He bowed his head, bringing his hands into his lap. We sat there in horrible silence for a long minute.

I opened the door awkwardly. “Have a good day,” I offered, grimacing at how fake it sounded.

“Andi—” he said suddenly, looking up at me. I cringed at the look of misery on his face. “Andi, I just… just… be safe, sweetie. Please?”

I nodded and closed the door. Oh god, why did he have to guilt me like that? Riley and I had to go to New York—not that I’d ever be able to explain that to Dad—but couldn’t he see how bad I felt about everything?

I stared at the facade of my school, dread creeping up on me. How would Riley treat me today? I took a shaky breath and walked inside, pushing past the flocks of students lingering in the halls.

I instantly knew how terrible the day would be when I walked into the half-filled English classroom. Riley’s desk was still empty, but Bree was in hers. I slid into my seat next to her, but something made me hesitant to catch her attention. With good reason too, because when she turned and saw me, her face whitened.

“What the hell, Andi?” she hissed, her words harsh even though her expression was tinged with confusion and worry. “My parents almost freaking killed me when your mom called asking where you were. Your folks thought you were with me the whole weekend, why didn’t you—”

But then Mrs. Phillips walked into the classroom.

“Not now,” I whispered, pleading with her. My eyes were glued to the door as students continued to dart inside.

Bree stiffened—I shrank in my seat, desperate to avoid a Bridget Fifan Third Degree Special. She seemed torn between continuing her tirade and shutting up, but she pursed her lips in the end. “Lunch,” she ordered, and then turned around in her seat, the hunch in her shoulders cutting off any retort I might have made.

The motion stung me. Of all people, I thought Bree would at least try to understand before she just turned away from me like that. I felt my own anger grow. How dare she interrogate me, judge me! If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have gone to that stupid college party in the first place. This was all her fault! Nothing would have happened if it hadn’t been for Bree!

“Nothing would have happened,” I whispered under my breath, and the thought sent me reeling. Once more, I realized—there would have been no rescue, no road trip, no Riley.

Where was Riley?

The bell rang, and Mrs. Phillips closed the door. “Good morning, class. Take your seats,” she began.

Riley’s empty desk seemed a gaping wound to me.