“What do you mean he was there?”
“Miss, do you really not know.”
The officer took a breath.
“You need to listen to me and try not to stress about it. Caleb witnessed something connected to your house fire when he was nine years old.”
I stared at him.
“What kind of something?”
Before the officer could answer, Caleb’s father suddenly spoke.
“He never meant for any of this to happen.”
His voice sounded strained, almost desperate.
“You need to listen to me.”
The officer explained that Caleb’s older brother, Mason, had a history of getting into trouble as a teenager. That night, Caleb secretly followed him on his bike and saw Mason exiting my house shortly before the fire started.
Recently, Caleb finally told his parents part of what he’d seen because Mason was about to be released after serving time for a different crime.
But that morning, Caleb’s parents realized he was gone.
He wasn’t answering calls, and his truck was missing.
Caleb secretly followed him.
After hearing from another parent that Caleb had spent prom night with me, his parents thought perhaps I knew where he was.
I told them I didn’t.
Technically, that was true. But after they left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the one place Caleb and the football guys always hung around when they wanted privacy.
The abandoned buildings near the edge of town.
So I lied to my mom and told her I needed fresh air.
Technically, that was true.
Then I grabbed my backpack and headed for the bus stop.
Because for the first time since that accident, I felt as if the truth about that fire was finally close.
And I needed to hear it from Caleb himself.
***
The bus dropped me three blocks from the spot. The place used to be an old factory site before the town shut it down years ago. Now it was mostly broken windows, graffiti, and teenagers trying to avoid adults.
I needed to hear it from Caleb himself.
I spotted a group of football players sitting near one of the buildings almost immediately.
The second they noticed me walking toward them, the conversations stopped. A couple of them exchanged looks. One guy laughed under his breath. I ignored it all and kept walking until I stopped right in front of them.
“Has any of you seen Caleb?” I asked.
Nobody answered at first.
Then one of the boys leaned back against the wall and smirked. “Why? Are you his girlfriend now?”
A few of them laughed.
A couple of them exchanged looks.
I should’ve turned around right then, but after everything I’d heard that morning, I wasn’t backing down.
“I just need to talk to him.”
Most of them avoided eye contact after that, but finally, another player named Drew spoke up.
“He might be at Taylor’s place.”
The others looked at him judgmentally.
“What?” Drew shrugged. “We all know they’re secretly dating.”
That came as a surprise to me.
“I just need to talk to him.”
“Taylor with the piercings?” I asked.
