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the coffee table to shake her hand.
    “I’m Beau, Paige’s uh, friend. She’s been staying with me this month while she got it together. It’s nice to meet you.”
    She shook his hand, her eyes still as big as gold dollars. When she looked at me again, her expression was a little dazed. I smiled knowingly. Beau could do that to a girl.
    “Oh, you’re gonna have some explaining to do,” she said plainly.
    I laughed. “And I plan on it. Don’t worry.”
    Tima’s eyes darted around the apartment. “Where’s Gill?”
    “That’s what I was hoping to ask you. You haven’t seen her?”
    “Oh, crap.” She smacked a palm dramatically against her forehead.
    “What?” I asked, worried.
    “I forgot! Seeing you open the door…that’s why I came here in the first place! She, Clay, and Drew went to Haygood to look for you.”
    “What?” My mouth dropped open. “But how’d they know I was there?”
    “We were all talking on campus this afternoon, and Gillian just kind of figured out that you must be with Beau. So she tracked him down and Clay took off like a crazy person after you. Gillian and Drew were barely able to get in his car before he tore out of the lot.”
    I sank back down on the couch. I knew I’d better call him. I didn’t want them driving all around that town looking for me when I was right here. Safe and sound.
    I sighed, pulling out my phone.
    I pulled Clay’s name up in my contacts, and pressed SEND. My stomach was tying itself into a nice big bow, the muscles in my gut clenching into tight fists as I waited. It rang once, and then an incredulous voice drifted over the line.
    “Paige?”
    “Yeah, Clay. It’s me.”
    Silence. There was no sound in the background but the accelerating engine of a car.
    “Clay? I’m at home. You guys don’t need to search around Haygood anymore. You can just come home. I’ll be waiting for y’all.”
    “Are you okay?”
    I almost didn’t recognize his voice. It was as if he were hanging on by a thread; his voice was thin and hollow. It was flat and reedy, but there was a spark of…something. Hope, maybe. Clay’s voice was usually velvety smooth, calm and deep. This was like the Anti-Clay.
    “I’m okay. I’ll just be here waiting for you guys.”
    “Okay, Paige. We’ll be there soon.” He hung up.
    I dropped down on the couch and let my warring emotions wash over me. I hadn’t heard Clay’s voice in a month, and it wasn’t at all like I remembered. Maybe Beau was wrong, and he really didn’t love me anymore. And if he did, I wasn’t even sure if it mattered. Because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to move past what he’d done with Hannah.
    Tima reached out from where she perched across from me on the coffee table and squeezed my leg.
    “He missed you.” She glanced at Beau with uncertainty. “He hasn’t been himself since you left. Part of that could be because he’s being accused of murder. But most of it is the loss of you.”
    “Oh, my God,” I said suddenly, slapping my hands to my cheeks. “I forgot. The case…Hannah! How’s he handling it?”
    “Honestly, Paige, I don’t think he is handling it. He’s been trying to handle losing you. So he hasn’t been focusing on his defense at all.”
    I sank back into the cushions, covering my face with my hands. “How selfish could I be? He shouldn’t have been worrying about me when he’s been accused of murder , for God’s sake. He didn’t do it, Tima.”
    “I know,” she said softly. “All of us who know Clay know he’s not a killer.”
    “So why aren’t the police looking for the person who really killed her?”
    Tima ticked off reasons on long, graceful fingers.
    “Because they know Clay was in her apartment that night. Because he’s her ex-boyfriend. Because everyone on campus has seen them fighting lately.”
    Beau let out a low whistle. “Damn. The dude’s in serious horse shit.”
    “Yeah, he is,” agreed Tima. “But if anyone can handle that kind of