“I’m fine,” he said.
I nodded, though I didn’t believe him.
“Okay,” I said. “But if you’re not, you can tell me.”
He didn’t answer.
I left feeling worse than before.
That evening, I tried again.
***
By the fourth day, I couldn’t take it anymore.
I paced the living room while working, running through every possibility.
Maybe it was school.
Maybe something happened on the trip.
I was about to insist on searching his phone when mine rang, cutting off my thoughts.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Miller?”
It was Mr. Harrison, Leo’s principal and one of the trip chaperones.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
My hands trembled as I braced for the worst.
