“Cindy?”
“I’m sorry for showing up like this, but the police and Caleb’s parents came to my house this morning looking for him.”
The second I mentioned Caleb, her expression changed.
Then I heard footsteps behind her before Caleb appeared in the hallway looking exhausted, like he hadn’t slept all night.
The moment he saw me, all the color drained from his face.
“Cindy…”
I crossed my arms tightly. “You were there the night of the fire?”
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Then Caleb stepped outside.
“Yeah,” he admitted quietly.
Hearing him say it out loud twisted my stomach.
“What happened?”
Caleb hesitated before answering.
“When I was nine, I saw Mason sneak out of our house late at night. He used to do stuff like that all the time, and I followed him on my bike because I thought it was fun.”
He looked down.
“I lost sight of him for a while because he was on his skateboard, but eventually I saw him climbing out of a window at your house. A few minutes later, I noticed smoke coming from the kitchen.”
I stared at him, unsure what to say.
“I got scared and rode home. Then the next morning, when everyone started talking about the fire and what happened to you…” He swallowed hard. “I kept thinking if I told anyone, Mason’s life would be over.”
“So you stayed quiet?”
“I was nine.”
That stopped me cold for a second.
He explained that Mason’s behavior only got worse as he got older. Juvenile detention. Fights. Eventually prison.
But Caleb never stopped thinking about that night.
Especially once we ended up attending the same school years later.
“At first, I avoided you,” Caleb admitted. “Every time I looked at you, I thought about the fire.”
But avoiding me eventually became impossible.
Classes. Hallways. Football games. Group projects.
And somewhere along the way, guilt became something else.
Then Caleb admitted something I never expected.
Before prom, he overheard several guys joking about how nobody would ask me to dance.
“I snapped at them. One of them almost hit me for it.”
Taylor stood quietly behind us listening.
Caleb continued, “I didn’t ask you to dance because I pitied you. I did it because I got tired of pretending I didn’t care about you.”
That caught me completely off guard.
He explained that after taking me home, he went to Taylor’s house because her parents were gone and he needed advice about finally telling me the truth.
“I planned to come talk to you today.”
I stared at him for a long moment before finally asking the question still bothering me most.
“Why would Mason do something like that?”
Caleb slowly shook his head.
“I honestly don’t know.”
Then his expression shifted slightly.
“But maybe it’s time we ask him ourselves.”
An hour later, Caleb drove us to a correctional facility two towns away.
Taylor stayed in the car while Caleb and I went inside for visitation.
During the entire drive, my stomach stayed twisted in knots.
Part of me expected Mason to look terrifying after everything I’d heard about him.
Instead, when he entered the visitation room, he just looked exhausted and older than he should have.
The moment he saw me sitting beside Caleb, his face completely fell.
