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Nick’s breath hitched. He couldn’t move.

The vibration stopped.

ONE MISSED CALL, the screen read.

Maybe it was a mistake.

Maybe Cap had meant to call someone else.

He had almost convinced himself of it when the screen lit up again.

Cap was calling.

He stood. His chair scraped against the floor.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

“Nick?” Mrs. Auster asked. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer.

He headed for the door, phone clutched in his hand, ignoring his name being called, the other students whispering.

The hallway was almost empty. A janitor was at the other end, wiping the windows.

He connected the phone call and brought it up to his ear. He tried to speak, but all that came out was the smallest of noises.

“Nicky?” Cap asked.

Nick nodded, and then immediately felt ridiculous. “Yeah?” he managed to say.

“I need you to listen to me, okay? Listen to my words. Don’t speak until I finish, okay?”

No. No, no, no.

“He’s okay. I need you to hear that, above all else. He’s okay. He’s… he’s in the hospital, Nick, and I’m not gonna lie. It’s gonna look bad. These things often do. But he’s gonna get the best help, the best doctors. I’ll make sure of it. And I promise you, he’s going to be okay. I’m sending a patrol car to get you right now. I want you to wait for them in the office. They’ll bring you to me, and we’ll deal with this together. Do you understand?”

No. No, he didn’t. He didn’t understand any of this. It was getting hard to breathe, and at some point, he’d squeezed his eyes shut tight as if that would keep all of this away.

“Nick,” Cap said sharply. “Tell me you understand.”

“Yeah,” he croaked out. “I understand. Office. Patrol car. Will take me to you and—” He couldn’t finish the rest.

“I want you to hang up and go there now. I’m going to call them next, okay? They’ll be expecting you. Move, Nicky. Get to me.”

Nick moved.

A lady from the office met him halfway.

The principal was waiting in the front office. He put an arm around Nick’s shoulders, leading him toward another office. He sat him down in a comfortable chair. He spoke, but Nick barely heard him. He nodded where he thought he should.

A small paper cup was placed in his hand.

Someone tried to take his phone.

He jerked it away.

The water spilled.