JOSH COULDN’T ACT; HE couldn’t even think. He staggered back down the hall and knocked softly on the door.
Benji opened it. Without a word, Josh entered, shut off the light, and lay down in the dark. Benji’s bed creaked as he lay down too. The wind rattling their window filled the silence. Josh’s mind was in high gear.
Finally, Benji whispered. “Dude, what the heck? What happened?”
Benji’s voice jolted Josh back to reality, and he choked back a sob.
“You okay?” Benji asked.
Josh sniffed, fumbled for a Kleenex in the dark, and blew his nose. “I’m okay. I gotta call Jaden. Benji, you gotta keep quiet about all this. It’s serious.”
Josh turned on the light, grabbed his phone, and began to dial.
“I don’t even know what ‘this’ is,” Benji complained.
“Just . . .” Josh tried to keep from getting angry with his friend, but that’s how he felt. “Just stop asking. I can’t . . .”
Jaden answered on the third ring in a sleepy voice. “Josh? What’s up?”
Josh took a deep breath and told her everything. Benji’s face lengthened in horror as the story went on until he put his face into one hand and rested his elbow on a knee. Josh heard him mumbling, “Dude, this is so not good.”
When Josh finished, he repeated Coach’s ultimatum. He wanted to see Jaden in person, and he wanted the phone.
“My proof.”
“Yeah,” Josh said. “That.”
“Can’t I send it?” Jaden sounded scared and nervous.
“You can’t like, FedEx it,” Josh said. “It’s too late.”
They sat there breathing on each end of the line.