Before I could open my mouth, he was off the couch and running up the steps.

The screen door clattered shut behind him.

Twenty-Four

Had I heard wrong?

I must have.

But no. Nothing else sounds like I killed my parents.

It wasn’t possible though. Oren hadn’t killed his parents.

Had he?

No, they had all been in a car accident. One he’d been hurt in too. He still had the scar on his face, the cast on his arm, and I’d seen the bruises. I’d also seen his parents’ obituaries, which mentioned the accident. He couldn’t be making that up.

Unless he and his uncle were hiding something. But if he’d done something bad, wouldn’t he be in jail? It didn’t make sense.

I wanted to ask him, but he was long gone. And while his uncle’s place wasn’t far from ours, I couldn’t remember exactly where it was, so I couldn’t go find him. I got out my phone and opened up our texts.

My thumb hovered over the letters as I read his last message. You should have stood up for yourself if it bothers you.

I sighed and put my phone away. I picked up the remote and resumed flicking through channels. I needed time to think.

A little while later the doorbell rang. Assuming it was Oren, I muted the TV and waited. The ceiling above me squeaked as Dad crossed the floor to answer it.

When I heard two deep voices, I hurried to the bottom of the stairs to listen better.

Then Dad hollered down the stairs, “Oren! Your uncle’s here.”

I went up to the front hall where the two men stood. “Oren’s not here,” I told them. “He went home already.”

Jared frowned. “I just stopped in to change so I could take him out for dinner. He wasn’t there.”

My heart fluttered in panic. Where would he have gone? “Oh,” I said, looking out the front window, half expecting him to be out there on the street. He wasn’t.

Just then the house phone rang.

“One second,” Dad said as he hurried to grab it in the kitchen.

“When did Oren leave?” Jared asked me as he pulled out his cell.

“Not long ago.” I reached for my own phone. But there was nothing new from Oren. “Like, twenty minutes?” Dad returned a minute later, a deep frown on his face. “Mystery solved. That was Sarah,” he said. He looked at Jared to explain. “One of our cemetery groundskeepers. She said a very upset boy showed up at the Katzman graves a few minutes ago.”

Jared’s shoulders drooped as he sighed. “Thanks. I’ll go get him.” He turned toward the door.

“Wait,” I blurted out before he could leave.

He stopped.

“Did Oren…” I cleared my throat. I was so scared to ask, but I had to know. “Um. He didn’t, I mean, did…”

Jared turned fully toward me now, eyebrows high on his forehead as he waited for my question.