“Have you seen a textbook?” I pull at my hair when they both stare back at me with puzzled expressions. A cold sweat breaks out over my entire body. “Frank. The textbooks. Have you seen any?”

Wes groans and then grits out, “You said you were done.”

“I am.” I turn in circles, but I don’t see it anywhere. “Fuck, I am. I can’t explain right now.”

I give the downstairs the same treatment but don’t find anything.

With no answers in sight, I call Frank… something I swore I’d never do again. It’s not like I hate the guy, he gave me a job when I needed one and he was cool when I told him I was done, but he represents a whole part of my life I’m not proud of and would prefer not to ever think about again.

“Hey,” Frank greets me cheerily.

I don’t waste any time on niceties. “What book? Where did you leave it?” Mentally, I’m already thinking of everywhere he might think to put it for me, and I’m really hoping he doesn’t say the locker room. Goodbye scholarship, goodbye basketball, goodbye Valley.

“I gave it to your girl.”

Life as I know it flashes in front of me. Shame and regret make my knees buckle, and I lean against the nearest wall.

“Chloe,” he says her name, confirming my worst nightmare. “I saw her at TKE on Thursday night as she was getting in an Uber to go to your place. She didn’t give it to you?”

He keeps talking, but I hang up on him and turn to face Wes and Joel. They’re hovering like two mother hens.

“Chloe has it.”

“Maybe she tossed it and didn’t wanna tell you about it. That’s what I would have done if he’d given it to me,” Joel says reassuringly.

I shake my head. “She doesn’t know.”

I read the judgment loud and clear on their faces. Fuck, I should have told her.

“Don’t panic. It’s probably just in her dorm. It looks like a normal textbook unless she opened it.” Joel might believe that, but I don’t. My gut tells me everything.

She knows, and I’ve already lost her.

30

CHLOE

Head leaning against the window, I find some solace in the cool glass. The promise of night and the end of this shitty, shitty day.

I’m sitting in the very last row of the bus all by myself. The seats across and in front of me are both empty. A glance up and across the aisle finds Sydney watching me with worry in her dark eyes.

The day was a success, at least regarding volleyball. Valley came out on top and the team looked good. The bus ride home should be filled with excited chatter, but instead it’s quiet and an impending doom hangs in the air.