The Outliers (The Outliers, #1)(23)
“We weren’t in a fight,” I say again. I don’t even know why, except it feels important to emphasize.
“Great, but I’d rather have the truth be that she’s messing with us,” he says. “Because I do not have a good feeling about any of this.”
I’d been hoping that was just me. Because my bad feelings don’t usually mean a thing.
As we head up the road toward the gas station, my phone rings again. When I look down, it says Dad on the caller ID. What if I am putting my dad through this all for some game that Cassie is playing? He doesn’t deserve that. And we’re far enough away now, too far away for him to stop me. Besides, nothing good is going to come from him getting more and more freaked out. Once he hears I’m fine, he’ll calm down at least some.
“Hi, Dad.” I try to sound casual. I do not. “Did you find anything at Cassie’s house?”
“Where are you, Wylie?” He’s trying to sound calm, too, but he’s doing an even worse job than me. “Gideon said that Cassie’s boyfriend Jasper was here and that you left with him? Your text said that the two of you had heard from Cassie. That she asked you to come get her?”
Crap. I forgot that I told him that. I’d done that to calm him down, too, which obviously hadn’t worked. I never should have written that, never should have answered the call. Of course, he’s going to ask where she is. And, of course, nothing I say is going to make him feel that much better, certainly not the truth, which I still don’t want to tell him anyway.
“Yeah, it’s no problem. Jasper’s driving. We’ll be home soon,” I say, like the whole thing is totally normal and no big deal. If he keeps pushing for details, I’m going to probably have no choice but to hang up and pretend the call got dropped.
“And so you went out? Just like that?” He sounds confused and kind of suspicious, which is fair considering that my suddenly leaving the house makes no sense whatsoever, because I’ve left out the whole part about Cassie saying she was desperate for help, my help specifically.
“I thought you wanted me to go out.”
“I did want you to go out, Wylie. You’re right.” My dad’s voice has a new, different edge to it, one that I don’t recognize. Not exactly angry, but seriously intense, maybe kind of insulted even. I didn’t consider that. After all, he’s been trying so hard to get me to leave the house, to go to an actual in-person appointment with Dr. Shepard, to go back to school. And here I am driving around with some boy he’s never met because Cassie asked me to? “I’m extremely concerned and I would feel much better if you were here, instead of out there. Karen and I can go get Cassie. Tell us where she is and we’ll leave right now. But I’d like you to turn around and come home, Wylie.”
I’m guessing it wouldn’t make him feel better to know that we can’t actually do that because we have no idea where Cassie is, specifically. Also, there’s no way he realizes how far away I already am.
“It’s fine. We’re already, like, halfway there. Cassie will explain everything to Karen once she’s home,” I say, trying to sound cooperative and like this really isn’t my situation anyway. It’s Cassie’s. But I’m still going to keep her secret for now. And the angrier my dad gets, the more sure I am of it. “I’ll be home in a—”
“You’ll come home right now.” It’s an order, an angry one. His voice is actually shaking.
“Dad, I will, just as soon as we—”
“Now, Wylie!” he shouts so loud this time that I have to pull the phone away from my ear. “Right this minute!”
My heart is pounding and my throat feels tight. “Dad, why are you screaming at me?”
Jasper glances over my way as he pulls into the gas station’s brightly lit, mostly empty parking lot. The only other car in sight is parked at the pumps. Jasper rolls past it, the gravel crunching under our tires, until he comes to a stop at the back of the lot. Like he wants to give me privacy. Except he’s still sitting right next to me. And I feel like I might cry as I stare at the wall of tall evergreens, glowing white in our headlights.
My dad takes a loud breath, like he’s trying to calm himself down. “I’m sorry, Wylie. I didn’t mean to yell.” At least he does sound like he feels bad. “But we’re worried about Cassie and now I’m worried about you, too. In your condition, I don’t think you should be—”
“Wait, my what?” He didn’t just say that, did he? “Condition,” like I am diseased. Defective. Is that what he thinks? My mom never would have talked to me like that. She never saw me that way. My eyes are burning as I grip the phone and stare hard at the trees. I can’t speak, can’t say another word. If I do, I will definitely start bawling.
“It’s too early for me to report you missing,” my dad goes on like that bomb he just lobbed didn’t obliterate the earth between us. “But Dr. Shepard can contact the police. And under the circumstances, I’m sure she will agree that’s a good idea, especially after I tell her about what you did to your ha—”
“You cannot be serious.” My cheeks are stinging with anger and shame.
“Of course I’m serious. If you won’t come home, what choice do I have? And if Dr. Shepard reports you as a danger to yourself or others, the police will come looking for you immediately, Wylie. And when they find you, which they will, they won’t bring you home. They’ll take you straight to a hospital. You know that as well as I do.”