“So you stayed quiet?”
“I was nine.”
That stopped me cold for a second.
He explained that Mason’s behavior only got worse as he got older. Juvenile detention. Fights. Eventually prison.
But Caleb never stopped thinking about that night.
Especially once we ended up attending the same school years later.
“At first, I avoided you,” Caleb admitted. “Every time I looked at you, I thought about the fire.”
But avoiding me eventually became impossible.
Classes. Hallways. Football games. Group projects.
And somewhere along the way, guilt became something else.
Then Caleb admitted something I never expected.
Before prom, he overheard several guys joking about how nobody would ask me to dance.
“I snapped at them. One of them almost hit me for it.”
Taylor stood quietly behind us listening.
Caleb continued, “I didn’t ask you to dance because I pitied you. I did it because I got tired of pretending I didn’t care about you.”
That caught me completely off guard.
He explained that after taking me home, he went to Taylor’s house because her parents were gone and he needed advice about finally telling me the truth.
“I planned to come talk to you today.”
I stared at him for a long moment before finally asking the question still bothering me most.
“Why would Mason do something like that?”
Caleb slowly shook his head.
“I honestly don’t know.”
Then his expression shifted slightly.
“But maybe it’s time we ask him ourselves.”
An hour later, Caleb drove us to a correctional facility two towns away.
Taylor stayed in the car while Caleb and I went inside for visitation.
During the entire drive, my stomach stayed twisted in knots.
Part of me expected Mason to look terrifying after everything I’d heard about him.
Instead, when he entered the visitation room, he just looked exhausted and older than he should have.
The moment he saw me sitting beside Caleb, his face completely fell.
At first, nobody spoke. Then I leaned forward and asked the only thing I truly cared about.
“Why did you do it?”
Mason stared at the table for several long seconds, clearly realizing there was no hiding anymore.
“It wasn’t intentional. When I was fourteen, I used to sneak around neighborhoods at night doing stupid things. That night I noticed the garden gnome outside your house and walked over to look at it. Then I saw the kitchen window cracked open.”
Beside me, Caleb looked tense.
