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My dad nods in sympathy. “Big day. Lots of emotions.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders, and we start for the exit. “I’m really proud of you, Lark. The first in our family to graduate college, and now you’re going to medical school—”
“Dad?” I stop, causing him to turn back.
His brow furrows as he shakes his head. Coming back to me, he asks, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“He’s gone. There are no texts, no missed calls. Nothing. Harbor’s gone.”
“What do you mean Harbor’s gone?”
Tears bubble over my lower lids as I point back at the stage. “Did you not notice they didn’t call his name. He didn’t walk the stage or claim his diploma.”
“No,” he says, “I dozed off after Amanda left. Just briefly.” He sounds guilty when the last thing I care about is him sleeping through the last hour of a graduation ceremony.
“Dad, what if . . .” My tears multiply, falling down to the floor of the last place I saw him.
I’m brought into a hug, my dad holding me like he did when I was a little girl, stroking my hair, and promising that everything’s going to be all right. But he can’t keep that promise anymore.
My breath is jagged, but I collect it. “I have to find him. Will you help me?”
“On it.”
Frantic, I start walking again, searching the crowded halls of the gymnasium, and my dad heads in the opposite direction. My gut already knows the answer, my head knowing this is pointless. He’s not here. The beat of my heart, the breath of my soul has disappeared.Just like him.
When few people remain, my dad comes down the hall and says, “I checked every bathroom. He’s not here, Pip. Still no contact?”
“No, none at all.”
He tucks his hands in his pockets. “If you want my opinion, I don’t think he’s a missing person. I think he’s just missing this event. It was kind of boring.” He half smiles at me and rests his hand on my shoulder. “You were the highlight.” The emptiness I feel is overwhelming, so much that even the kindest of gestures from my dad can’t help me. “I think we should go, Lark.”
I don’t remember walking to the truck or getting in, strapping on my seat belt, or driving away from graduation. The mystery of Harbor’s disappearance was the only thing on my mind. But when my dad got a text on the way to his house, my hands started to shake again. Anxious, I ask, “What is it?”
He pulls up to the curb and leaves the engine running. With his elbow anchored on the open window, he rubs his forehead. He exhales, caught in a conflict of his mind.
My heart starts racing, and I reach over to touch his arm. “Dad? Is it . . .” I can’t say the words or his name, my thoughts running to the worst that could happen.
Dad gets out of the driver’s seat and shuts the door. Leaning in the window, he says, “Go see the Westcotts.” He taps the top of the cab and then turns to walk up the path.
“Why?” I call, leaning over from the other side of the truck.
“I don’t know, Pip. It’s best you talk to them.”
The panic I feel inside worsens, but I don’t rush to the driver’s side and take off to The Pointe Estates. I sit on the passenger side, my mind going wild with what might be happening or already did. I’m not sure, but my heart tells me I’m not ready.
Taking a breath and then a longer one, I exhale and slide over the bench behind the steering wheel. I shift into gear and start the journey.
It’s only twenty minutes if there’s no traffic, but it’s the longest drive of my life. I don’t know how long it took, my mind reliving every detail of the last time I saw him and every word we spoke.“I love you, Lark. Remember that, okay?”
That’s why they didn’t call his name to accept a diploma.
This was planned all along.
That’s why his parents weren’t there.
He knew he was leaving.
That means . . .
He was leaving me.
