Page 13 of Finding Noah

“All right, honey. Let's head back inside and give her a call, okay?”

I looked up at Jason’s mom warily, even though she smiled nicely. Mom had said to stand right here until she came to get me. That was the rule every single day, and if she got here and didn’t see me standing on the curb, she’d be worried. Maybe she’d even be mad. But … she was late. She was never late, and the more I thought about it, the more my tummy began to hurt.

Something felt wrong.

So, I nodded, and with my head hanging, I followed Jason and his mom back into the school lobby, where she asked the receptionist if she could use the phone in the office. We were led into the empty vice principal's office, where Jason's mom instructed me to sit and make myself comfortable while she dialed the phone. I took a seat at one of the two chairs in front of the desk. Jason sat beside me, unzipped his backpack, and asked if I'd like some Doritos.

“Sure,” I muttered because even if I was a little worried, I never said no to Doritos.

“Hi! This is Mrs. Williams,” Jason's mom said cheerfully into the phone. I met her eye, and she smiled reassuringly, giving me a thumbs-up as she continued to say, “I'm a teacher at River Canyon Elementary School. Is—yes, I'm calling about Noah! Is this his … oh, great!”

Jason handed me one snack-sized bag of chips, and I opened it gratefully. Hope lifted the weight that'd been sitting on my shoulders, and I scooted my butt to the edge of the seat as I chomped into a Cool Ranch Dorito.

“Yes, I have him here with me. He's been—no, of course! Things happen. It's all right. Oh, I don't mind waiting with him at all. No problem. See you in a few minutes. Bye.”

She hung up the phone, her smile only widening as she turned to me.

“Don't worry, sweetheart. Just a few more minutes, okay?”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Mom was coming. I was going home. I didn't know why she was so late, but it didn't matter. It was a mistake. I made mistakes all the time. Mom was allowed to make one every now and then, right? She was just a person too.

I finished my Doritos while I talked with Jason.

He seemed pretty cool after I got to know him a bit.

His dad was a cop, his mom was a tattoo artist when she wasn't teaching, and his brother was way older than him and in college. He had four dogs, six cats, three parakeets, and a snake! Plus, his mom was talking about getting a horse! He had a whole room in his house just for him to play in with every video game console ever made, and he even had his own laptop to play World of Warcraft on with his dad and brother.

Jason was the coolest kid I had ever met.

When he asked what gaming systems I had, I could only shrug and say, “I … don't remember the names.”

But I didn't have any at all. Mom never had the money to buy me one, and Grandma and Grandpa didn't know anything about video games. To be honest, I didn't know much about them either, and suddenly, that made me feel really, really stupid.

“Noah!” the secretary called from the lobby.

I jumped up from the chair, looked out the big window beside the door, and my hands started to shake as my palms got all clammy and gross.

Dad was here in his stupid truck, and he was getting out and walking right toward me.

I hadn't seen him since we’d moved.

I had hoped we had run away. I had hoped we'd lost him. I had hoped he'd forgotten all about us.

But there he was, opening the door.

“Are you Noah's father?” Jason's mom asked, placing her hands on Jason's shoulders.

“Yep,” Dad said without looking at her. His eyes were only on me. “Let's go.”

My gaze went from his face to Jason's mom. She seemed … scared maybe. I didn't think she meant to look that way. I thought she felt like she looked brave and strong, but the way she held Jason's shoulders, the way she looked at me with big, open eyes … she reminded me of Mom whenever Dad was around, and when Dad was around, Mom was always, always scared.

“I was under the impression Noah's mom would be picking him up,” Jason's mom said.

“She's busy,” Dad replied, laying a hand on my shoulder. “Get in the truck.”

I swallowed and blinked away the memory of that day.

Tommy's house.