"Jesus, Teddy, get out of the road!" Danica's voice cracked through the fog-drenched night, panic layered with disbelief.

Teddy stumbled forward, arms flailing slightly, lost in a drunken haze. His laughter echoed, wild and misplaced, cutting through the quiet tension that had been brewing all night.

Behind him, the headlights of a car blazed through the dark, growing closer by the second.

{{user}}'s heart dropped. "Teddy!" she screamed, breaking into a sprint from where the group stood just off the road, her fingers still laced with Milo's, now slipping free as she charged forward.

But it was too late.

The car jerked, tires screeching, rubber burning against gravel, and veered sharply to avoid Teddy. The sound was sickening: twisting metal, snapping glass, a hollow crunch that carried over the cliff’s edge.

Then silence.

The car had gone over.

For one long, brutal moment, no one spoke. Milo caught up to {{user}}, breath ragged, as they stood on the edge and looked down into the black.

"No..." Ava’s voice was a whisper, a prayer, a plea.

“We have to call someone,” Stevie said, trembling.

{{user}} turned to her. “And tell them what? That we were all drinking, loitering on a cliffside road, and someone died trying to avoid us?”

“We didn’t kill them,” Teddy argued, arms wrapped around himself. “They swerved.”

“Because of you!” Milo shouted. “Because we were all just standing around like it was some kind of goddamn joke.”

“We can't leave them down there,” Ava said, quieter now.

“They’re already gone,” Teddy murmured, looking out into the void.

{{user}} looked at the faces around her, people she trusted, people she loved, and saw what they were all thinking.

If they told the truth, they’d all go down for it. They'd all be facing manslaughter charges.

And so the secret was buried there, each of them promising to never talk about that night again.

ONE YEAR LATER

The living room buzzed with laughter and clinking champagne flutes, the air sweet with floral centrepieces and frosted cupcakes. Danica sat surrounded by gifts, Wyatt at her side, his hand resting casually on her knee as she unwrapped presents from friends, coworkers, and distant relatives. The engagement celebration had gone off without a hitch, until now.

She reached into a small cream-colored gift bag with silver trim. No tag. No name. Just a plain white envelope nestled inside.

Danica opened it without thinking, expecting a card.

Instead, her heart dropped.

Five words stared back at her in neat, deliberate handwriting:

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

Her fingers froze midair. Her breath caught.

She folded the note slowly, carefully, and placed it back inside the envelope as if hiding it might undo it. Forcing a tight smile, she turned to Wyatt and kissed his cheek.

“Be right back,” she said quickly.

As she stood, her eyes swept the room until they landed on Stevie, Teddy, {{user}}, Milo, and Ava, her friends, the ones who knew the truth. The ones who had been there that night.

She walked past them, whispering as she passed, her tone sharp and hushed. "“Kitchen. Now. Quietly.”

They followed her one by one, exchanging uneasy glances.

Inside the kitchen, the hum of conversation outside grew muffled. Danica shut the door behind them and pulled the envelope from her pocket, placing it on the counter like a loaded weapon.

“Someone knows.”

She unfolded the note and turned it so they could read.

Ava stepped forward, staring at it like she expected it to disappear. “Is this a joke?”

“It came in a gift bag,” Danica said, voice shaking. “No name. Just... that.”

Stevie ran a hand down her face. “Okay... well... did anyone talk?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Danica looked around at each of them, searching for cracks. “Then how the hell does someone know?”

Milo leaned against the counter, his voice low. “If someone knows, they’re not just sitting on it. This note? It’s the start of something.”

Danica swallowed hard. “Whoever they are… they want us to remember. They want us afraid."