And Then What?. D. Graham R.

party?” Kailyn asked her dad in a heartbreaking way.

      “I don’t know, Kiki. Something must have come up.” He patted her shoulder in a reassuring way, even though his expression didn’t sell it.

      There was a long, heavy silence as they all either stared at the floor or fidgeted with whatever happened to be within reach. “I’m sure he’s fine,” Sophie finally said and hugged me.

      “I had a vision this morning,” I blurted out. The words dropped like a grenade. Everyone except Kailyn turned at the same time and stared at me. “In the vision, I couldn’t find him. He was lost and I was calling his name, but he didn’t answer. I’m scared it means something bad has happened.”

      They shot uneasy glances at each other. Ever since I was a kid I’d experienced intuitive visions. I hadn’t had many since I moved away from Britannia Beach, but the ones I did have were very accurate and gave me warning before things like a pop quiz in my lab and when my granddad fell from a ladder in his condo in Squamish. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that one quite early enough to warn him and prevent him from getting a concussion, but luckily I sent Sophie over to check on him. She found him on the floor and took him to the hospital.

      I had assumed the vision I’d had in the morning was a mixed signal or symbolic of something else because Trevor never got lost. He found people who were lost. It still didn’t make sense, but the fact that he was not where he was supposed to be was a very bad sign.

      Sophie dropped dishes into the sink of soapy water and scrubbed vigorously. Murphy left the room, probably to call Trevor again. He returned only a minute later and shook his head at Jim, which made my mom walk out of the kitchen. She sat down in an armchair and stared out the floor-to-ceiling window. Her hand shook as she pressed it to her mouth.

      “Maybe he’s studying and lost track of time. Or, I bet he fell asleep,” Sophie offered. “Doug missed a gig once because he fell asleep. The band tried to get a hold of him, but he’d turned the ringer off on his phone.”

      “You’re probably right.” I checked my phone again to see if I had missed a text. “You guys can head back to Squamish. I’ll go by his dorm to make sure he’s okay.”

      Sophie put her coat on. Jim looked as if he didn’t want to leave, but it was getting late and they still had to drive back to Britannia Beach. “I’ll take Kailyn with me,” Jim said to Murphy. “Thanks for bringing her down.”

      “No problem. I’ll go by the dorm with Derian and call you later,” Murphy said.

      Everyone except Murphy left. I rushed to my room and changed into yoga pants and a sweatshirt, then grabbed my purse. Mom was still sitting in the armchair staring out the window with a distant look on her face. It was the expression she got whenever she was thinking about my dad and the accident. “I’ll call you when we find him,” I said as I took long strides through the living room and met Murphy at the door. It was hard to tell if she heard me. She didn’t move.

      Murphy and I didn’t talk as we waited for the elevator, or as we walked to his old green GMC pick-up truck that was parked on the street in front of the building. He opened the door for me, then walked around the back to get in the driver’s side. The truck shocks shifted and squeaked from his weight.

      “Do you think he fell asleep?” I asked as we headed to the university.

      He took a deep breath. “Probably.”

      “What else could have happened?”

      “Lots of things. I’m sure he’s fine, though.” His fingers tightened around the steering wheel, making his knuckles turn white.

      “The hospital would have contacted Jim by now if he was in an accident. Right?”

      “Probably. I’m sure he’s fine.”

      I looked at Murphy and bit my bottom lip to make it stop trembling.

      “What?” he asked.

      “It’s just as upsetting if he’s fine. It means he forgot about me and didn’t even call to make up an excuse for why he bailed on our date.”

      “I’m sure he’s fine, and I’m sure he didn’t just forget about you. He has worshiped you our entire lives.”

      “Then where the hell is he?”

      He shook his head and seemed to seriously consider the possibilities before he answered, “I don’t know.”

      I turned to look out the passenger side window and went over in my mind the conversation that Trevor and I’d had the evening before. “It’s my fault. I scheduled it two weeks before his real birthday so he wouldn’t suspect anything and then I was too evasive with the plans for tonight. Maybe we had a miscommunication. He probably thought I meant come by if he had time. He’s been really busy lately. I should have told him all of his friends and family were coming down for a party.” I shook my head and sighed. “The surprise was definitely a bad idea.”

      We parked on the south side of the campus and walked along the sidewalk to the dorms. When we entered Trevor’s building, I led the way in front of Murphy down the hallway because his massive frame took up almost the entire width of the corridor. I had to take a few deep breaths to prepare myself for heartbreaking news before I lifted my hand and knocked on the door to his room. There was movement inside and then the door opened. It was his roommate. “Hi, Derian. What’s up?”

      “Hi, Nick. Is Trevor here?”

      “No. I thought he was going over to your place.” He looked over my shoulder at my hulking, bald bodyguard.

      “Oh, sorry. This is Trevor’s best friend, Murphy. Murph, this is Trevor’s room-mate, Nick.” They shook hands. “Trevor was supposed to come over, but he didn’t show up and he’s not answering his phone.”

      “Hmm. That’s not like him. I haven’t seen him since this morning. I think he planned to study with some classmates at the library this afternoon, but it’s probably closed now.”

      I already knew that much, so I hid my disappointment with a forced smile. “Okay, thanks.” I glanced into the room that was only big enough for two desks, two beds, and the one closet that they shared. Who knows why I felt the need to see for myself? He wasn’t going to appear out of thin air. “If you see him will you please ask him to give me a call?”

      “Yeah, of course. I’ll text a couple of our buddies too. Maybe I can track him down.”

      “Thanks, Nick. We’ll just be walking around campus to see if we run into him.”

      “Okay. Good luck.”

      Nick closed the door and my phone buzzed with a text from a number I didn’t recognize: Dealing with something serious. Will call when I can.

      My heart pounded with dread as I held up my phone for Murphy to read the message. “Do you think it’s from Trevor? It must be. Why isn’t he using his own phone? What does he mean by ‘serious’? It’s kind of cryptic. That’s weird, right?”

      Murphy raised his eyebrow in a way that upset me. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to because the deep crease that formed between his eyebrows, and the fact that he wouldn’t look me directly in the eyes, told me he was concerned. I typed a reply, asking for more details, but got no response.

       CHAPTER 2

      Murphy and I rushed down the path that led to the centre of campus. Huge cedar and fir trees lined the walkway and it was dimly lit, so I was extra glad Murphy was with me. I didn’t know if Trevor had meant personally serious like depression and suicidal thoughts, or medically serious like heart pains and broken bones, or mechanically serious like a basement flood, or academically serious like quantum physics. The possibilities were endless.

      With nothing to