Chapter 254: Reading Him
SEDONA
I knew something was wrong before he said a single word that proved it.
It was Thursday, our usual call day, and I'd been looking forward to it all day, the way I always did. I cleared space in my head for it, putting everything else down so I could give him the whole of my attention. He picked up on the first ring, which was normal. He said hi, which was normal.
But something in his voice wasn't.
"How was school?" I asked.
"Fine."
One word. Not the usual flood of information I'd come to expect.
"Anything interesting happen?"
"Not really."
I sat with that for a second. I'd learned, across months of these calls, the actual texture of Nick's voice. The way it moved when he was excited, the careful pacing he used when he was building up to something
