School is better the next day. I almost feel... normal, like the terrible events of the previous weekend didn't happen. Anxiety still hums as an undercurrent in my veins, but it isn't nearly as bad. I think my sessions with Amber have been helping.

Both Tuesday and Wednesday, she helped to show me that nothing ties me to Will's death. I was just there on the day when it occurred. I may have stumbled upon the body, but that doesn't make me a killer. It was simply a case of the wrong place and time. With nothing tying me to the second death, perhaps that could also indicate that I'm not Evan's killer, too.

Maybe that extra anxiety medication Amber put me on is finally kicking in.

I'm in the middle of my chemistry homework when the doorbell chimes. I roll off my bed and bound downstairs. Zoe is at the front door. I raise a hand to cover my eyes from the glinting, afternoon sunlight piercing my eyes behind her.

"I have some developments," she says.

"Oh?" For some reason, I feel less inclined to investigate. There's a strange peace that's come over me that I can't explain. I feel like maybe, just maybe, I'm not a killer.

Furthering the investigation may prove this newfound peace to be wrong.

"Yes. Is... is your mom home?"

"No, she's at work."

Zoe nods, then steps forward. I have to step away from the door to prevent her from running into me.

"Are you good?" Zoe asks, eyeing me. One hand clutches her backpack strap hanging over her shoulder.

"Yeah. why wouldn't I be?"

Zoe shrugs. "You just seem more happy and chill than usual. Not that that's a bad thing. It's just... different."

I shrug. "Well, I'm glad today is going better than previous days. Because there have been some really bad ones since, well, you know."

Zoe nods. "Yeah. You've seemed hyper stressed. I'm glad you're getting better." She hesitates. "Maybe this is a bad time."

"No, it's fine. Since you're here we might as well talk."

We walk upstairs to my room and sit down on the floor. Zoe grabs her laptop from her backpack.

"You won't believe what I discovered about the Barnes," she says. "Apparently, Mr. Barnes used to own a business. He had an enhanced sense, too, like his son, and could tell what sorts of chemicals are in the air just by smell. This helped him when he was creating pharmaceutical drugs."

"He had a pharmaceutical drug company?"

"Uh-huh. Ring a bell with the xanax?"

I nod. "Where's Mr. Barnes now?"

"Prison."

My jaw goes slack. "What? What happened?"

"There was a huge scandal with his company, and he got in trouble for fraud."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"Wow." I rub my hands on my jeans.

"Isn't it lowkey weird that Evan died? Like what if someone targeted him on purpose because of what his dad did?"

"Maybe." My brow furrows. "So then it was just a coincidence that I stumbled onto him?"

"I guess so." Zoe shifts her position. "The way I see it, there's only two possibilities for motive here. Either someone had a problem with Evan and targeted him or someone targeted and tried to frame you."

I nod slowly. "Yeah. I mean... unless someone was targeting us both." Zoe considers this. "I mean, if we're throwing out hypotheticals, that would be the last conclusion to draw. That, or someone wasn't targeting either of us. But I don't really know how that would work."

"Yes," Zoe says. "But you don't know Evan, right?" I shake my head. "So there's nothing tying the two of you together."

"Right. I suppose we could try speaking to Mrs. Barnes though, just to be sure."

Zoe scrunches her nose. "No way. I don't want to speak to any more adults."

"That makes two of us," I chuckle.

Zoe's eyes drift to her computer screen. I can only see half of her browser window, but she seems to have an article up talking about the Barnes' pharmaceutical scandal.

"The only other thought that crossed my mind was if your mom happened to investigate the big drug scandal." Zoe looks at me. "Did your mom ever mention anything like that?"

I shake my head. "No. She keeps all that under lock and key." Zoe laughs. "No, really. She has this giant filing cabinet in her room and she has a key to it somewhere. It contains copies of all her case files."

"Every single one?" Zoe scrambles to sit upright. "Can we see if she has a pharmaceutical case?"

"Why?" After what happened the last time I went snooping in Mom's room, I don't want to get mixed up in anything that could drive a wedge between us. And going through her old case files is definitely off limits, not even a slight gray area.

"It could be the clue we need tying you and Evan together. Perhaps more than fate matched you two up."

"You think it's possible for an external party to manipulate the match in Souldate?" I ask.

"I hadn't actually considered that, but now that you mention it, that would make sense."

"It would explain that extra message I got," I say. "It seems to me that I was matched twice. Maybe the first match was with someone else, then someone hacked the app and changed my match to Evan."

"Then," Zoe continues, "The person ensured they were there to kill Evan right before your date in the auditorium. But whoever did that would've had to have known that both you and Evan had the dating app."

"That leads us back to the drama club members and Evan's previous dates, and whoever his previous dates told." I sigh, resting my chin in my hands. That's a much wider pool than I'd like. "But who among those people would've also known that I had the dating app?"

Zoe snorts. "Madelyn, everyone knew you had the dating app."

My cheeks erupt in flames of embarrassment. "Seriously?"

"According to Priya, Adrian texted, like, the whole school about it. Not a single person didn't know."

I want to curl into myself from humiliation. I guess that's part of the dare's "fun:" public humiliation.

Eager to change topics, I voice the next thought that comes to mind. "We also have to consider who would have the necessary tech skills in order to pull off such a stunt."

"Maybe we can find out who does theater tech among the drama club members. Have you talked to any of the other drama club members individually to see what they think of Evan? Like if he could've been doing xanax or some other type of drug? He certainly could've gotten a hold of it easily given that his dad and mom worked in pharmaceuticals."

"I've only talked to Hannah," I say.

"Oh, right."

"But maybe a conversation with Pierce is in order. He gave me his number, unlike the other drama club members."

"I might be able to talk to some of them, too, if you tell me their names and where I might be able to find them."

I quickly type a text to Pierce. Hey, I was kind of curious about the drama club. Do you think we could meet up sometime this weekend to talk about it?

"Ooh," Zoe says. Her chin is hanging over my shoulder. "Looks like someone might be going on a second date."

"Not funny. It's just to get information."

"Turning into a femme fatale, are we?"

I chuckle, shaking my head. After a moment, another thought comes to mind. "Wait, wasn't Drake on the theater tech crew?"

"That sounds right."

"Hmm. Maybe it's time that we had another conversation with him."

"We need to be better prepared if we do that again."

"Maybe we can just ask some questions about how theater tech was for him. Then we can assess whether he has the skills to hack SoulDate and manipulate the matches. If we're tactful about it, we may even be able to slip in some questions about where he was three Fridays ago, and last Saturday." My brow wrinkles. "But that's the weird thing in all of this. Even if there is a connection between me and Evan, how does it fit in with Will's murder?"

"Was it a murder?" Zoe asks.

I blink at her. "Yes. I overheard the police saying something about poisoning. Also, when his mom came, she was super mad because his wallet was gone. The police couldn't find any identification on him at first, and I had to tell them his name."

"It could've been a robbery," Zoe says without any conviction.

"Usually poison wouldn't be the weapon of choice," I say. "There's also the dead snake found right by him."

"Was he bit by the snake?"

"I don't think so."

Zoe shakes her head. "It's all just so weird."

"I know."

"Well, I still say it could be a coincidence," Zoe says after a beat. "But we can still try to find out if Drake has an alibi for Saturday. He doesn't have one for Evan's murder, though. Luke, the boy from Drake's high school, emailed me and said that he didn't see Drake's name on the sign-up sheet that week. He seems to be there every other week, so there is a pattern to it."

"An awfully convenient pattern," I murmur. "It's so close to an alibi, yet so far off."

"Absolutely." Zoe bites her lip, then abruptly turns back to her computer.

My eyes narrow. "Did Luke's email mention anything else?" Zoe shrugs, though a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips. I grin. "He asked you out, right?"

"Maybe."

"He did." I nudge her with my elbow. "I told you so. Are you going?"

Zoe nods. "It's this Sunday. He's competing in a skateboarding tournament, and he asked if I wanted to come watch. It's at the park."

"Sounds like fun. I told you, I'm passing the dates over to you."

"Yeah, right." Zoe rolls her eyes, but I can see the excitement shining in them.

My phone screen lights up with a text. Pierce has replied with: Sure. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?

I type, "yes, what time?" and send it. A minute later, he responds with "four o'clock."

It looks like Zoe has her date set and I have mine.