The Last Time I Lied: A Novel

Content Warning: Both the guide and the novel contain references to drug and alcohol addiction, suicidal ideation, and outdated and stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental health conditions.

Emma wakes up early to find herself alone in Dogwood cabin at Camp Nightingale. The other bunk beds are empty; it is just past five o’clock in the morning. She tries to convince herself that her missing cabinmates had to leave quickly for some emergency, but when she opens the girls’ trunks, they are still filled with their things. Only one girl took her phone.

Emma leaves the cabin and looks for the girls in the latrine, the other cabins, and the still-closed cafeteria and arts and crafts room. She looks toward the Lodge, “an unwieldy building” that is “more mansion than cabin” (4). She doubts the girls would be there but is tempted to pound on the door and wake Franny, the owner of Camp Nightingale. However, Emma has “already disappointed [Franny] once” and hesitates to do it again (4). The sun rising over Lake Midnight catches Emma’s eye, and she walks toward it, praying the girls will be there. She keeps going until she is ankle-deep in the water.