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She didn’t see much of Tyler after Christmas—he was busy with rehab every day after school, trying to get his knee back into playing shape—but that didn’t stop him from trying to reach out to her. She wanted to respond, but every time she went to type something back, her heart hurt thinking about the day he would finally be okay to play again. It meant him moving to college and leaving her behind. So she ignored his attempts, keeping her head down and doing nothing but work, work, work.

January came and went. February shaped up to be a blustery, cold bitch, and not just because of the weather. Valentine’s Day at Haverport High was always next level, the halls covered in pink and purple hearts. Secret admirers sent candy grams to their lovers—a cruel joke of a fundraiser hosted by the drama club. Rory couldn’t help but notice the obnoxious number of candy grams Zoe received throughout the day. Despite her best attempts at trying to avoid him, she couldn’t stop her mind from wondering why he was going so overboard with this fake relationship when he’d been staring at her lips on Christmas, looking like he wanted them on his?

None of it made sense. So she stayed glued to her computer screen, her mind focused on page spreads and not on her heartbreak.

When the ice on the ground finally started to thaw and tiny buds on trees began to bloom, the yearbook was officially designed. Every spread was ready for real words to occupy the placeholder text, for photographs to replace stock images, and for final submissions of senior photos and tribute pages to be placed in the back—pages paid for by parents who wanted to embarrass their child with baby pictures for everyone to keep for the rest of their lives.

Rory sat with her legs propped up on the desk, ankles crossed, and sipped on a Dr. Pepper as Penelope scrolled through each spread, giving Vanessa notes for any changes she deemed necessary. Thankfully, there weren’t many.

Penelope leaned back in her chair after scrolling to the last page of the yearbook, clicking her pen. “This is really good, guys. The designs are so out there and fun. I think people are going to be shocked.”

“Because it’s not boring and minimalistic?” Rory bantered.

“Let’s go with classy,” Penelope said in a valiant effort to try and defend previous book designs. “But yeah…exactly.”

“It was all Rory,” Vanessa said, beaming.

“Shut your mouth,” Rory said, nudging Vanessa. “You made all of those final calls. None of this would have been possible without you.”

Vanessa winked. “We make a good team.”

“Now I guess it’s my turn to pull some late nights.” Penelope sighed. “We’ve got some editors working on the text that I’ll need to copy edit, and then approve all of the photography. Gina, what’s our status on the senior submissions?”

Gina poked her head out from behind her computer. “I’ve got sixty-five percent of senior headshots submitted, and we still need to fill ten tribute pages.”

“Ten?” Penelope squeaked. “Wasn’t the deadline for those two weeks ago?”

Gina nodded somberly. Penelope groaned.

“What if we offered parents to purchase quarter pages?” Rory asked.

“For a quarter of the price?” Penelope asked.

Rory nodded. “I’m going to be honest with you, the prices to purchase a page or even a half page in the yearbook is pretty steep. My mom looked at it and actually laughed.”

“Oh,” Penelope said, her face glazed over as she thought it through.

“But,” Rory continued, “if we offered a way for parents to purchase a smaller spot that’s a little more affordable, we’d fill those pages quicker.”

Vanessa shrugged. “Worth a shot, and I do like the idea of making things more affordable.”

Penelope nodded. Case closed. “Done. Gina, will you draft an email to go out to the senior parents and send it to me? I’ll give it a quick look over and get it out tonight.”

“On it, boss!”

Penelope turned to Rory. “You know, Michaels, you’re probably the most unexpected person to be on this team, and yet you’ve turned out to be the most vital.”

She smiled at that. Even if the words were coming from someone like Penelope, it was still satisfying. It made her feel like she was actually needed. It made her feel less alone.

Her phone jingled in her pocket as the yearbook staff packed up for the night. Rory saw it was Melanie and immediately answered, walking away in search of privacy. “Mel, hi, my god I’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry,” Melanie said on the other line. “It’s been…kind of awful lately.”

“I can’t imagine,” Rory whispered, feeling like a horrible human again for not trying to visit Melanie during an even more terrible season of grief. It had been over two weeks since she saw her friend face-to-face. Calvin was probably disappointed in her. “And you should never apologize for this, okay?”

“Okay,” Melanie responded. “I do have a very, um, odd request though. Are you free tonight?”

“Yes, of course,” Rory said, not even sure if she was, but she didn’t care. “What’s the plan? Rob a bank? Steal Grampy’s blueberry coffee cake recipe?”