I write the name in my notebook.
Aleeza:How would Taylor know about it?
Jay:Lance and I were close first year. I don’t tell many people about my scholarship, but I’m almost positive I mentioned it to him.
I don’t know what to make of this. Would someone want to kill Jay for a scholarship?
That night, Jay and I watch another time-travel movie. We watched the firstBill and Tedlast night, which was fun, but I could tell Jay wasn’t in the mood for such a silly movie, so tonight we pickThe Time Traveler’s Wife. He doesn’t text me nearly as much as he did last week for theBack to the Futuretrilogy, and I don’t blame him. He’s got a lot on his mind.
Jay:Do you think you’d want to be in Henry and Clare’s time anomaly instead of ours? With me showing up at random times in your life instead of this?
I think about it.
Aleeza:It would be strange. I mean, our anomaly is strange too. It would be cool to have more time, though.
And it would be amazing to know for sure that hecouldcome back. To know that a goodbye might not be a final goodbye.
Aleeza:And it would be nice to know that there’s a possibility we could have a future instead of only a past and a present.
I can’t believe I said that. But it’s the truth. I don’t know if I want a future with Jay, but it would be nice to know it was possible. He doesn’t write anything for a few moments, and I’m worried that I scared him off. This is the guy who hates commitment. Then a message appears.
Jay:Yes, I agree. And it would be nice to be able to actually be in each other’s lives physically. We were cheated. We signed up for the wrong time anomaly.
Aleeza:I knew I should have ordered a DeLorean instead.
Jay:No, not that one. I am NOT going to the prom with my mother.
After we watch for a bit longer, Jay sends another message.
Jay:Any chance you feel up to sleeping in my bed again? If I know you’re there, I might actually get some sleep.
Aleeza:Absolutely. I’d love to.
It’s the least I can do for him. I’ll sleep better with him near too.
SIXTEEN
At lunch the next day, I spend some more time googling. First, I look up Jay’s scholarship, the Bright-Knowles Award. I can’t find much about it, though, only it’s mention on a few websites that list Canadian scholarships. It’s apparently funded by several high-profile donors, and the only way to apply is to be sponsored by one of the members of the board.
The scholarship itself doesn’t have a website or a list of board members anywhere, so I can’t see who makes the decisions. Maybe Salma Hoque’s boss is on the board?
I google Salma Hoque next. Most of the hits from her name are from the press conference two days after Jay disappeared. I watch the clips carefully to see if I missed anything when I first watched them.
Salma Hoque is beautiful. Medium-brown skin about the same tone as my own, and big brown eyes that look like Jay’s. She does look younger than my own mother. She’s sad in the clips, of course, with bloodshot eyes and hunched shoulders. I don’t know the woman, but her emotions look real to me. Not faked.
I can’t find any mention of her on the internet after this date, so that means this was the last time she made any statement about Jay’s disappearance. I google every combination ofJay Hoque + fatherandSalma Hoque + boyfriendand come up empty. It would have been too easy if a Google search could have found Jay’s father. I look up Jay’saddress on Google Maps. It’s a small townhouse in Scarborough. The outside view doesn’t tell me much.
Salma Hoque legal assistantgets a hit, though. I find her name on some person’s public Instagram post from five years ago about a law office’s staff holiday party. Jay mentioned his mother worked at the same place for years. This must be it. On a whim, I call the office and ask for her. The person says she hasn’t worked there for months, and they can’t tell me where she is now.
I can’t find anything telling me if she’s working now. Has Salma been unemployed since Jay went missing? I remember Kegan’s comment that she hadn’t responded to messages from the housing office. But she must have contacted the school to unenroll Jay right before I moved in. Where is she now? Just lying low? Is she depressed? I open a transit map and see that it’s only about a fifty-minute ride to Jay’s house in Scarborough.
I think I’m going to have to pay a visit to Salma Hoque.
That evening I’m in my room editing the second podcast episode when my phone buzzes.
Jay:We don’t do the standing eight o’clock dates anymore, do we?
Aleeza:I mean, we can? We usually talk before eight. What are you up to?
