Caught Inside

Chapter Thirty-Two

"For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light." – Mark 4:22-23

The same night as Koa and Nikki's double date, Cole found himself stuck in traffic on the 101 freeway. He was heading home from a long, exhausting evening of running errands for Mr. Anderson—errands that included grocery shopping, getting more school supplies, and finding a pair of new boardshorts. Though Cole's stomach was grumbling, the long lines of cars stretching up and over the hill in the distance guaranteed him at least another twenty minutes before he reached home.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He kept his right foot on the brake while reaching down and pulling out his phone from where he had dropped it in the cup holder. He looked at the caller ID eagerly, but instead of Alana's number, he saw a smattering of digits that were unknown to him.

Upon closer inspection, Cole narrowed his eyes and realized the numbers did in fact look a little familiar. He rolled his lips into his mouth and waited until the fifth ring before answering the phone. "Hello?"

For a moment, all he could hear were background noises of thumping music and screaming, laughing teenage girls. Then, almost indistinguishable from the cacophony of sounds, came a choked sob.

Cole leaned forward immediately. "Taylor?" he asked incredulously.

She sobbed again. "Cole," she said quietly. "Can you—I need you to take me home."

"Uh..." Cole strained his ears to pick up any other sounds, but the noises of the party in the background drowned out everything else. He couldn't tell if she was slurring her words or not. She was probably drunk anyway, but what if she wasn't? What if she was in trouble? The simple fact that she was crying at a party came as a red flag for Cole. Taylor was never an emotional drunk; she had always been a feisty, flirty drunk.

"Where are you?" he asked without a second thought.

"Michael's place," she sniffed.

"By the mall?"

"Y-Yeah."

Cole wracked his brain trying to remember where Mike's place was, but all he could picture was driving past the mall next to the freeway. "You'll have to text me his address," he said. "I'll get there as fast as I can, okay? Meet me out front?"

She assented before dissolving into another round of sobs. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Taylor..." Cole sighed. He flicked on his blinker and slowly made his way over to the far right lane. "What's wrong?"

Silence. Then, barely decipherable, came her small voice: "See you soon."

The next thing Cole heard was a click and a faint buzzing, indicating Taylor had hung up. He held his phone away from his ear and stared at it incredulously. He could safely say that had been the weirdest—and most unexpected—conversation he'd ever had with Taylor.

As he slowly crept forward towards the next exit, his worry increased with every yard. What if something had gone horribly wrong at the party and Taylor was in huge trouble? What if she was hurt? Cole clenched his fingers around the steering wheel and slowly maneuvered down the off ramp. A text from Taylor popped up on his phone moments later, giving no information other than Michael's address. Cole tapped the numbers and studied the map accordingly. Whatever was going on, he needed to reach Taylor quickly.