Chapter 7

But when evening rolled around and the second class started, six students were absent…including Charlie. Owen tried not to take it personally, but it hurt. He’d already lost half his class.3

Charlie

His phone rang entirely too early and he was not happy about it. “What?” he barked when answering.

“Grouchy,” his sister accused. “I just wanted to see how last night went.”

Charlie loved his sister. He really did. But it was—he glanced at his clock—shit, it was just after six in the morning. “Melissa, why the hell are you calling so early?”

“Because I wanted to know about last night.”

He knew that tone—she wanted something. “You could have called later about that. And I didn’t go to class. Out with it.”

Her sigh came through the phone and he waited for her to talk. The only reason she ever called this early was because something was wrong. “Fine. My car won’t start.”