I started typing as fast as my fingers would allow.
Trouble, please call me. Please.
I am so sorry. So sorry. So fucking sorry.
I love you.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn’t imagine how she was feeling right now. The empty pit in my stomach was enough to make me want to climb into my grave. I had failed her.
Heather’s voice rang through my head.
She’s moved on, you know. Some guy was with her. She was wearing his clothes.
The image sharpened again, uninvited. The guy’s face stillwouldn’t come into focus. Like the game in my head was buffering.
I wanted to know who the fuck this guy was. I called her again.
“Trouble, please answer. I love you. Nothing happened, Mackenzie. Please let me explain. Heather gave me drugs. Please just answer.”
I hung up feeling like my world had just exploded. I sent her off a few more texts. I couldn’t remember exactly what I typed minutes after sending them. My brain felt like it was skipping frames.
As soon as I reached the checkout line outside the dining hall, I was a nervous wreck and felt as if I would collapse at any moment. I was hungover with confusion, guilt, and heartbreak. My skin buzzed. My hand instinctively went up to my shoulder—toourtattoo.
I held it while listening to the birds chirp in the trees. Everything felt normal now. I closed my eyes, listening to the wind, feeling the sun on my back, and hearing Mackenzie’s laugh in my ears. She couldn’t be gone.
Laughter from a group of kids nearby jolted me out of my thoughts. No one around me knew my entire life had just fallen apart. All the smiles from parents picking up their kids and the laughs from the counselors made me want to stab myself in the eye.
“Max! I can’t believe this is it,” said Graham.
I stopped, watching him.
For the first time, I was seeing him for what he was. An intruder. A snake. I had seen the look in his eyes last night when he split us up. He had wanted us to hurt.
But was that what actually happened? Or was that just how my brain remembered it now?
“Yeah, man, can’t believe it,” I said half-heartedly. I gave him my badge and quickly scanned the crowds for Mackenzie.
Graham noticed and started typing something on the computer.
“Mackenzie left already.”
“What?” My voice sounded small, warped in my own ears. He gave me a cold look of sympathy.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, man. Some guy came and checked her out early this morning, like 5 a.m.”
Graham handed me my sign-out papers.
“What guy?” My voice was possessive, and he noticed.
“Tall dude. Older, maybe like twenty-five? Dark hair, dark skin. Serious as hell. I don’t know the details. You know him?”
I blinked.
The description matched what Heather had said. Too perfectly.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Did he say something to you?”
