I went down to breakfast the next morning with one goal in mind: Convince Mom to give me back my car keys.

“Good morning,” Dad said.

“Good morning,” I said, an actual smile on my face this time.

I stacked my plate with scrambled eggs and fruit and sat down beside my sister at the table.

“You’re in a good mood this morning.” Mom smiled at me and placed a glass of orange juice in front of me on the table.

“I am,” I said, and for the first time in a long time, it was the truth.

Mom and Dad shared the glance I knew was coming, but this time, Dad raised a hopeful eyebrow, and Mom smiled from ear to ear.

“Did something happen at school yesterday that you want to share with us?” Dad asked.

I shrugged, stuffing a forkful of eggs into my mouth. I actually had an appetite, which was another change.

I definitely couldn’t share the news about Hailey’s note with them, because they would never understand it the way I did. They would probably say that it was further proof she’d been on drugs and needed help.

But for some reason, knowing that I’d been right this whole time gave me an energy I hadn’t felt since I first woke up from that coma. I was terrified and confused, but at least I knew I wasn’t crazy.

I was determined to figure this out and prove to everyone that they had been wrong about us.

I looked up and realized they were all staring at me, waiting for some kind of answer other than a shrug.

“Oh, well, nothing in particular,” I said. “I think just being back in my old routine is making me feel better. Is that so weird?”

“Not at all,” Mom said, beaming. “You’ve been so isolated the past few months. It makes sense that you would start feeling better once you saw all your friends. Things might still be awkward for a while as you adjust, but before you know it, you’re going to be right back in the swing of things.”

This was my chance. They were all happy and agreeable.

“Speaking of getting back into routine,” I said, “I was thinking that I’d really like to try driving to school today.”

The worried glances returned instantly, but I jumped in before they could protest.

“I’ve been completely comfortable riding in the car with you,” I said. A lie, but hopefully they didn’t know that. “I appreciate that you’ve been taking time off work to be home and help me get back into things, but you can’t drive us to school and pick us up forever. And there’s really no need when I have a perfectly good car still sitting in the driveway.”

“Oh, Marayah, I just don’t know,” Mom said. She rubbed her arm. “I think it’s too soon for you to be driving again. You’ve only just gotten home and things are going so well.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I know I just got home, but it’s been a year since the accident. And I wasn’t even the one driving that night. Besides, Dr. Millner said that the sooner I can get back into my normal routine, the better.”

“That is true,” Dad said, looking at Mom. “The doctor told us that we needed to give Marayah her space and allow her to make her own decisions about things like this.”

Mom breathed in and out, worry etched on her forehead.

Kimi and I looked at each other, and she gave me a subtle thumbs-up and a nod. Apparently, she approved of this plan, but when I’d been thinking about things last night, I hadn't accounted for the fact that I’d have my sister with me in the car every day. I couldn’t very well take her around with me to Hailey’s mom’s house or wherever it was this whole journey was going to take me.

But I could figure that out later. Right now, I just needed to conquer this first hurdle and get the keys out of my parents’ grasp.

“Mom,” I said softly. “I know you just want to make sure I’m safe, but I promise you I’m ready for this. I can handle it.”

“You’re sure you’re not scared?” she asked. “And you promise you’ll be careful?”

“I promise,” I said.

Her shoulders relaxed slightly, and I smiled, because I knew I’d won.

“Okay, but that doesn’t mean that you can drive around just anywhere you want,” she said. “For now, let’s just give this a trial run. You drive to and from school with your sister in the car. If there’s any trouble at all, you agree to take a break for a while and revisit this later.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

Mom looked to Dad, who stood and crossed the length of the kitchen in a few long strides. He opened a drawer and pulled out the set of spare keys to my Jeep. The dealership’s tag was still attached.

“Thanks,” I said when he handed them to me. “But where are my keys?”

“You had them with you the night of the accident, because you’d driven to Hailey’s that afternoon,” Dad said. “You left your car at her place and must have taken the keys with you. We asked about them, but the police said they never recovered them from the river or from Hailey’s car.”

“Oh,” I said, frowning. It seemed odd that my keys were never found, though. Were they still at the bottom of the river?

“I really appreciate this,” I said.

“Just promise us you’ll let us know if you have any anxiety about driving,” Mom said. “You can always come to us if something’s wrong.”

“I know that, Mom. Thank you,” I said.

I twirled the keys around my fingers, a million thoughts bouncing around in my brain. Now that I had my freedom back, it was time to start my investigation into Hailey’s death, and I had no idea where that road would lead.