Free Find Me by Romily Bernard

something’s wrong.
No matter how many times I say I’m fine,
she just keeps asking.
    —Page 24 of Tessa Waye’s diary
    When I wake up, it’s after ten. The house is quiet. My bed feels great. I want to go back to sleep.
    But I’m wide awake.
    All I can see is Tally Waye’s hollowed-out face framed in my computer’s screen. Even if I close my eyes, she’s still there.
    Find me.
    Not freaking likely. I roll onto my side, eyes drifting to the window Griff came through. I’m not sure I want to think about that either, but it’s too late because I already want to smile.
    Dammit. I’ll find coffee instead. It’s Saturday morning, which should mean one of Bren’s big breakfasts is waiting downstairs, and if she’s distracted by making pancakes or whatever, I have a way better chance of finding coffee than I do of finding whatever Tally wants.
    I pad down the hallway, checking the front window more from habit than worry. Hmm. Bren’s car is gone. The driveway is empty.
    Crap. Does this mean no breakfast? Because that means no coffee.
    At first, I think it’s odd she’s gone because Bren lives for using her Williams-Sonoma waffle maker, but then I remember she was taking Lily for ballet sign-ups this morning. It’s just me.
    “Morning, Wicket.”
    I jump. “Holy shit!”
    “Sorry! Sorry!” Todd’s standing at the foot of the stairs with two cups of coffee. It’s Saturday, but he’s in a suit and tie. Headed for the office? If he is, he shouldn’t. He looks like hell. His eyes are bloodshot, like he didn’t sleep at all.
    Shit. I’ve been so wrapped up in myself, I didn’t think how much Tessa’s death must hurt Todd. He wants to save the world, and he couldn’t even save this one girl. It’s got to be devastating. Todd was so quick to stand up for me; what would he have done to save a girl like Tessa?
    “Really didn’t mean to scare you,” Todd says.
    I wave away his objection. At the rate I’m going, I’ll have a heart attack and none of this will matter anyway.
    “Don’t worry about it.” I rub my right temple, where I can still feel an echo of yesterday’s headache coming back. “I don’t suppose one of those is for me?”
    Todd gives me a little smile. “Only if you don’t tell Bren.” He passes one mug to me, and I take a deep gulp. He’s put too much sugar in it and the coffee’s hot enough to burn off a layer of my tongue, but it’s still wonderful. Two more swallows and I can feel my skin start to perk up. By the fourth my eyelids don’t feel so saggy.
    “Mum’s the word,” I promise, and finish off the last of the coffee in a long pull.
    Todd laughs. “You’re funny, you know that?” He sips at his, watching me. “Bren thinks the caffeine will stunt your growth.”
    I grimace. “Too late for that.”
    “I was wondering if you could look at Bren’s computer for me. I think I hit a wrong button again.”
    “Yeah, sure.” Todd is always hitting wrong buttons. He knows the Blue Screen of Death better than anyone I’ve ever met. It would be annoying if I weren’t kind of grateful for the distraction. In the five months we’ve been here, I’ve reformatted Bren’s computer twice because of “wrong buttons.” Luckily, their office manager keeps up with the work computers; otherwise, dealing with the Callaway computers would be a full-time job. “No problem.”
    “Thanks . . . so what are you going to do today?”
    “Don’t know.” I have an English paper due on Tuesday, the last of the financials to finish for my customer, and then there’s Tally Waye. I inspect the bottom of my coffee cup and think I should just go ahead and have my nervous breakdown. It would save time. “What about you?”
    “The Wayes are having a prayer vigil at their house this afternoon. I thought I’d go.”
    “I didn’t know you were close to them.”
    Todd shrugs. “We know them through church. . . . Would you like to come?”
    Oh, hell no—then again, Tally would be