I yawned as I picked up my buzzing phone.

Unknown Number
8:44 am
yo avery it's hunter. go to 66 Elm Way. bring protection with you. you didn't hear this from me.

I nodded to myself and looked up the address. It was on the very edge of town, away from everything else. It was absolutely isolated from everything, with the closest house being a mile away. I scratched my head in confusion, but shrugged it off and decided it was a predicament to solve after I had gotten ready for the day.

"No, Landon, I don't wanna talk about it," I asserted as I balanced my phone between my cheek and my shoulder.

"Dude, cause I swear, I'll kick Liam's ass for you," he promised.

"I know you would, Landon, but I don't want you to."

"Why not?" he whined.

"I don't know, I'd feel bad. Plus, you'd probably get your ass beat," I giggled.

"Rude."

"Anyway, I called you to see if you wanted to do some investigating," I said, making my voice as enticing as possible as I explained the mystery to solve.

"Ooh, what kind of investigating, my Dear Nancy Drew?"

"Well, Hunter gave me an address," I began. I could practically feel Landon's discomfort. I knew what happened when he was uncomfortable: he would scratch his forearms through his jacket sleeves and stare at the ground. I supposed whatever confrontation he had with Hunter Summers several days ago had left a mark. "'66 Elm Way.' Wanna go there after lunch? Maybe with some cameras and probably a baseball bat for protection?"

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Landon? You okay?"

"I-I...I love you, Avery," he stammered. He abruptly hung up the call, leaving me with only confusion and anxiety. What happened to you over vacation, Landon? Why'd you come back so different?

I nodded to myself, gritting my teeth and clenching my hands into fists. I was going to find out what was happening to my Landon.

"Mrs. Thompson," I asked as she swung the door open, "is Landon home?"

The petite woman in front of me shook her head. "No, sweetie. He left a while ago."

"Do you know where he might've gone? He's not answering my calls or anything."

"Sorry, sweetie. Maybe with that Hunter boy. He's been hanging around him a lot."

"Thank you, ma'am!" I replied. Hunter Summers, what're you hiding? "Oh, how's Julliard going?" I inquired before I sped out of the door. Please, for once, don't be a lie, I begged to anyone listening.

Mrs. Thompson raised an eyebrow. "Oh, dear, I've been begging him to apply to ages now. So talented, you know?" I suppressed a frown. "I bet he could get in, too. My little Landon, at Julliard." She chuckled to herself, "Can you imagine?"

"Yeah," I answered, fighting back the lie that Landon had told me, "I can imagine."

"Hunter, are you home?" I questioned into the phone.

"Nah, I just headed out with Pop to the store. Whaddya need?"

"Do you know where Landon is?"

"I...uh, man, I don't know if--"

"I'm worried about him, Hunter. Please?"

"I...go to the address I showed you. He might be there."

"Why would he be there?" I softly demanded, my fists and voice shaking. "What does Landon have to do with Carson?"

"I...I'm not sure, Avery," he answered. He sounded honest enough. "You'll have to find out. And lemme know." He promptly hung up, leaving me to recline in my car and sigh.

"Oh, Landon. I'm sorry you're in this mess, too," I whispered. As if on cue, my phone began to buzz. I groaned and reached over to the car's console to see who was calling. Landon?

"Hello?" I answered, attempting to regain steadiness in my nervous voice.

"Avery!" Landon jubilantly replied, causing me to flinch due to the assault on my eardrums. "What's going on?"

"I've been looking for you and been worried about you all day, Landon," I retorted.

"Yeah, well, I'm fine. Sorry to leave you in such a state earlier, I had something come up."

"What?"

"Just my parents on my ass about Julliard. I was panicking because I thought I was about to get my ass beat."

I hid my sigh and simply rolled my eyes to myself. "Okay, sounds good, Landon."

"So, I was thinking we recruit Kattie and maybe Dakota, and not Liam, because fuck that guy, and we go check out the house!"

"How...how about you and me just check it out? Just a good ol' Avery and Landon Adventure, like old times?" I offered.

"I...uh...sure! Sure, sure. Sounds perfect. I'll see you at...six, okay?"

"Okay, Landon. I'll see you later." I hung up the phone and punched the driving wheel, resulting in a deafening HONK! and glares from other drivers on the road.

I was getting ready for my escapade with Landon when a knock pounded on the door. "Coming!" I yelled. Fitting a beanie firmly over my frizzy hair, I bounded down the stairs and swung the door open. "What's up, Katherine?"

"Avery, I need you," she replied, her words spilling over each other. Her hair was an unkempt mess, her pajamas clinging to her as the wind behind her blew harshly. I ushered her into the house and slammed the door behind her.

"Jesus, Katherine. What happened?"

"I...I ran over here," she heaved. Rather than going to the couch and picking a seat for herself, she simply sprawled herself out on the floor and began to breathe heavily. "Daddy was out, so...I couldn't get a, a ride," she explained.

I sat criss-cross on the floor next to her. "I would've picked you up, you know."

"I know, but I had...I had to get here quickly..."

"What happened?" I echoed, converting my voice from a worried one to a soft, listening one. I was quiet, not because I was suspicious. But because I was listening.

"Matt found something at Avedon's...more...pictures."

I sat up straight, my eyes wide and attentive. I could only imagine that I appeared like a deer caught in the headlights of Katherine's car. "Pictures of what?"

"Drugs, Avery. Drugs..."

"What...what kind of..."

"Bad stuff, Avery," Katherine replied. She was on the verge of tears, so I gently stroked her tangled, windblown hair to sedate her. "Not just pot like Hunter does. Like...needles."

"Shit...do you think Carson..."

"No, he would never. And he didn't have any signs. At least, none that I know of."

"Let...Let's Google some signs. Then we'll know for sure, okay?" Katherine nodded on the floor, closing her eyes and steadying her pulse. I punched in my question--What are symptoms of heroin usage?--into the search of my phone and pressed Enter .

Signs and Symptoms of Heroin Abuse

Actions:

Vomiting
Scratching
Slurred speech
Complaints of constipation
Complaints of nausea
Neglect of grooming
Failure to eat
Covering arms with long sleeves

I read off the list to Katherine. "No...I mean, he didn't eat a lot, but that wasn't anything new. It was just because he was always taking pictures or hanging out with me...," Katherine said, rubbing her forehead with her index fingers. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Do you have Find My Friends on?"

"What?"

"That iPhone thing. That shows your friends' locations."

"No, why?" I replied, sitting up, my curiosity piqued.

"What about that new, creepy Snapchat update? That shows where all your friends are?"

"Y-yeah...Kat, what are you getting at?"

"Just open it up!" Katherine yelled. She forced my hand from my phone and fervidly clicked through my apps.

"Katherine, what's wrong?" I demanded, folding my arms and narrowing my eyes at her.

"You know who's been acting real suspicious lately? Scratching his arms, hiding his arms with his sleeves even if it's a billion degrees out, throwing up--like that one time in my driveway--slurring his speech, and ditching the investigation whenever it's convenient for him?"

I wasn't following her. No, it wasn't that. I didn't want to. I want this all to be over, but not if it means losing him.

Katherine shoved the phone into my face. "The needles weren't from, Hunter, Avery," she explained, zooming in on the address displayed on the phone. 66 Elm Way. Landon's avatar popped up when I clicked on the screen. "That's where Hunter gets his stuff from."

I backed away from the phone, as if distancing myself from the Summers girl on the floor would erase the realization she had just cursed me with.

"The pictures were of Landon."

They were from my Landon.

She held my hands as I began to choke back sobs.