“Is it…well, I dunno what the kids call it these days, but is it serious?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yes.”
She sighed with what sounded like relief, “Good. Good. We didn’t raise ya to think so flippantly ‘bout relationships. But I had to ask. Ya know, your dad and I married after knowin’ each other all of two months.”
“Yes,” I sighed, “I know.”And I’m definitely going to marry Shiloh; I just haven’t figured that part out yet.“Listen, mom, I’m getting another call. Can we talk later?”
“Oh, sure. Yes.”
“Okay. Love you, bye.”
I collapsed over the counter, heading turning to face Jae. “This is torture.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re dramatic. Speaking of Shiloh, where is she? I thought we were having a movie night or something.”
“Yeah,” I said, sitting up and checking my phone again. All of my messages had remained unread and a sinking feeling in my gut had me dialing her number.
She didn’t answer.
Nervous sweat was making me itch and I checked her location. She was home. But obviously ignoring me. My mind immediately went to the worst case scenario.
What if she’d try to kill herself?
I replayed our interaction yesterday, in a new lens, one where she might have been trying to get away to hurt herself.
But she promised that she wouldn’t leave me again like that.
What if she had relapsed and was avoiding me?
“What’s wrong?” Jae asked with concern.
“Shiloh hasn’t answered all day.”
“Well…what was she doing? Did she have work or something?”
“No,” I shook my head, nauseous. I quickly stood a plan forming in my head. “I need to go check on her.”
“I’m coming too. You’re kind of freaking me out here. Do you think…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but we shared a look and I was done wasting time. We both hurried to leave the house.
Forty-Two
August 15, Saturday
Enoch
My eyes quickly scanned the group of people in front of Shiloh’s apartment door and for half a breath I almost relaxed, expecting to see her red hair amongst them.
The sound of the elevator doors closing behind us had Mason looking over his shoulder.
“Oh thank—Where is she?”
Lottie and Hannah spun away from the door, revealing a kneeling Cole, who looked to be trying to pick the deadbolt lock on Shiloh’s door.
Nausea curdled my stomach.
“Inside,” I muttered, Jae’s hand on my arm, dragging me along towards her door and the crowd of her friends who looked equally as scared as I was. “According to her phone’s location.”
