I circled my car for the third time, though I couldn’t have explained why. Maybe I thought movement would calm me down. Maybe I just couldn’t stand still long enough to let the fear catch up to me. The gravel crunched under my shoes, each sound too loud in the suffocating quiet of the cul-de-sac.
My phone was already in my hand, familiar at this point, an extension of my panic. The screen glowed, Autumn’s name still at the top of my recent calls, a brutal reminder of every failed attempt.
I swiped away from it and opened another number. My thumb hesitated for half a second before pressing the dial.
“Come on,” I muttered under my breath, pacing behind my car now. “Come on, pick up. Please.”
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then…
“Damian?”
My mom’s voice filtered through, warm and
