“Miss Pine Grove. Bee wanted to do it. Anyway, we can talk later, love you!” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, did the same to my dad, and then skedaddled out of that office as quickly as I could, leaving my parents’ shocked expressions and the smell of burned coffee behind me.

•••

The rest of the day was kind of a blur. The fire had everything all discombobulated, so classes were meeting in different locations. I had English in the gym, and Mrs. Laurent had sent all of us an e-mail that newspaper would now meet in the computer lab near the math hall. I hadn’t seen David all day, and assumed he was avoiding me. That was... good. I wasn’t ready to face him, not yet.

But when I got to the temporary newspaper lab and realized he wasn’t there, I got worried. Even if David was lying low between classes and at lunch, he’d never miss newspaper.

Chie and Michael were working on computers in the back, and I tried to keep my voice as casual as I could. “Have either of you seen David?”

Chie shook her head, dark hair swinging around her jaw. “He’s not in school today.” She looked over her shoulder at me, the light from the computer monitor glowing in her eyes. “Did it take you this long to notice your boyfriend’s missing?”

Okay, so David hadn’t told his friends we’d broken up. I hadn’t told mine either, except Bee.

Nodding, I gave a little shrug and backed up from them. “Sure, but I thought he might still show up for this class.”

Neither Chie nor Michael replied, and I went over to one of the empty desks, sitting down with my bag. I had no idea what to do here without David. I usually worked with him, going over articles, suggesting layouts, throwing away any unflattering pictures—yearbooks are forever, and no one deserves to have certain shots preserved for eternity—but without him I felt sort of... lost.

And still worried.

Mrs. Laurent was nowhere to be seen, so I pulled out my cell phone and moved to the very back corner of the room. It smelled like dry-erase marker back there, and weird as it seemed, I kind of missed the hot ink smell of the old newspaper lab.

Ducking my head down, I dialed David’s number quickly, and when he picked up after the third ring, I turned to face the wall.

“Pres,” he said, and I closed my eyes for a second, willing myself not to sound all shaky and teary.

“Hi,” I said as brightly as I could manage. “Skipping school today?”

On the other end of the phone, I could hear him blow out a long breath. “Thought it was a good idea, yeah,” he replied. “And I’ve been meaning to spend some extra time with Saylor’s books.”