A Boy Asked Me to Dance at Prom Because No One Else Would Due to My Scars – The Next Day, His Parents and Officers Showed up at My Door
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A Boy Asked Me to Dance at Prom Because No One Else Would Due to My Scars – The Next Day, His Parents and Officers Showed up at My Door

“What happened?”

Caleb hesitated before answering.

“When I was nine, I saw Mason sneak out of our house late at night. He used to do stuff like that all the time back then, and I followed him on my bike because I thought it was a fun game.”

He looked down while speaking.

“I lost sight of him for a while as he was on his skateboard, but eventually I spotted him climbing out of a window at your house. Then, a few minutes later, I noticed smoke coming from the kitchen.”

I stared at him, unsure how to respond.

“What happened?”

 

 

Everybody knew Caleb. He was in my class: popular, tall, handsome, and the football captain. The kind of guy girls whispered about constantly, which made it even stranger when he stopped in front of me, looking nervous.

Then he held out his hand and asked, “Would you please dance with me?”

I honestly thought he was joking, but he wasn’t.

So I took his hand.

The second he led me onto the dance floor, people stared. I caught girls whispering. A few guys looked completely shocked.

Caleb ignored all of them.

So I took his hand.

We danced all night. Somewhere along the way, I stopped feeling invisible. Everyone kept staring at us, but I didn’t care.

Caleb made me laugh and treated me normally.

By the end of the night, I didn’t even want prom to end anymore.

Afterward, Caleb walked me home instead of leaving with his friends.

“You had fun tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “More than I expected!”

He smiled, but something about him seemed distracted, as if there were something he wanted to say but couldn’t quite get out.

Everyone kept staring at us, but I didn’t care.

Then one of them asked something that made my stomach drop even harder.

“Miss, do you really not know what Caleb has done?”

I stared at him. “What?”

The officer spoke carefully.

“Our department recently reopened several old reports connected to incidents from years ago to get resolutions. During that process, Caleb admitted he was near your house the night of the fire almost 10 years ago.”

For a second, I couldn’t even process the words.

“What do you mean he was there?”

“Miss, do you really not know.”

The officer took a breath.

“You need to listen to me and try not to stress about it. Caleb witnessed something connected to your house fire when he was nine years old.”

I stared at him.

“What kind of something?”

Before the officer could answer, Caleb’s father suddenly spoke.

“He never meant for any of this to happen.”

His voice sounded strained, almost desperate.

“You need to listen to me.”

The officer explained that Caleb’s older brother, Mason, had a history of getting into trouble as a teenager. That night, Caleb secretly followed him on his bike and saw Mason exiting my house shortly before the fire started.

Recently, Caleb finally told his parents part of what he’d seen because Mason was about to be released after serving time for a different crime.

But that morning, Caleb’s parents realized he was gone.

He wasn’t answering calls, and his truck was missing.

Caleb secretly followed him.

After hearing from another parent that Caleb had spent prom night with me, his parents thought perhaps I knew where he was.

I told them I didn’t.

Technically, that was true. But after they left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the one place Caleb and the football guys always hung around when they wanted privacy.

The abandoned buildings near the edge of town.

So I lied to my mom and told her I needed fresh air.

Technically, that was true.

part2

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