. "First Evan, then Will."

I stiffen but try to be cool. "Will was also using the app?"

Isaac nods. "Heard it was a dare."

"Why did you use it?"

Isaac takes a sip of cola, motioning with his hand as he swallows. "A dare. You?"

"A dare."

Isaac shakes his head. "Part of me was scared to death. But a dare's a dare."

"Yup." I want to ask who dared him, but it feels like prying too much. People typically don't share that with each other, unless the person who gave the dare brags about it.

"Anyway, this has been fun. I'd love to hang out with you again some time."

"For sure." We exchange numbers. I feel a tingle of excitement. As they say, third time's the charm. I might even get a second date this time.

"I have to get to my job at the movie theater. Friday night shift starts at seven," Isaac says.

"Oh, yes, of course." I glance around me to get my things, then realize I don't have my purse.

"Is something wrong?"

"I, uh," I look around some more. "I just seem to have misplaced my purse."

"Huh." We bend over, looking under the table and on all the chairs. The chairs scrape the ground as I pull them out, only to see vacant plastic seats.

Then I suddenly remember taking it into the restroom. "Oh, I think I left it in the restroom. Excuse me one moment." I quickly walk across the restaurant, past the buffet line of dishes, past Zoe who gives me a curious look, into the single-stall bathroom. Sure enough, my bag is sitting on the sink counter. I grab it and sheepishly return to my seat.

"Found it." I sit back down.

"That's good." Isaac glances again at his watch. "Actually, I could go to the bathroom real quick before heading to work." He rises from the table and heads to the restroom. When the door closes, Zoe rushes toward me from across the room.

"The date is almost over and nothing has happened!" she exclaims. Her expression teeters between excited and confused.

"Thank goodness," I murmur, taking another sip of sprite.

"But seriously, it completely blows our theory."

"Hypothesis," I correct.

Zoe rolls her eyes. "Other than us and that one family, no one has entered the buffet."

Zoe's eyes shift to the door as a few people walk in. They look like they could be college students. Zoe shakes her head.

"No one up until now," she amends.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I certainly think it's a good thing. It's a sign that maybe I've been wrong this whole time. Maybe I'm not a killer.

And then I feel it. I wouldn't have even noticed before with this many people buzzing around. But I feel this vacancy on my skin, where an energy had just radiated. Amidst the buzz of all the new energies from the people have just entered, I feel one go dead. My face deadpans.

"What is it?" Zoe asks.

I swallow. If no one has left the restaurant, that can only mean...

"We have to check the bathroom," I say.

"What? And creep on a guy?"

I hurry across the room, pushing past another group that has entered the room. Vaguely, I hear Zoe say, "excuse us."

Once in front of the bathroom, my knuckles wrap against the door. "Is anyone in there?"

Silence, except for my beating heart. I feel it pulsing against my ribcage. I hold my breath.

Ten seconds pass before I wrap on the door again. My knuckles hurt from the impact, but I'm desperate.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?"

"What seems to be the trouble?" The woman from the front counter is beside me. Behind her, I see ten pairs of concerned eyes staring at us.

"The door is locked," I say. My throat tightens, threatening to swallow the words.

"Let me see." She knocks calmly but firmly against the door. "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

I can now hear a rush inside, a gushing of water. It continues for several seconds before the woman grabs her keys and unlocks the door.

A scream tears from my lungs. Isaac is doubled over the sink, his hands inside of it while his forehead is pressed against the mirror in front of him.

He isn't moving.