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"He didn't answer."
Carter looks at Zayn with more fear than I've ever seen on his face. "I told you. Something is wrong."
My brows furrow as I put my purse down on the counter. "Why do you think something is wrong? Since when is it weird for Jace to be out past midnight?"
"It's not," Carter tries to explain. "But he usually answers his phone."
"Seriously? You made me come here because he's not answering his phone? Maybe he's driving."
He looks like he wants to start yelling at me, until Zayn taps his arm with the back of his hand. "You need to tell her."
"I can't. He'll kill me."
He shrugs. "He might not be around to. She needs to know."
"Know what?" Neither of them says anything. "Carter! Know what?"
Carter throws his head back and groans before nodding at Zayn and locking his eyes with mine. "After what happened in Tallahassee, he basically lost control. I've been trying to help him, but he doesn't want it. He shuts me out, and he won't talk to me. He won't admit it, but he's been doing drugs."
"What?" I start to laugh, even though a part of me thought this too, a little while back. "No, he's not. I'm with him all the time. I think I would know if he was on drugs."
"He is, Paige." He puts a hand on my shoulder. "Zayn saw him buying them from Rinaldo a few months ago. That guy you saw him with at the party? That's his dealer."
At hearing Carter’s admission, little things I hadn’t put thought into start to run through my head: The reason he didn't want me anywhere near him. The reason he got so defensive. The reason he wouldn't answer the question, no matter how hard I pressed.
I should’ve seen it. Hell, I did see it. I just didn’t want to believe it. But now, it’s painstakingly clear. He’s a drug addict, and it’s only getting worse.
"Oh my God." Images of Jace lying somewhere unconscious fill my mind. "Oh my God! What if he's dead in a fucking ditch somewhere? We have to find him!"
I grab my purse and head for the door when Carter tries to stop me. "Where are you going?"
"We have to go look for him!"
"He could literally be anywhere. We have no idea where he is," Zayn tells me.
"I don't care," I say confidently. "I can't sit around and just wait for him to come back. If he comes back."
Neither one of them tries to stop me again as I walk right out the door.
I SPEND HOURS DRIVING around, until it's damn near three in the morning. I've checked the center of campus where everyone normally hangs out. I've checked the lake. I even drove up to that cliff where I stupidly confessed that I was in love with him. I can't seem to find him anywhere.
The longer he's missing, the more I start to get worried. What if he overdosed somewhere? What if he's lying in a ditch? What if Rinaldo had him killed because of the way he wouldn't let him talk to me at Zayn's party? There are so many different scenarios it makes my head spin.
As I drive down the road, staring out the window at the side of the road that leads to campus, I realize the gravity of what I'm doing. I'm not looking for Jace walking down the street. I'm looking for his body. It's like I've already convinced myself he's dead.
Tears stream down my face until I need to pull over. My hands pound against the steering wheel as one of my worst fears creeps in. What am I going to do? What if he really is dead?
I don't even realize my phone is ringing until I go to throw it across the car. Carter's name shines into my face and I squint before answering it.
"He's home," he says before I can even get a word out. "He just walked in."
"Oh, thank God," I sob.
I don't think I could feel any more relieved at the moment. My entire body feels like it could float away like a balloon. I turn my car around and head back toward campus.
"Tell him to stay there," I tell Carter. "Don't let him fucking leave."
"Yes, ma'am."
