Page 48 of Second Chance

Tony turns to look over his shoulder at Daniel. “Like the stupid spring festival thing last semester, when I had to stop you from driving to campus in the middle of the night?”

“Right. Right, right. Yeah, nothing is as urgent as a three a.m. email makes it sound. I guess I feel responsible for her.”

Biting down on the comment that Daniel feels responsible for everything, most especially for students, Tony walks on ahead. It won’t do any good to tell Daniel he takes on too much—that he can’t save people from themselves, not Andrew Clayfield and not Lily Peterson. It will do even less good to tell Daniel he shouldn’t be worried about saving them from themselves. He should be worried about saving himself from them if the knife on the door is any indication. Maybe Tony should make Colettetalk to Daniel about her approach to advising students since it sounds like she has a healthier distance when it comes to Sean.

“I don’t know.” Lisa is pensive, probably thinking about her own students and how different that would be. She’d have to plan lessons about this kind of stuff. Eighth grade is too young to be left alone with it. “This is two murders in one college in less than a year. Sounds urgent. But the mental health stuff takes time. You can’t fix it for her in one advising session.”

She doesn’t intend it, but Lisa’s words comfort Tony a little. Maybe it’s okay to not be okay. He lets the conversation pass him by as they walk farther up the trail, lets himself be still and quiet as he takes in all the green around them, the crunch of the gravel under his feet.

They reach the top in good time. Blake immediately groans in relief and falls into a seat on a boulder overlooking the river. What a drama queen.

Charlie unbuckles their backpack and takes out some water, and Lisa follows suit.

Tony makes for the water tower.

His feet still itch, and he can’t quite settle down. He doesn’t want to sit and talk about how nice the view is. He wants to keep going, even if it’s on a manmade structure instead of through the woods.

Daniel follows him.

They climb in silence, only their footfalls on the steps and the wind in the trees around them. Tony’s out of breath when they reach the top, which is as good a reason as any to stay quiet as he leans on the railing.

Coming up to stand beside him, Daniel lets their elbows brush together. He offers Tony some water, and Tony takes it, realizing he’s parched.

“So. No dice with Lily?”

Daniel shakes his head. “Nothing. I really don’t think it was her.”

“The murder or the knife?”

“Well…both? I mean, whoever did one did the other.”

“We don’t know that.” Tony reminds Daniel of his own argument, maybe a little snidely.

Daniel sighs. “Okay, you got me. Look, even if Lily did do both, I don’t think I’m in any danger from her.”

“And you don’t think she did it.”

“I think she’s upset and confused, and if she’s a danger to anyone, it’s herself.”

“Which isn’t something you can live with.”

There’s no answer forthcoming, but Daniel leans more heavily into Tony’s space.

“Is it worth me pointing out that we didn’t think we were in any danger from Stacy either?”

“It’s always worth making a good point.”

Tony glares.

“I promise I had my hand on my phone to dial 911 every minute of the meeting today. I’m not taking this lightly, Tony. I just…” Daniel sighs in frustration. “I let her down last year. I can’t do it again.”

“I wish I could say I didn’t understand.” Tony’s spent much of the last year feeling like he let someone down, be it Gianna because he didn’t see earlier what was happening to her, his parents for not telling them about it sooner, or Daniel for not being outer and prouder with him.

“So what do we do with the knife?” Daniel asks,

“I still think we need to tell Detective Taylor. At the very least, it’s a threat.”

“Maybe.”

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