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What?

“Then where did he go?” Scarlett asked.

“He moved. Out of state.”

It felt like my heart dropped into my stomach.

“Really far away, I heard. None of us will ever have to see him again.” Uncle James smiled.

No.

“It was all pretty last minute. He transferred and just up and left over break. He must have wanted a fresh start somewhere or something.”

A fresh start from...me?

Sophie,” Scarlett whispered. “Are you okay? You look really pale.”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. He’d...left? Without even saying goodbye? No. He wouldn’t have done that. We... I...

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit Mr. Halifax’s number.

“Sophie,” Uncle James scolded. “I don’t know what Mr. Halifax let slide in this classroom, but there’s no phone calls during my classes.”

I ignored him and focused on the call. But...nothing happened. I hit Mr. Halifax’s number again, but it didn’t even ring. Wait. He’d blocked this number. I turned to Scarlett. “Give me your phone.”

She looked at her dad.

“Scarlett, please.” A sob escaped my throat.

“Yeah. Of course.” She handed it to me.

I got to my feet and hurried toward the door.

“And you need hall passes in my classes!” Uncle James said. “Sophie, what are you doing?!”

I ignored him as I ran out into the hall. I put Mr. Halifax’s number into Scarlett’s phone and then called him.

An operator’s voice cut on: “This number is no longer in service.”

What?

I double checked that I’d put it in right. I tried again. But it just said, “This number is no longer in service” again. That didn’t make any sense. There was something wrong with Scarlett’s phone.

I ran to my brother’s first class and pushed open the door.

RJ took one look at me and sprung to his feet. He didn’t bother grabbing his books, he just ran out the door. Mr. Hill shouted something behind him.

“Soph, what’s wrong?”

“I need your phone.”

He handed it to me. “But what’s going on? Are you okay?”

No. I put Mr. Halifax’s number into his phone and got the same operator’s voice: “This number is no longer in service.”

“Soph,” RJ said.

My cheeks puffed up.