Beck: Do you have a way to contact his mom, maybe? Or his brother?
Aaron Eros: Why would I have that?
Beck: You’re his friend. Don’t you have an emergency contact or something?
Aaron Eros: Do you have Cade’s mom’s phone number saved in your phone?
Beck: No, but I could get her name from his emergency contacts in his file! Good idea, thanks!
No luck. There’s no one left in the administration offices, and the janitor caught me trying to pick the lock on Coach’s door. If he catches me again, he’ll call the police. It doesn’t matter anyway, I don’t think I was getting anywhere with it. I was just jiggling a bent paperclip in there hoping I’d get lucky.
I’m pacing my empty dorm room when I see it. On the small end table in our living area is a piece of mail. It’s a letter from the administration, confirming Jeremy Fisher’s enrollment for the spring semester. Inside the letter are his contact details, including his home address.
Bingo.
Three minutes later, I’m banging on Brody’s dorm door incessantly. I’m not knocking and waiting, then knocking again. I’m just hitting my palm on the door constantly, calling Aaron’s name. I stop for a few seconds, just long enough to peek down at the parking lot at the few cars that are left. I can see my car, Brody’s, a handful of cars that belong to other staff or students that haven’t left yet or are staying over the break. And I see Aaron’s silver Jetta. Him and Jay have a flight out later this evening, so it’s possible they haven’t left yet.
I go back to beating on the door. I yell through the wood and metal and whatever this door is made of now that I know they’re in there. I’m not going to stop, and if I’m wrong and they don’t come out to leave for their flight in the next few hours, I’ll pay someone off to either let me in or break in, so they might as well open the door.
Jay finally yanks the door open. I’m not expecting it, so I fall through the threshold.
Jay is red-faced and sweaty. I’m pretty sure he’s pissed, but I honestly don’t care. I start walking directly to Brody’s room.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jay shouts, pulling me back.
Aaron comes out of the bathroom, looking equally annoyed. “What the hell, Beckett? Why are you here?”
“I need to get into Brody’s room,” I say, trying to dodge Jay, but both he and Aaron stand side by side, blocking the door to Brody’s room.
“How do you even know this is his room?” Jay says.
My face flushes, and I can’t come up with a good enough reason. “Because you’re so adamant I shouldn’t go in there.”
“You shouldn’t,” Aaron says. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
For a moment, I’m stunned silent, remembering Brody saying those exact words to me just before he stormed out. I take a few steps back, smoothing down my wrinkled shirt.
“You don’t look like yourself, Beck,” Jay says with a look of concern.
“I don’t feel like myself,” I say, backing away from them.
They look at each other, having a silent conversation, probably about my sanity. They’re right to be concerned. I’ve been acting out of sorts since our flight home lifted off the tarmac without Brody.
“Why don’t you have a seat? We have a little time before we have to get to the airport,” Aaron says.
I take a seat on their small sofa, and Aaron brings me a bottle of water. He sits on the coffee table, facing me. Jay perches on the opposite end of the couch with his arms crossed, likely ready to block me with his ridiculously long limbs if I make a run for the door again.
“I hoped I could look for something that might have Brody’s mom’s phone number or address on it,” I explain, trying my best to sound like my usual, reasonable self.
“And what exactly would you do with an address?”
“I don’t know. Show up and see if he’s there. See that he’s okay. Make him talk to me,” I say more quietly.
Aaron’s brow furrows. “Don’t you think you should give him some space and let him come to you? He’ll talk to you when he’s ready.”
“You don’t understand,” I say, and almost stand, but I know I’ll just start pacing again, and then no one will take me seriously. “He thinks I did something unforgivable, and the longer he goes thinking that I did this awful thing, the more he’ll hate me.”
“And what exactly happens if Brody Miller hates you? Haven’t you hated him since the beginning of the school year?” Jay asks.
