Chapter 1: She Came Home in Someone Else's Hoodie
My daughter left for prom in a green dress and came home barefoot in someone else's hoodie — What I read on her screen while she was in the shower made me run straight to my husband.
She left this house at six in a green dress.
She went with Tyler, the Brennans' oldest, two doors down.
I've known that boy since he was seven.
At 8:40 they sent us a photo of the two of them at the table, laughing at something off to the side.
At 10:15 Tyler texted me himself…
Having a great time Mrs.
Ann, we'll head back around 12:30.
I fell asleep on the couch with the porch light on.
I heard a car door at 1:04.
Not his car.
I didn't know the engine.
She came in through the kitchen barefoot, holding her heels in one hand.
The hoodie was gray and enormous, sleeves past her fingers.
Not Tyler's — he wore a black tux, I have the picture.
Her hair was soaked at the ends.
"Where's your dress?"
"In the car."
"Whose car?
Maddie, whose car was that?"
"Mom, I'm really tired."
"Where's Tyler?"
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs with her back to me.
Eight, nine seconds.
I counted them.
"I don't want to talk about it tonight."
Then her door, and then the shower running.
My daughter has never once showered at one in the morning.
Her phone was face down on the counter next to her clutch.
I have never gone through that girl's phone.
Seventeen years, that was the rule in this house and I kept it.
I was wiping the counter around it when the screen lit up on its own.
A message came up far enough that I could read the first line of it before it went dark.
I stood there with the dishcloth in my hand and placed the phone back down exactly where it had been, face down, square to the edge.
Then I went upstairs past my daughter's door and woke my husband at four in the morning.
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What was on that screen — and where is Tyler?
Comment **"NEXT"** if you want Part 2.
