That Tuesday night, the most obnoxious of their teachers had called a special mandatory study session from 6:30 to 9:30. Late in the session, Brick had caught the teacher out in a wrong answer and made him look foolish. That's what he and Dara were laughing about when they came in her door.
Julia also said Dara was nearly frantic, and was desperate for me to call her and tell her we would be okay. I thought about it after Julia left, and I wasn't quite so sure. Brick had walked Dara home; that was fine. She hadn't asked him into her apartment, though; they both just assumed he was coming in, and he had led the way into the apartment. How had he gotten to be so at home there?
I had turned on my phone and cleaned out the messages (14 from Dara, 2 from Julia), when I received a call from an
