Page 25 of A Million To Fall

Lily shakes her head. “I haven’t seen him in homeroom, either.”

My chest feels too small for the organs housed there.

“He’s probably just sick,” Pacey offers. “There’s that nasty stomach bug going around. Had me down three days two weeks ago.”

“Today was his day to present in English,” I say, dismissing Pacey’s explanation. “This project counts for thirty percent of our grade in class. Mr. Lindgren said no make-ups. If you miss your day, it’s an automatic F on the project.”

Archer chuckles. “Sucks for Boston.”

I shoot him a look. “What’s your problem with him?”

Archer shrugs. “The guy’s a—”

“Have you tried calling him?” Jonathan asks.

“Yeah. I texted, too. Nothing.” Jake pulls out his phone again and starts typing.

Pacey shrugs. “You wouldn’t be texting either if you had it coming out of both ends every five minutes.”

“No, man,” Jake groans. “He’s not just sick. I mean, he’s not answering his phone. No texts. Not even a ‘Yo, I’m alive. Nothing. All week. All fucking week.”

All I can think about is Boston’s banged-up face on Monday. His split lip. What if something terrible happened to him?

“Okay?” Archer says, too flat.

Jake glares at him. “Skye and I have known Boss since we were, like, three. We’ve never gone more than a couple days without talking. Not even when his dad died.”

He locks eyes with me. “I stopped by his place last night. It was empty.”

For a second, the hallway wants to tilt, like I’m walking through a funhouse tunnel. “Empty?”

Jake nods.

Pacey stares at him. “Why the fuck didn’t you lead with that?”

Jake rakes a hand through his hair. “There was an eviction notice on the door. No lights, no furniture. When I looked through the mail slot… the place was bare.”

“Eviction notice?” Archer repeats. “I didn’t know his mom was renting.”

I can’t believe that’s what he’s latching on to.

Jake stares at him. “Why the fuck does that matter?”

“It doesn’t,” Archer says, backing off with a raised hand. “I just didn’t know Boss lived in an apartment.” I don’t miss the smirk on his lips.

“They lived at the Apple Orchard Apartments on Willard Road,” I say.

“Maybe they just moved?” Jonathan says. “That would explain the whole MIA thing.”

Jake doesn’t look convinced. “You don’t think he maybe would’ve mentioned that on Monday?”

I get an idea. “I’ll check with the office. If they moved, the school would’ve been notified, right? Maybe I can get Miss Carry to tell me something.”

I don’t wait for approval, just turn and march to the office. I need to get to the bottom of this.

Luckily, Miss Carry is at the front desk.

About five years ago, my mom helped her leave a bad situation and even let Miss Carry and her baby stay with us for a while.