As ludicrous as it sounds, I've always lived a very boring version of the life I imagined for myself.

><><><

BOOK NOTES

(with input from Rebecca)

· Rebecca says I can't call the book 'Getting Away with Murder.' I think Brianne would agree with her but it's still an idea.

· We have to address Rebecca's blog from forever ago??

· Maybe Rebecca could write the foreword for the book and then the rest is in my voice with her input.

· Write it in my own voice/style and don't worry about being perfect; that's what an editor is for.

· Okay, some events to include/describe/whatever:

· Rebecca falling off the treadmill and me just 'happening' to be there

· Drew Parley account creation (maybe leave out the paying for followers/likes)

· Trip to Tampa

· Gloss over the accident—acknowledge that it happened, but do NOT give any details

· Talk about why Rebecca ended up writing that blog

· Leo Lutz (check with Brianne on whether I have to use a fake name)

· The column in Chopped and then my first arrest

· The first trial and how my own dad tried to employ Rebecca to make me lose

· Rebecca and my reconciliation, yay!

· Jaxson's death—again, no details

· The mistrial

· Second arrest

· Escaping jail, which I'm 99% sure I can go into detail about because I didn't kill anyone that time

· Our (very brief!) time on the run

· Turning ourselves in

· Showing that Lydia was the actual murderer

· The third (?) trial. Maybe it's only the second. Everything in that timeframe is a little fuzzy, with all the escaping from jail stuff

· The final verdict, and then judge changing both of ours to match each other

· Flying through community service

· Leaving the country and not coming back (until now I guess)

· Maybe include the whole money/inheritance/will situation? Maybe not. Don't want to be a target (again)

><><><

BOOK NOTES

(with input from Kennedy)

· Kennedy wants to call the book 'Getting Away with Murder.' It's giving OJ Simpson.

· I need to figure out how to address my blog and how that's gonna make me sound now that Kennedy isn't a villain

· I should write the foreword and then Ken can do the rest—it's mainly her story

· Edit Kennedy's pages before they go to the editor so that the editor doesn't drop her as a client

· Events we should talk about:

· Me falling off that stupid treadmill and Kennedy using it as an opportunity to start her little scheme

· Drew Parley becoming a thing

· Tampa and killing Hank

· Maybe don't even mention killing Hank

· Bring up how Ken shoved me off the account so I started writing the blog

· Leo following me and interrogating me

· Chopped wanting me to write an article because of my blog

· Kennedy's dad trying to get me to throw her under the bus during the first trial

· Kennedy and I deciding to work together during the first trial

· Walking up to Lydia's hotel door and there being a shit ton of blood

· Lydia getting Kennedy a mistrial but then also getting us arrested

· Cops barging into Ken's apartment

· Me helping Kennedy escape from jail after I got bail and she didn't

· Going on the run

· Turning ourselves in

· Proving that Lydia framed us

· The second trial

· The second trial's verdict and how I got more punishment than Kennedy (??) and then the judge changed it

· Doing community service and then going back to school

· Keeping in touch with Kennedy while she traveled the world

· Having my best friend back for a little while in the US

><><><

Kennedy loved her former lawyer with her entire heart and soul. She was grateful for everything that Brianne had done for her, all those years ago, and knew she would never be able to repay her.

But she didn't love having Brianne sit next to her during a meeting with her editor.

"Not a chance." The lawyer interrupted the third editor Kennedy had hired in the past week. "South Carolina, in all its wisdom, doesn't have a statute of limitations for criminal offenses. We're not coming close to admitting any liability in anything that happened for which you weren't found guilty."

"I'm fine." Kennedy had told Brianne three hours earlier when the lawyer showed up at Rebecca's apartment. "You don't need to babysit me."

Brianne raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. She hadn't aged a day since Kennedy had last seen her eight years earlier, and Kennedy suspected that may have had something to do with no longer defending Kennedy Abrams specifically.

"Really? You?" Brianne barked out a laugh. "Kennedy, you're an adult now. You know why I'm a bit apprehensive of you writing this book. You at least have to let me sit down with your editor."

Kennedy arched one eyebrow.

"How did you know I have a meeting with my editor today?"

Rebecca popped up over Kennedy's shoulder.

"I told her." She said, ignoring Kennedy's death glare aimed her way. "I just want to make sure we have all of our bases covered. The last thing we need is for you to have legal issues on your first trip back here in almost a decade."

Kennedy looked between the two women, deciding whether to be angry with either of them.

She had landed on not being angry, and that led to Brianne sitting next to her in a large office with stark white walls and book posters scattered everywhere—hanging on the walls, leaning against the walls, laying down on the floor, stacked in a corner. Margot Polind was nothing if not a successful editor who got all of 'her' books to the finish line.

"So," Margot, a small woman in her early 50s, looked at Kennedy through large square glasses, "there's going to be a lot of press around this book. I'm going to have to impose strict deadlines on you and your friend to get this ready at a point where we can capitalize on the most attention possible."

"Rebecca," Kennedy interrupted, "my friend's name is Rebecca."

"I don't really care." Margot waved off Kennedy's comment. "I don't see her in this room, so I don't care about her."

Kennedy left Margot's office that afternoon with a firm first draft deadline and a lecture from Brianne on what she could and could not reference. The list of 'could nots' seemed much, much longer than the list of 'coulds.'

"Margot is going to make this book the best book that's ever existed, but she's going to make me want to pull my eyebrows out the entire time." Kennedy told Rebecca as the two women lounged on the balcony of Rebecca's apartment. Kennedy had relayed the entire meeting to Rebecca after the latter had returned home from setting up her fourth-grade classroom for the upcoming school year. "But I guess I deserve that."

Rebecca laughed and sipped her mimosa.

"I mean, I wouldn't say you don't deserve it."

Kennedy rolled her eyes.

"Thanks."

"Do you ever think about how weird this is?" Rebecca asked suddenly. "Us, together, still friends?"

"All the time." Kennedy laughed. "But I think more about how lucky I am that you didn't decide I wasn't worth all the trouble a long time ago."

"I mean, I did decide that. I just changed my mind."

Kennedy smiled, more to herself than to Rebecca, and took a sip of her drink. Through all the changes in her life over the past decade, having one reliable person made everything bearable. That, and living wherever she wanted while cosplaying a fake influencer that everyone knew was fake.

"Will you be my maid of honor?"

Kennedy spit out her drink and started coughing so loudly that Bradley poked his head out to make sure no one was dying.

"Holy shit, Bec!" Kennedy finally managed to say after catching her breath. "Of course, I'll be your maid of honor. It would, no pun intended, be the biggest honor of my life."

Rebecca was absolutely glowing with excitement.

"You finally asked her!" Bradley shook his head, half of his body still in the apartment. "She's been waiting for the perfect time for like, months, Ken."

Kennedy laughed, full of a giddiness she hadn't felt before.

"Well, you know how in demand I am for wedding parties." She said dryly. "I get booked up."

Bradley poured himself a mimosa and the three toasted each other—the excited groom, the blushing bride, and the absolutely beaming maid of honor.