Then one of them asked something that made my stomach drop even harder.
“Miss, do you really not know what Caleb has done?”
I stared at him. “What?”
The officer spoke carefully.
“Our department recently reopened several old reports connected to incidents from years ago to get resolutions. During that process, Caleb admitted he was near your house the night of the fire almost 10 years ago.”
For a second, I couldn’t even process the words.
“What do you mean he was there?”
“Miss, do you really not know.”
The officer took a breath.
“You need to listen to me and try not to stress about it. Caleb witnessed something connected to your house fire when he was nine years old.”
I stared at him.
“What kind of something?”
Before the officer could answer, Caleb’s father suddenly spoke.
“He never meant for any of this to happen.”
His voice sounded strained, almost desperate.
“You need to listen to me.”
The officer explained that Caleb’s older brother, Mason, had a history of getting into trouble as a teenager. That night, Caleb secretly followed him on his bike and saw Mason exiting my house shortly before the fire started.
Recently, Caleb finally told his parents part of what he’d seen because Mason was about to be released after serving time for a different crime.
But that morning, Caleb’s parents realized he was gone.
He wasn’t answering calls, and his truck was missing.
Caleb secretly followed him.
After hearing from another parent that Caleb had spent prom night with me, his parents thought perhaps I knew where he was.
I told them I didn’t.
Technically, that was true. But after they left, I couldn’t stop thinking about the one place Caleb and the football guys always hung around when they wanted privacy.
The abandoned buildings near the edge of town.
So I lied to my mom and told her I needed fresh air.
Technically, that was true.
Then I grabbed my backpack and headed for the bus stop.
Because for the first time since that accident, I felt as if the truth about that fire was finally close.
And I needed to hear it from Caleb himself.
***
The bus dropped me three blocks from the spot. The place used to be an old factory site before the town shut it down years ago. Now it was mostly broken windows, graffiti, and teenagers trying to avoid adults.
I needed to hear it from Caleb himself.
I spotted a group of football players sitting near one of the buildings almost immediately.
The second they noticed me walking toward them, the conversations stopped. A couple of them exchanged looks. One guy laughed under his breath. I ignored it all and kept walking until I stopped right in front of them.
“Has any of you seen Caleb?” I asked.
Nobody answered at first.
Then one of the boys leaned back against the wall and smirked. “Why? Are you his girlfriend now?”
A few of them laughed.
A couple of them exchanged looks.
I should’ve turned around right then, but after everything I’d heard that morning, I wasn’t backing down.
“I just need to talk to him.”
Most of them avoided eye contact after that, but finally, another player named Drew spoke up.
“He might be at Taylor’s place.”
The others looked at him judgmentally.
“What?” Drew shrugged. “We all know they’re secretly dating.”
That came as a surprise to me.
“I just need to talk to him.”
“Taylor with the piercings?” I asked.
Drew nodded. “Her parents are out of town for the weekend.”
I asked for the address, and he gave it to me.
I thanked him and left before anyone said anything else.
***
Twenty minutes later, I was standing outside a small blue house after a taxi dropped me off. I knocked. Taylor answered, wearing an oversized sweatshirt, and looked genuinely shocked to see me.
“Cindy?”
“I’m sorry for showing up like this, but the police and Caleb’s parents came to my house this morning looking for him.”
The second I said Caleb’s name, her expression changed.
I asked for the address.
Then I heard footsteps behind her before Caleb appeared, looking exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept at all.
The moment he saw me, his face went pale.
“Cindy…”
I folded my arms tightly. “You were there the night of the fire?”
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then Caleb stepped outside.
“Yeah,” he admitted.
Hearing him say it out loud made my stomach twist.
Then I heard footsteps behind her.
“What happened?”
Caleb hesitated before answering.
“When I was nine, I saw Mason sneak out of our house late at night. He used to do stuff like that all the time back then, and I followed him on my bike because I thought it was a fun game.”
He looked down while speaking.
“I lost sight of him for a while as he was on his skateboard, but eventually I spotted him climbing out of a window at your house. Then, a few minutes later, I noticed smoke coming from the kitchen.”
I stared at him, unsure how to respond.
“What happened?”
“I got scared and rode home. The next morning, when everyone started talking about the fire and what happened to you…” He swallowed hard. “I kept thinking if I told anyone, Mason’s life would be over.”
“So you stayed quiet?”
“I was nine.”
That made me stop for a second.
He explained that Mason kept getting into more trouble as he got older. Juvenile detention. Fights. Eventually, prison.
But Caleb never stopped thinking about that night.
Especially after starting the same school as me years later.
“I got scared and rode home.”
“Initially, I tried avoiding you,” Caleb admitted. “Every time I looked at you, I thought about the fire.”
But avoiding me became impossible.
Classes. Hallways. Football games. Group projects.
And eventually, guilt turned into something else.
Then Caleb told me something I hadn’t expected at all.
Before prom, he’d overheard some guys joking about how nobody would ask me to dance.
“I snapped at them. One of them almost punched me over it.”
“Initially, I tried avoiding you.”
Taylor stood behind us, quietly listening.
Caleb continued, “I didn’t ask you to dance because I felt sorry for you. I did it because I was tired of pretending I didn’t care about you.”
That truly surprised me.
He explained that after dropping me home, he’d gone to Taylor’s house because her parents were away and he needed advice about finally telling me the truth.
“I planned to come and talk to you today.”
I looked at him for a long moment before asking what still bothered me most.
That truly surprised me.
“Why would Mason do something like that?”
Caleb shook his head slowly.
“I honestly don’t know.”
Then his expression changed slightly.
“But maybe it’s time we asked him ourselves.”
***
An hour later, Caleb drove us to the correctional facility two towns over.
Taylor stayed in the car while Caleb and I went inside for the visitation.
“Why would Mason do something like that?”
The entire drive there, my stomach stayed in knots.
Part of me expected Mason to look terrifying after everything I’d heard about him over the years.
Instead, when he walked into the visitation room, he just looked tired and older than his age.
The second he saw me sitting beside Caleb, his face fell completely.
Nobody spoke at first. Then I leaned forward and asked the only thing I cared about.
“Why did you do it?”
Mason stared at the table for several seconds, clearly aware that the jig was up.
Part of me expected Mason to look terrifying.
“It wasn’t intentional. When I was 14, I used to sneak around neighborhoods at night doing stupid things. That night, I saw the garden gnome outside your house and walked over to look at it. Then I noticed the kitchen window was cracked open.”
Caleb looked tense beside me.
Mason continued.
“I climbed inside because I thought maybe I could take something small without anyone noticing. While I was in the kitchen, I lit a cigarette. After a few minutes, I left it on the counter while I looked through the living room.”
I felt sick listening to him.
“It wasn’t intentional.”
“Then I heard movement and panicked. I climbed back out the window and ran.”
Caleb stared at him in disbelief.
“You never meant to start the fire?”
