Damn.

I was shuffling in my seat, trying hard to find the button to shut my phone off. The professor was eyeing me from the front of the room like he was about to shove his dry erase marker up my butt. I was able to turn it to vibrate, but the damn thing wouldn’t stop. One call after another, Lee was on a roll. After about the fifth time, I crept slowly out of the class and into the hallway. It wasn’t like Lee to call back to back like that, not unless something was wrong and that worried me.

“Hello,” I answered quickly. It was my first day in the class, and already I was making a horrible impression. “This better be good,” I snapped, not really meaning to. I was just aggravated.

“I’m sorry,” she replied in a hurry. “I had to talk to you. There is something going on with Gwen. I think it’s something serious. Can you meet me?”

Gwen?

“What’s going on?”

“Just meet me at the coffee shop.”

It sounded urgent, but I was in the middle of class. “Can’t you just tell me what’s going on? Is she hurt, sick, or something? You’re worrying me.”

“Trust me Josh. We really need to talk. If you fall behind in class, I’ll help you catch up. I promise.”

“Okay. Fine. I’ll meet you at the coffee shop in like five minutes. I’m on my way.”

As I headed out of the building and across the lawn, I checked my phone for any messages from Gwen, but there were none. I don’t know why I expected one. It took over two days to get the last one, and since then she hadn’t said another word.

It wasn’t easy falling for her. She worked my nerves, kept me on the edge of my seat, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure her out. Lee’s call had me nervous. She obviously knew something I didn’t.

When I walked inside the campus coffee shop, I saw Lee sitting at a table by the window. By the look on her face, I knew something was terribly was wrong. I could read her like a book. Lee was never the type to wear her emotions on her sleeve. You had to know her well, in order to gauge her facial expressions. This one was bad. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. Being strong wasn’t always easy for her. She could do it when the time was right, but in front of me she couldn’t hide.

She stood up and met me halfway before I even reached her table.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

She shook her head violently back and forth, before wrapping her arms around my waist. “It was awful.” She mumbled.

We were attracting attention in the overly crowded shop, so I suggested we go outside. She grabbed her coffee from the table, and I cradled her under my arm as we made our way out the door.

“I was walking through Bradford Hall heading to the bookstore, when I saw Gwen,” she explained. Her arms were waving as she spoke, so I knew it was making her nervous. I didn’t push, just waited for her to explain. “She was bent down by the wall with her head between her knees. Her body was rocking back and forth. I couldn’t tell what was wrong with her. I thought maybe she was sick or something. So, I stopped, and I bent down to speak to her. Only,” she paused to take a deep breath. “When I reached my hand out to touch her shoulder, she screamed. She yelled for me to get away.”

“Why?” That didn’t sound like her at all. I was confused.

“That’s the thing. When she recognized it was me she threw her arms around me in a hug. It was weird. It was like she was expecting someone else. She was, ghostly white, and shaking so bad that she could barely stand.”

I ran a hand along my jaw. “Where is she now?”

“With Fox. As soon as I found her she asked me to call him, so I did. He met me outside of the building and took her home. Or at least that’s where I think he took her. I’m not sure, but Josh…” She looked up at me with her worried eyes. “It scared me. I was trying to be strong for her, but I’ve never seen anyone so freaked out before. She was out of breath too, like maybe she was being chased. I don’t freaking know. It was scary.”

“Come here,” I pulled her to my chest. I could understand why she was scared, just thinking about it made me feel like my skin was crawling. What the hell was going on? Was she okay?

My mind was racing with thoughts of Gwen, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something was always wrong, when it came to her.

It was time I got to the bottom of the pot. There’d be no more beating around the bush. I wanted to know everything, and someone was going to tell me.

If it got my face punched in, then so be it.

I walked Lee to the parking lot where Jude picked her up. He said that he’d stay with her and make sure she was okay. She was coming down off an adrenaline high, and needed to rest. I left her in his capable hands, and headed back towards the dorm. I couldn’t worry about both of my girls. One was enough.

Inside my room, I slung my backpack on my bed and grabbed my car keys from my nightstand. I didn’t have another class for two hours, so I figured I’d take a drive and give myself some time to think. In my mind I’d formed an opinion about Gwen’s situation, a scary opinion. One that likely wasn’t the truth, but I had nothing to go on.

It was time to get to the bottom of things.

Before I even pulled out of the parking lot, I did the craziest thing possible.

I dialed Fox’s number and hit send.

It was a stupid thing to do. I knew that. But, if you want to know the truth then you go to the source.

Right?

After a few rings, he picked up. It surprised the hell out of me.

“Now is not a good time,” he said. That was his greeting. They were the family of few words, obviously.

“So, when is a good time?” I snapped back. I wasn’t in the mood to just dip my toes in. It was all or nothing. “We really need to talk.”

“We do?” He almost laughed. I could hear it in his voice. “Is there a problem, Man? My fucking business isn’t one you need to go nosing around in.” He was cut and dry and to the point. Clearly, he was letting me know to keep my distance, and to shut my mouth.

He just didn’t know me to well.

“That’s going to be hard to do.” I rambled on, not letting him get the best of me.

“And why’s that?”

“Cause I’m in love with your sister.”

The words fell loosely from my mouth, and I don’t even know where they came from. I didn’t even know if they were true.

Were they?