23
“Paul?”
Wendy’s voice was stretched tight on the other end of the phone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ben was sent to the principal’s office this afternoon.”
He’d been worried about Ben for months, but he’d never gotten around to talking to Wendy about it. Not with everything else going on.
“Well, say something,” Wendy snapped.
She was normally a placid woman, but whatever this was about, it had rattled her.
“What’s happened?”
“He and a bunch of others were found smoking behind the gym. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s been different lately.”
Paul had assumed Ben had only been different with him. If he was treating his mother differently, then things must be worse than he thought.
“In what way has he been different?” Paul asked, propping himself on the edge of the kitchen barsto
