GREY

I stepped back to the barstool again, hanging my head as I grabbed a seat and sighed at the ground. Jac is something else. He'll help save Cody's sister, but he keeps his own life under lock and key tighter than Fort Knox.

"Sorry, guys. I guess I really blew it."

I glanced up, spotted Cody trudging back to the kitchen with his head tucked between his shoulders.

"It's not your fault." Dash slinked up behind him and rested both palms on his shoulders. "Whatever's going on with him, he just doesn't want to share."

"Yeah, well, it was my idea to come here," Cody mused. "I just thought maybe he'd talk to us."

Brayden sighed in the distance. "You might've been right. It looked like he wanted to talk, just...not yet."

Cody shook his head. "Nah, dude. He was freaked. Like we were cornering him or something." He slammed a fist against his own palm. "I'm so stupid. I should've just left him alone."

"You're not stupid," Dash ordered, grip tightening on Cody's shoulders. "You were worried about a friend."

Cody snorted. "A 'friend?' Yeah, right."

"Bro, chill," Brayden said. "You're being way too hard on yourself about this. He's already going through a lot. He probably just bolted to get some fresh air."

"I...I don't think that's it, Bray," I mused. "Before he ran out, it looked like he was checking his phone."

"Could've been one of his friends from Browning, right?" Brayden asked. "What was that girl's name? The one you said he was talking to in the locker room—TaKylar?"

"Maybe, but...he wouldn't get so freaked out if it was her. He looked like he was about to pop out of his skin."

"Then who?" Dash asked.

"That's the thing," Cody sighed. "We don't know; we barely know anything about the guy. Who knows how many people he might have in his phone?"

I smirked. "Well, there is one way we could find out—"

"Grey," Dash growled. "We are not following him."

"Relax—I was kidding." I held up both hands, eyebrows sinking as my smirk faded. "Just...you know, thinking out loud."

"Yeah, and it's annoying."

I winced, retreating from his angry scowl. "Sorry, Dash."

Cody sighed. "...So what do we even do then? I mean, yeah, we probably shouldn't follow him after he left like that. But how do we help him?"

"By letting him breathe," Dash said with finality.

Brayden shuffled forward, sliding next to Cody. "I...I have an idea. You guys feel like going to Boardport Market?"

Huh?

"If we can't follow him, maybe we could make some French toast for when he gets back?"

I shook my head. "Dude, you really are a MasterChef, aren't you? Make him fancy food? That's your big idea?"

Brayden gave a bashful shrug, Cody bumping his shoulder. "It's worth a shot," Cody offered. "Breakfast for dinner always gets me feeling better. You in, Dash?"

For the first time since we'd arrived, the faintest hint of a smile cracked his face. "Yeah." Dash nodded. "I'm in."

****

The whirring lights of the evening highway had fully taken over the sky, the glimmer of the moon absent as the soft scattering of clouds above us textured the night.

"Man," Brayden whistled, riding shotgun next to Dash. "Jacquarious is so lucky, living this close to the mall. He could practically just walk there."

"Maybe you could have a sleepover sometime," I muttered. "Assuming he ever actually lets us in."

"Grey," Dash simmered from the driver's seat.

Whatever. I crossed both arms. "I just wish he wouldn't be so guarded all the time, okay?"

"We all do," Dash sighed. "But we can't force him to spill every detail of his life."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't almost get your head blown off at a drugstore."

"No, but Jacquarious did. And he almost got his head blown off at an ice cream parlor too. Not to mention the reception for that wedding you crashed."

Brayden shot Dash a look.

I gulped. "Okay, fine. Point taken."

Dash's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Listen, Grey. I'm not trying to be harsh. Just...give Jacquarious time. He's going through a lot right now—probably has been for months if he's had that poem on his mind. He'll open up when he's ready. Our job's to be there for him and not overload him with questions."

I exhaled a low breath. "Yeah, alright. I get it, man."

"And no more eavesdropping on him every time he takes a phone call." Cody flicked my temple, chuckling.

"Ow! Hey!" I wrenched arm around his shoulder, yanking him closer and shoving his head into the seat in front of him.

"I give! I give!" he laughed from inside my grip.

"Guys," Brayden mused, an array of blue and purple lights raining through the windows. "We're here."