I flick my eyes between her and Dad, blocking out the panicked, scattering students in my peripheral vision. Dad looks as shocked as I am.
Mom’s hands shake. “We’re taking you home, no matter what. You need to be saved.”
My brain must not be fully online, because it’s apparently stillin fight, not flight mode. “You’re trying to save me by…pointing a gun at my head?”
Shut up, Callum. You’re gonna get yourself killed.
The expression on Mom’s face makes me believe I just signed off on my own death sentence.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
IAN
“Yo, Ian, hold up a second,” Nick calls out. “I made something for you.”
I swallow my water abruptly, almost choking. “Yeah? What is it?”
Jeremy plants his hands on my shoulders and shakes me hard. He slammed two energy drinks ten minutes ago, and they’re clearly hitting. “You’ll see. Oh my god, I can’t wait to see your face!”
“It’ll be easier to see my face if you aren’t shaking me like protein,” I say, wresting out of Jeremy’s grip and stabilizing myself against a pillar.
Nick chuckles, handing me a balled-up sweater, and I unfold it.
It’s a team hoodie, and when I flip it around, it has Callum’s name on it. Hisfirstname.
And it’s in my size.
Nick peers over my shoulder. “Yeah, I used his first name so people wouldn’t confuse Callum with Johnny C.”
John Cross was a first baseman who graduated last year. He wouldn’t want to date me, and the reverse was, and still is, very true.
“I hope that’s?—”
I cut Nick off with a hug. “This is great. Holy crap. I fucking love you guys.”
“Aww, do you?” Jeremy coos. “Come give me a kiss.” He puckers his lips and turns his right cheek toward me, and I reach over to flickit.
“Fuck off, dude,” I say, snorting.
“Yeah, he’s practically married,” Nick adds. “If you were better-looking, I’d warn you not to tempt Ian astray, but man, you’re so chopped?—”
Jeremy swings for Nick’s nuts before calling the attack off, probably remembering that Nick’s wearing a cup. Usually, I’d laugh at them, but the doors haven’t opened for the game yet—Callum’s still outside.
“I have to show this to Callum,” I say, putting the hoodie on. “I’ll be right back.”
Not wanting to waste time, I dart out of the building and weave my way to the front of the thick crowd. I almost give up, since finding him is bound to be impossible with everyone gathered like this, but I push past a line of students into emptiness, stumbling forward a few steps.
What the hell is going on? Why is everyone leaving the center of the plaza empty?
Hold up.
That’sCallum,standing in the middle of the plaza, and he’s being confronted by two people? What in the?—
“Motherfuck,” I say.
Those are his parents. I can’t make out what they’re saying from this far away, and I’m about to give them a piece of my mind when Callum turns to walk in my direction.
The second I step forward to join him, his mom reaches behind her and?—
