“Paul Delmont?”
“Absent!”
“Megan Johnson?”
“Here!”
“Rick Laker?”
“Yeah?”
“Rose Summers?”
“Dead.”             

                                             ***

Breaking in was pretty easy. The door was unlocked, so he walked right in. Nobody was home.

He looked around and saw that Rose’s room was on the right. 

Rose. Rose Summers. February 3rd 2013 – the day she entered Pico Mundo High School. Well, she had to. It was either  this or homeschool. She was short, fair with timid, baby blue eyes and a mop of chestnut curls. She always clutched her books to her chest as though they were her lifeline and walked with her head down, never meeting anyone’s eyes. She was a shy little thing: she never put up her hand, never volunteered and stayed out of everybody’s way. No one teased her. Everybody’s unsaid rule was, ‘You don’t mess with me, I don’t mess with you.' “But I tried,” thought Zack. And he had. Him and Susan, they both had. But even they could only find out that she had come from Pennsylvania and had been homeschooled. She was the only child.

Then, suddenly, she had stopped coming to school for a week. When she had come back, she had looked weaker and paler than before. Everyone had been bursting to ask her but no one had the courage: now they didn’t want to get in her way.

Summer had come and gone. Rose had looked as though she’d had fun. Her skin had been tanned and she’d had a twinkle in her eye that she didn’t have before. It had been a pleasant change.

But suddenly, she had stopped coming to school again. Susan had called, but no one had answered. After about three weeks, Zack and Susan had come to her house. Her father had been home and had told them that Rose and her mother had gone to visit her aunt. Susan had been convinced but Zack had been suspicious. He couldn’t help but notice the sadness in her father’s face, a face that had given up hope. So Zack had decided that he would check some stuff out. First stop – her room. 

And so, here he was. He put his hand on the handle of her door and pushed. Inside, it was a simple room. A bed, a desk, a closet, some cuddly toys. It looked unused and felt creepy. He headed to the desk where a couple of books and pens lay, arranged neatly. He pulled open a drawer. Inside, there was a single piece of paper. He unfolded it. It read:

THINGS TO DO
1. Go to a high school
2. Learn how to ice-skate
3. Have a garage sale
4. Ride a horse
5. Go on a hot-air balloon
6. Tell Zack how I feel about him
7. Go to Disneyland
8. Beat Cancer.

The world froze.

The piece of paper drifted slowly softly down as Zack slid down to his knees, head in hands, mouth open in a wordless cry.