51. MIA

On Friday Jocelyn isn’t around. I find Poe and Rachel and ask if they know what’s up, and they say she’s probably sick. That’s all.

I don’t sit with them at lunch. The vibe and mood are different when Jocelyn’s not there. Instead I hang out with Newt. He continues to fill me in on the school and the students. He knows a lot.

I wish I had my cell. It’s bad, I know. I just got Internet, and now I want a phone. No way that’s going to happen anytime soon.

I wish I could call or text Jocelyn to see how she’s doing.

I worry that something’s wrong—something major. That she’s somehow in danger.

I think of last Friday and how she stole away with me.

I’ve continued to think about that night every other moment of every other hour since.

Now she’s gone? I can’t even explore the possibility of doing something with her tonight?

I try to figure out a way to see her.

The first thing I do is borrow Newt’s cell phone and tell my mom that I’ll be hanging out with friends tonight.

I promise her I won’t be too late.

Now I just have to figure out a way to get in contact with Jocelyn.

Either over the phone.

Or in person.

Before the last period, I run into Ray.

“Hey, man—haven’t seen much of you this week—how’s it going—missed you last Sunday.”

He talks in short bursts, not sentences, like shotgun blasts of thoughts.

“Yeah, maybe it’ll work out this Sunday.”

“Let me know—I can pick you up if you need me to—should be a good one—what’s happening this weekend?”

I suddenly get an idea.

“You know where Jocelyn lives?”

“Of course,” he says.

The group he was walking with moves on down the hall. He’s not so manic now.

“Does she live far away?”

“She’s still in Solitary. Not far. Fifteen minutes, maybe less.”

“Could you do me a big favor?”

“Most people I’d say no to, but I like you,” Ray says. “What do you need?”

“Just a ride.”

“To Jocelyn’s place?”

“Yeah.”

Ray laughs. “You sure you want to go there?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He shakes his head, like I’m asking him to push me off a cliff. “No problem,” he says. “Meet me in the parking lot at the end of the day. I’ll try not to run late.”

“Thanks, man.”

“You’re crazy, Buckley. That’s all I gotta say.”

I want to ask him why, but he’s off before I can.