“Sorry,” Becca mumbled. “It’s just that I don’t really know what happened with us. She just kinda pulled away from me. From our whole group, actually.” It was hard to read her tone. Becca had always had a slight edge to her voice. But underneath that, she sounded sincere, truthful. It didn’t make Whitney feel any better. She wanted a reason, and she wanted it to be Becca’s fault.

“Surely something happened. Did you get in a fight or something?”

“I mean, I guess we argued sometimes, but nothing big.”

It didn’t make sense. What was Becca hiding?

Whitney thought about her teenage self. What had she and her best friend fought about back then?

Dark eyes.

Tousled hair.

Black jacket.

A wink. An outstretched hand. Lips curled upward on one side.

Whitney shivered, thinking back to the mysterious messages in Amelia’s phone. “Do you know Phil Lopez?”

A pause, and then, “Isn’t he, like, the lead singer of the Hard Knocks?”

“Huh? No, well, I have no idea.” She didn’t even know who the Hard Knocks were. “Maybe. But I mean, is there a guy at your school with that name?”

“Not that I know of.”

“And you haven’t seen Amelia hanging out with a guy?”

It was a moment before Becca spoke again. “No. I’m sorry.”

“I have a picture of Amelia with some random guy drinking beers. If I text it to you, do you think you can let me know if he looks familiar?”

Another pause. “Sure.”

“Thanks,” Whitney said.

“Hey,” Becca said suddenly. “Now that I think about it, there is one thing that might be helpful.” Whitney sat forward, afraid to even breathe. “Right before Amelia and I stopped hanging out, she mentioned that she’d been talking to this older guy online.”

“Older guy? Like how much older?”

“She never said. I kinda thought maybe like in college or something, but I don’t know. They’d never met in real life, I don’t think. But I know some of their conversations were like...well, you know. I don’t wanna say they were sexting, but...” Whitney’s stomach rolled, moisture filling her mouth at the thought. Becca cleared her throat. “Anyway, I remember teasing her, saying she better hope she’s not being catfished or something.”

Whitney thought about the picture of Amelia with that boy. He didn’t look older, so she doubted it was the same person, but she supposed it was possible. “Do you happen to know the guy’s name or anything?”

“Um...I feel like maybe it was like initials or something,” she said, “but I’m not sure.”

“Okay, well, if you think of it, can you let me know? And let me know if you recognize the guy in the picture.”

“I will,” Becca said. “And um...can you let me know if she comes home?”

“Sure.”

“I hope you find her soon.”