What Have You Done (Adler and Dwyer, #0.5)

As Roy Ressler drives his tractor along his field, he spots turkey vultures circling in a field up ahead. He finds a dead girl, her eyes gone and her stomach ripped open.

Paula Acosta is an English teacher at the local high school. Her daughter, Taylor, a ninth grader, is one of her students; Paula worries about her daughter’s addiction to her phone and her ability to adjust to high school.

Roy watches over the body until the police arrive. Roy stares at bruising along the girl’s neck, trying not to look at her ruined face or her naked body. He thinks of his daughter, who is about to get married, and forces himself not to cry.

The narration shifts to the dead girl, who sees the police officers, Roy, and his dog looking at something in the field. She sees the body and notes the missing eyes and mutilated stomach with “detachment” before realizing that she is looking down at herself. She thinks of how it is a “strange dream,” and she wants to “wake up now” (11).

Riley texts her friend, Diana, before school but gets no response. She has not heard from her since the night before, when Diana went out with her boyfriend, Cameron. She goes to her first-period class with Mrs. Acosta, but the principal interrupts the class by knocking on the door and calling Mrs. Acosta into the hallway.

Brenda Brewer is an overnight nurse at a hospital in Windsor. On her drive home, she thinks of Diana, who is 17 and going off to college next year. She is smart and popular, and Brenda is “proud” of how she has turned out. Brenda thinks of Diana’s boyfriend, Cameron, with whom she has been friends for a long time. Because Brenda married her high school sweetheart and then divorced him six years ago, she is worried about Diana “settling” with Cameron—as “there’s a whole wide world out there, beyond Fairhill” (15).

Brenda gets home a little after 9:00 am and sees a police car outside. She is met by the police chief, who asks her to go inside. She goes from nervous to angry as she hears the news about her daughter’s death. She collapses and begins sobbing as the chief catches her.

Cameron Farrell wakes up for school. Because he has a free period first, he typically goes in late. His parents are already at work, so he is home alone, making breakfast, when two Vermont State Police officers knock on the door. They reveal the news about Diana’s death and watch his reaction as they do so. He mentions that he saw her last night, that they drove around, and he took her home around 11:00 pm. As he begins to cry, the officers ask him to come down to the station.

Paula struggles with the thought of Diana’s death, speaking with Officer Chris Shepherd and Principal Kelly in the hall. She thinks of her daughter, then of Diana’s mother. The officer asks her to send two of her students, Riley Mead and Evan Carr, to speak with them in the office, as they are Diana’s best friends.

Cameron’s parents, Edward and Shelby Farrell, arrive at the Fairhill Police Station, concerned with how their son is coping with Diana’s death. The police ask them to sit with Cameron while two detectives ask him questions about the night before. Anger quickly replaces Edward’s concern as the detectives ask Cameron questions about what car he drove, what clothes Diana was wearing, and whether they had sex. The questions embarrass Cameron, who admits that he picked her up, they had sex in his father’s pickup truck, and then he dropped her back at home.

As the interview finishes, Shelby thinks of how devastated her son must be. On the car ride home, however, she also thinks of how her son lied to the police. She checked on him around 1:00 am, and he was not home, then she heard him come in at 1:11 am—despite telling the police he dropped Diana off around 11:00 pm.

Brenda speaks with the detectives. They ask her about Cameron, and she admits that she was not happy with their relationship—but she never had any issues with him. She tells them that a man at work gave Diana the “creeps,” but she can’t think of anyone who would want to harm her.

The detectives tell her that they can’t find Diana’s cell phone and that the clothes she was wearing that night, which both Cameron and Brenda remember her in, are also missing. They believe she was strangled and then moved to the field.

Riley leaves the principal’s office after talking with the officers and vomits in one of the bathroom stalls. She is devastated by what happened, unsure how she will recover. She thinks back to the interview with the police and is sure that she was not much help. She told them that she last talked to Diana at 10:00 pm before she went to see Cameron and that she could not think of anyone who would want to hurt her.

On the drive home, riding with his father, Cameron finds that he is dealing with a mix of grief, embarrassment over talking about his sex life, and fear about having lied to the police. He did take Diana home at 11:00 pm, but it was after they fought. He then went home and sat on the couch, then returned to her house. He wonders whether his dad knows the truth.

Roy watches as reporters, police officers, and forensic analysts swarm his field, checking the area and putting up a tent over Diana’s body. He returns to his home and tells his wife about the body, thinking of his daughter.

Later that morning, Evan writes in his journal about speaking to the police. He told them that everyone liked Diana and that he didn’t know of any problems between her and Cameron—even though he felt like Cameron was getting too “possessive” and it was bothering Diana. As he writes, he cries, thinking how Diana was “the only one who understood [him]” (41).

Diana watches her mother sob in their living room as police officers dust for fingerprints and examine her room. Her “dream” slowly turns into a “nightmare” as she struggles to get someone’s attention, and they all ignore her.

Paula sits in her empty classroom, thinking about Diana and those affected by her death. She wonders whether it was someone Diana knew or a stranger and thinks of the danger the murderer potentially still poses to their community. She “remembers something that makes her heart seize” and is overcome by fear yet tells herself to remain calm and optimistic for her students (45).

Evan goes over to Riley’s house, and the two sit in silence, thinking about Diana. When they finally speak, they realize they both told the police the same thing—that things were fine with Diana and Cameron. However, Riley thinks back to a conversation she had recently with Diana, where she complained about how possessive Cameron was and how he wanted them to go to the same school. Riely tells Evan that she thinks maybe Diana was going to break up with Cameron. Evan asks if she is going to tell the police, but Riley admits she is not sure what to do.

Brad Turner, Diana’s gym teacher and running coach, sits in the staff room listening to teachers talk about Diana. He decides he needs to speak to Principal Kelly, but when he goes to his office, two officers are coming out. Brad ducks away and into a bathroom. He stares at himself in the mirror, “trembling” and splashes water over his face, trying to calm himself down.

At 2:00 pm, Evan types in his journal, having just returned home from Riley’s house. He was shocked by the news that Diana might’ve wanted to break up with Diana. However, he thinks back to their relationship, how Cameron was always trying to touch her, and how Diana would often find excuses to pull away. He also thinks of how Cameron was easygoing but would sometimes get angry enough to “explode,” like he did when he beat up another student in ninth grade.

After leaving Riley’s, Evan made the long walk to Cameron’s house. He broke down in tears when Cameron’s dad opened the door, but his dad told Evan that Cameron was not up for seeing anyone. Now, Evan sits at his computer, “trying to make sense of something that will never, ever, make sense” (52).