So I took his hand.
The second he led me onto the dance floor, people stared. I caught girls whispering. A few guys looked completely shocked.
Caleb ignored all of them.
So I took his hand.
We danced all night. Somewhere along the way, I stopped feeling invisible. Everyone kept staring at us, but I didn’t care.
Caleb made me laugh and treated me normally.
By the end of the night, I didn’t even want prom to end anymore.
Afterward, Caleb walked me home instead of leaving with his friends.
“You had fun tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “More than I expected!”
He smiled, but something about him seemed distracted, as if there were something he wanted to say but couldn’t quite get out.
Everyone kept staring at us, but I didn’t care.
When we reached my house, we stood awkwardly on the porch steps.
“Thanks for tonight,” I said.
Caleb shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded.
Then he looked at me seriously and said, “I’ll see you.”
We said our goodbyes, then he walked away.
***
The following morning, loud banging shook the front door.
I came downstairs half asleep and immediately froze.
We stood awkwardly on the porch steps.
My mom had answered, and I saw her talking to the police.
I walked closer and saw that beside them on our porch were Caleb’s parents.
Everyone turned towards me.
A knot formed in my stomach.
One of the officers stepped forward. “Cindy, when was the last time you saw Caleb?”
“Last night after prom.”
“Did he say where he was going afterward?”
I shook my head slowly. “No. Why? Officer, did something happen?”
The officers exchanged glances.
Everyone turned towards me.
Then one of them asked something that made my stomach drop even harder.
“Miss, do you really not know what Caleb has done?”
I stared at him. “What?”
The officer spoke carefully.
“Our department recently reopened several old reports connected to incidents from years ago to get resolutions. During that process, Caleb admitted he was near your house the night of the fire almost 10 years ago.”
For a second, I couldn’t even process the words.
