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“In May, Theo. In May. When you were loading up all those guns and you said you were going shooting.”
“I didn’t say I was going shooting!”
Auggie’s eyes got huge.
“I let you believe I was going shooting,” Theo muttered. “There’s a difference.”
“Theo.”
“Don’t judge me.”
Denise, meanwhile, had moved on to describing the apps and ‘sserts. “—Theo’s favorite is the s’mores nachos, of course, but I don’t have to tell you that—”
With a warning look for Auggie, Theo unmuted their microphone and said, “Denise, sorry to break in like this. I have kind of a weird question.”
“Oh!” Her voice became playful. “Auggie, Theo loves the hot gos’!”
Auggie was biting the collar of his tee now, blinking back tears of laughter.
“Uh, yeah,” Theo said. “So, a couple of students just told me about a boy named Leon Purdue.”
“Yeah?”
“They said he disappeared. Is that right? I mean, that seems like kind of a big deal. Why didn’t I hear about this? You figure there’d be a staff meeting at the least, so we knew what to say to kids.”
“Well, he’s gone—” A hint of confusion filtered into her words. “—but he didn’t disappear.”
“What do you mean?”
“He got emancipated last spring. You know, as a minor. And then he dropped out of school.”
“You’re sure? These kids made it sound…dramatic.”
A little laugh. “Sure, I’m sure. I processed all the paperwork, didn’t I? He got emancipated, and then he dropped out. That’s pretty much it.”
“Do you know anything about his family? Anything about his home life?”
“Why? What’d those kids tell you?”
Theo forced his tone lighter. “Something about a serial killer targeting teens.”
Denise burst out laughing. “Oh my God, you’ve got to tell the Mommies about that.”
“Yes, Theo,” Auggie said at a frankly unnecessary level of volume. “You have to tell the Mommies.”
It had been a long time since Theo had given Auggie a dead leg. It was nice to know he could still do it.
“Theo?” Denise asked as Auggie hopped on one leg, breathing through his teeth as he held back a shout. “Is everything ok?”
“You know what, Denise? Everything is fine, actually. Right now, it’s fine.”
“Because it sounds like someone got hurt. Did you stub your toe? Oh God, did you hit your funny bone?”
“All good over here,” Theo said, smiling at Auggie, who was alternating between scowling and massaging his thigh. “Thanks for the hot gos’. I’ve got to run.”
“Oh, before you go, Auggie: about Friday—”
Theo disconnected the call.
