Alice wrapped her arms around her friend. She thought that maybe . . . just maybe . . . that she understood. Everyone in the band had been thinking about the upcoming contest as an opportunity. Heather had just been reminded that to her, it was about something more. For Heather, it was all about redemption. It was about proving to a bunch of needlessly cruel high-school kids from five years earlier that they hadn't beaten Heather. Heather was going to go on stage in just a few days and get a measure of revenge for a poor and humiliated fifteen-year-old girl.

Laurie stood up and went to hug her...