Chapter 36
Nine and a Half Years Ago
That night in the tent, Zoe falls asleep to the soundtrack of crickets and with Chase’s hand stroking her hair.
She wakes only once in the night, wondering why she’s so warm.
It’s because Chase lies flush at her back, his arm curled securely over her hip.
She kicks the covers off her feet and falls quickly into a dreamless sleep.
She’d happily stay there. But now someone is shaking her gently. “Wake up, beautiful. We have to get going or we’ll be late. Sister Walsh would have me executed.”
Her mother’s grumpy face swims into her consciousness, and that does the trick. Zoe sits bolt upright. “Oh God, are we late? My phone didn’t go off.”
“I’m not sure why mine is dead,” Chase says. “Maybe because the signal is so sketchy. But it’s okay—I ran out to the truck to check the time, and it’s only seven. If you get up fast, I’ll drive through Dunkin’ and buy us a couple of coffees.”
She flops back down onto the pillow, heart racing. She doesn’t want to leave this bed or this tent. Maybe ever. “I’m not ready.”
Chuckling, he moves the hair away from her neck and kisses the spot just below her ear. Then he blows a raspberry.
She groans. “Why are you so cheerful?”
“I’m a morning person.”
“It’s kind of irritating,” she grumbles.
“That’s what the boys of entryway F think, too. Although I never kiss them good morning or offer to buy them coffee.”
“They would enjoy both of those things.”
He laughs. “I know, right? Come on.” He pulls the covers back. “You don’t want to get me in trouble.”
It’s true, and it’s a sobering thought. So Zoe gets up and gets dressed. Her body is pleasantly sore in a few new places, and when she thinks about last night, she feels her face heat, but in a nice way.
Thirty minutes later, they’re approaching the college in Chase’s truck. He’s humming along with the radio, and she’s clutching her coffee cup, admiring the way his arm muscles flex as he holds the steering wheel.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks him.
He glances over with a quick smile. “You. And all my thoughts are R-rated. What are you thinking about?”
“Well, our cover story.”
He laughs. “You’re smarter than I am. How do you want to play this? My parking pass is for the Filbert lot, but I could drop you anywhere you want.”
“Just park at the far edge of the Filbert lot, and let me go inside first,” she says. “I need more prep time than you.” She’s already wearing her workout clothes, because she knew it would look odd if she rolled into the dorm in a dress. But she needs to work on her hair.
“Deal,” he says. “And if for some reason they noticed one of us was gone, let’s review our story.”
“We went running together. Early,” she says. “To see the sunrise.”
“Okay.” He glances over to give her a secretive smile. “I love a nice morning run with a hot chick.”
The compliment makes her glow for about two minutes. But then, as they drive up College Avenue, the blue lights from two cop cruisers and an ambulance are unmistakable in front of Filbert Hall.
“Holy shit,” Chase says. “Are they in front of…”
“Entryway F,” Zoe says slowly.
“Do you think—”
“God. I don’t know.”
He grabs his phone off the center console, where it’s been charging, and curses before throwing it back down again.
Zoe picks it up herself and sees that Chase has missed fifteen calls. Some of them from her mother. “Oh my God. What happened?”
“When did they start calling?” he asks, steering toward the lot.
“Um…” She scrolls. “A couple hours ago. At five forty-five. I mean… we could have been out running.”
“For more than two hours?”
“We stopped to watch the sun rise.”
Chase turns into the Filbert lot and brings the truck to a sudden halt in the first open spot. He kills the engine. “I’ve got to get over there.”
“Go,” Zoe agrees, handing him his phone. “Find out what happened while we were out for a run.”
The old truck’s door squeaks as he pushes the door open and steps out. But then he stops to look back at her before he goes. “I love you,” he says. But the seriousness of his expression makes her heart twist.
“I love you, too,” she whispers.
The door slams again, and he’s gone, jogging toward the emergency vehicles.
Alone now, Zoe takes a shaky breath. And then another one. This is so bad. She slips out of the passenger seat with her gym bag and walks the long way around the building, which puts her on the far end, by entryway A.
When she turns the final corner, the bunheads are all outside, watching from a safe distance. And when one of them notices Zoe, she gasps. “Coach is looking for you!” the girl says. “Did you hear Chase is in trouble?”
Zoe’s heart all but stops. “What happened?”
“They took Joon-ho out on a stretcher. He took some drugs, and Chase wasn’t around to help.”
“Drugs?” Blood begins to pound in Zoe’s ears. “Is he okay?” she gasps.
Melanie has latched on to Zoe’s arrival now, and she whips her cunning face in Zoe’s direction. “They wouldn’t tell us the truth about Joon-ho,” she says. “It looks bad. And now I think Chase is going to get arrested.”
“Why?” Zoe demands. She can see Chase by one of the cop cars, talking animatedly and then grabbing his head with both hands. Like he’s distraught.
“The cops were waiting for him,” Melanie says, with glee in her voice. But Zoe is too upset to care about Melanie’s games. She’s never been so afraid. She feels shaky all of a sudden. Like the coffee in her otherwise empty stomach might stage a rebellion.
And then her mother appears, her face as stormy as she’s ever seen it. “Zoe,” she barks. “Over here. Now.”
Zoe follows her over to a split rail fence, out of earshot of the others. But before her mother can even start yelling, they’re joined by a female police officer. “Are you Zoe Carson?” the woman asks. Her voice is gentle enough. She’s a pretty Black woman. Petite. With big brown eyes.
“Yes.”
“Zoe,” her mom snaps. “She needs to ask you some questions.”
“Okay.” Zoe gulps. “But what’s happening? Is Joon-ho okay?”
“There’s no information about that yet,” the officer says quietly. “And now we’re interviewing the other boys to make sure nobody else needs treatment.”
“For… an overdose?” she whispers. “Of what?”
Her mom shakes her head. “No idea. But have you seen anything? Have other campers been whispering about where to get drugs?”
Panic fills Zoe’s head with static. She shakes her head vigorously, but she can’t forget the image of Chase discreetly handing Ethan something behind the building yesterday. “I don’t know what that could be. Chase and I weren’t even here, so he won’t know, either.”
Her mother glares. “Where were you? With Chase? And don’t you dare lie to me. This camp is most of my annual income, Zoe, not to mention that my reputation is at stake.”
“Um…” Zoe glances between her mother and the police officer, but she’s crumbling inside. Sticking to the script is a lost cause. “Look, Chase probably won’t admit this, because it was all my idea, and he won’t want to get me in trouble. But we went camping last night.”
Her mother gapes. “Camping? Are you shitting me?”
“It was my idea,” she repeats. “He said no, but I wore him down. The place was just twenty minutes out of town.” Think, Zoe. “We left yesterday afternoon, probably around four.” That’s a good two hours earlier than the truth. But she can’t let anyone think that Chase gave drugs to a kid.
He’d never do that. Or if he did give Ethan something, then it must have been because… Her mind is too scrambled to think. There’d have to be a good reason. “We drove around. We got dinner at Carlotta’s.”
“So a real date, then,” the officer says.
“Right,” Zoe squeaks. But she’s truly mortified. Certainly her mother can fill in the rest of the evening without details. Zoe braces herself for the screaming that’s sure to follow.
But first, her mom drops her head into her hands and gasps. “God. God. This is so bad. This could be the end of the camp. And the end of me.”
“No,” Zoe whispers.
Her mom looks up sharply, anger brimming in her eyes. “Just couldn’t keep your hands off that stupid boy, could you? I hope it was worth it.”
Then she storms off. The cop watches her go and turns to Zoe, red-faced and shaking.
“Can you tell me where this camping took place?” the officer asks. “Just for my notes.”
“Um… it’s a place out on the old state road? They have glamping.”
The cop nods again, scribbling something on her notepad.
“We, um, spent the night there, and Chase drove us home just now. So we’d be in time for the first session of the day. We’re never late.” She steals a glance in the direction of Chase. He’s leaning against a cop car, holding his head in his hands.
Oh God.
“Hey, hey,” the cop says, squeezing Zoe’s elbow. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” But she’s actually swaying.
“Sit down, hon,” she says, aiming Zoe at the split rail fence. “On your bottom. Put your head between your knees.”
Zoe sinks down onto the grass. The edges of her vision are yellow. “We weren’t here. Whatever Ethan had, I don’t know where he got it.”
“Ethan?” The cop’s voice sounds like she’s speaking from underwater.
Zoe catches her forehead on her knees. “Joon-ho. Whatever.”
“You wait here a minute,” the cop says. “I’ll be right back.”
Zoe takes several deep breaths in a row. She doesn’t faint. But when she looks up again to find Chase, he’s no longer in view.
If she’d known at this moment that she’d never see him again, she’d probably pass right out.