"You weren't coming to any of the party meetings anymore," she went on, her voice now dripping with all this... concern. Crap. "And... I came by your house... I came by last time... and you just... you weren't even at home."
'Oh, shit,' he thought.
"And when I asked... your... your step-mother... she didn't seem to know where you went, either."
'Oh, double shit!'
"What... what happened, Alex?" she asked, her voice so soft and worried.
And then she did it. She tilted her head to the side.
That stupid, adorable, "I'm a super-cute and worried girl" head-tilt. It made her short brown hair fall perfectly over one eye. It was... it was like a weapon. A weapon of pure, 100% cuteness. It was aimed right at his heart. Or... probably... a little lower.
'Step-mom...' his brain repeated. 'She... she said... wait a minute! Wait... just... a... minute!'
An idea... a glorious, beautiful, perfect idea... struck him right in the brain. It was like a lightning bolt of pure genius.
