My Grandma chimed in. “Lisa, you don’t have to rush into this—”
I didn’t wait for them to stop me. I grabbed my purse from the hook by the door and wheeled past them before they could say anything else.
Because whatever Daniel had been hiding, I wasn’t going to hear it from anyone else.
“I need to talk to him.”
“Lisa, wait!” my grandma called after me.
“I’ll be back,” I said, already moving down the porch ramp.
I called a ride the second I hit the sidewalk. While I waited, I pulled up my contacts and scrolled until I found someone who might help.
Jake.
He and Daniel had been close since middle school.
He answered on the third ring. “Sup, Lis?”
“I need Daniel’s address. Right now.”
“Lisa, wait!”
There was a pause. “Why?”
“Please, Jake. I don’t have time to explain.”
Another pause. Then, “Yeah… okay. Hang on.”
Jake read it out just as my ride pulled up.
“Thanks,” I said quickly and hung up.
***
Daniel’s house was on the other side of town.
I rolled up to the front door and knocked.
“I don’t have time to explain.”
A woman opened it a few seconds later. She looked surprised.
“Hi. Is Daniel home?”
Her expression shifted, just slightly. “He… left early this morning.”
That hesitation stuck with me.
“I really need to talk to him. Officers came to my house asking about him. About my parents.”
Her grip on the door tightened.
For a second, I thought she might send me away.
Her expression shifted.
Then she sighed. “He’s at the community center on Maple. He volunteers there on weekends.”
“Thank you.”
***
When I got to the community center, I spotted Daniel right away.
He was outside, sitting on a low bench near the entrance. I wheeled straight toward him.
“Daniel.”
He looked up.
The second he saw me, something changed in his face, as if he knew this moment had been coming.
I spotted Daniel right away.
“Why were officers at my house asking about you and my parents? Just tell me.”
He stood up slowly, exhaling.
“I was there that night.”
“What?”
“The night of your parents’ crash. I was there.”
I stared at him.
“That doesn’t make any sense. You would’ve told me.”
“I wanted to,” he said. “I just… didn’t know how.”
“I was there that night.”
I shook my head.
“I was 11. My parents had gotten into a fight that night. I snuck out on my bike just to get away for a bit. I was heading home when I heard it. The crash.”
He glanced down, as if he were seeing it all over again.
“I rode toward the sound,” he continued. “And when I got there, the car was already damaged. Smoke had started to build up. The other car involved had stopped for a few seconds but quickly drove off. I didn’t think. I just dropped my bike and ran to your parents’ car.”
I gripped the wheels of my chair.
“I rode toward the sound.”
“I saw you in the back seat. You were unconscious. I pulled your door open and got you out, then dragged you away from the car.”
My throat went dry.
“My parents?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I tried. I went back and pulled at their doors, but they wouldn’t open. I was too small. I couldn’t get them out. The fire was getting worse. I had to make a choice: stay there or get you somewhere safe.”
The silence between us stretched.
“You were unconscious.”
My eyes burned with tears.
“I moved you farther from the wreckage and the road, but where you were visible. Then I bolted.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I told my parents. Everything. But they told me to stay quiet. Said it would bring attention we didn’t need and would complicate things. I was a child. I didn’t know what to do. So I listened.”
I let out a slow breath.
“But all these years, I never forgot. Not once.”
“Then I bolted.”
Daniel looked at me.
“When I transferred to your school and recognized you, I didn’t know how to tell you. I thought maybe you’d moved on. I didn’t want to drag you back into it.”
“And prom?” I asked.
He gave a small, tired smile. “That was me being your friend. And the officers, I went to them last week.”
I swallowed.
“Why now?”
“Because I couldn’t keep it to myself anymore, and because there’s something else.”
