“All right. You win.” Callie grabbed her own phone, unlocked her screen, and then dialed before holding the phone to her ear.
Spencer could hear it ringing. No one answered.
“See,” she said with a pout. “He’s most likely at school. I knew he’d have a miraculous recovery in time for the game tonight.”
“Try texting.”
“If you insist,” she said.
Reading over her shoulder, Spencer watched as she typed. Call me ASAP. Important.
“There, are you satisfied?”
Spencer nodded.
“You know if he’s at school, he won’t be able to respond.”
“School or not, if you say it’s important, he’ll find a way to answer.”
She reluctantly agreed with a short nod. “I think you’re making much more of this than necessary.”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so, Callie. The Ben I remember has a conscience, drugs or not. I can’t imagine him standing by and seeing other people hurt. Your fight with him this morning might have triggered something inside him.”
“Are you saying you are more familiar with my brother than I am?”
“What I’m saying,” Spencer said, quickly losing his patience, “is that you’re making assumptions. I don’t know Ben the way I once did, I’ll admit, but my gut tells me something is up and that we need to find out what it is.”
“You’re overreacting. Ben’s at school.”
“Do any of your friends have first lunch?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Call and ask if anyone has seen Ben at school.”
With a huff, Callie reached for her phone a second time. She went into her contact list and then held the phone to her ear once again.
Standing this close to her, he could hear Alyse pick up. “Callie, dance team is going nuts without you. Is there any way you can stop by after school to review the routine?”
“Maybe,” Callie said. “I’m not calling about the dance team. Any chance you’ve seen Ben? He stayed home from school this morning and—”
“He’s not sick, is he?”
Alyse sounded alarmed, recognizing that if a key member of the football team was absent, it might mean a loss, and a loss at a home game would be devastating.
“He said he wasn’t feeling well when I left him earlier,” Callie explained.
“You left him? Where did you go?”
“To Spencer’s house.”
“You went to Spencer’s house?”
Even standing this far away, Spencer could feel the shock waves.
“Spencer and I are longtime friends,” Callie insisted.
“Since when?” Alyse asked, laughing.
“Since forever,” she muttered, clearly unamused. “Have you seen Ben or not?”
“I haven’t, but let me ask around. Give me five minutes and I’ll call you back.”
“Thanks.”
Spencer had the impression the first four minutes would be Alyse telling all their gal pals the shocking news that Callie and he were together.
Five minutes passed and then ten with no call.
“He’s at school,” Callie reiterated, although she didn’t sound nearly as confident as she had earlier.
“You’re probably right.” He stuffed the tips of his fingers into his rear pockets, lunch forgotten.
“But what if he isn’t?” she asked, her eyes wide, and seeking what looked like reassurance.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we need to.”
“Right,” she said, nodding.
When Callie’s phone finally did ring, it came so unexpectedly that they both jumped.
She answered right away. “What did you find out?” she asked, without giving the normal greeting.
“No one’s seen him, so I asked Scott, figuring he would know,” Alyse said, and then hesitated.
“And?” Callie pressed.
“And…he acted sort of weird. Cagey.”
Callie’s eyes connected with Spencer’s. “Cagey? In what way?”
“W…e…l…l,” Alyse said, dragging out the word. “It’s hard to describe. I mean, you’d think he’d be concerned if Ben was home sick, about the game and all.”
“Right,” Callie agreed.
“Instead, he said something about Ben being stupid. If Ben is sick, it isn’t because he lacks intelligence. When I said as much, Scott glared at me and said I didn’t know what I was talking about. Then he said Ben was about to ruin everything, but that probably has to do with him missing the game.”