**Author's POV**When they all returned to the dorm, Aiden was gone. Not just him, his luggage too.Panic set in immediately, a cold, crawling dread that tightened each of their chests as they tried his number one by one, only to be met with the same hollow click of voicemail. Aiden had switched off his phone."Why did he suddenly leave? Did we perhaps do something? Why didn't he tell us he was leaving?" Jordan asked, his voice tight, directed at no one in particular as his eyes swept the bare, empty corner where Aiden's bags used to sit."Maybe he already went to the beach house," Macmillan muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. "He was planning to spend the summer there all by himself.""Maybe we should go there. His phone is probably dead, which is why we can't reach him," Jordan added, already reaching for his keys.They latched onto the theory like a lifeline. They packed their belongings in a rushed, clumsy frenzy, zippers half-done, bags tossed into trunks and peeled out
Read more