One week and one day later
"Tim!" called Jason. Jason's best friend, Tim Riggins, turned toward Jason at the sound of his name.
"What is it, Street?" asked Tim.
"Is Lyla here? I haven't seen her all day. Have you? I mean, yesterday was a no school day, but I saw her at church on Sunday, and she didn't say anything about not being here today. Have you seen her at all?"
"No, I haven't, Street," said Tim. "But have you seen that the locker you're standing by isn't yours?"
"This is my locker," said Jason, getting annoyed that Tim was being less than helpful.
"No, it isn't."
"Yes, it is."
"No, it isn't."
"Explain this, then," said Jason, opening the locker. In it were school books, a lot of pictures of Jason, a sign inside that said Street, Quarterback, #6, and another sign that said My Locker in big letters. Jason continued, "I rest my case." He then closed the locker.
"I thought your locker was in the other hallway," said Tim.
"It was," said Jason, "but I traded lockers with Saracen. My old one was closer to his final class and this one is closer to my final class." Jason sighed and said, "Tim, can we stop talking about lockers? I have a bigger problem. I've been trying to text Lyla, but she hasn't answered. I called her a couple of times at lunch, but they went directly to voicemail."
"I don't know what the problem is," said Tim. "Maybe she's sick, or maybe something happened at home."
"Probably so," agreed Jason.
"Hey, Street, " said Tim, picking up a piece of paper that had fallen out of Jason's locker onto the floor, "what's this?"
"That's a list of goals I've made for the new year," said Jason. "I made it last New Year's Eve. Number one: Win a state championship. Number two: Maintain my grades. Number three: get into Notre Dame. And Number four: Actually read all reading assignments."
"You left Number five blank, though," said Tim.
"Yeah, I couldn't think of a fifth goal," said Jason. Just then his phone made a ding.
"Hold on," said Jason. He picked up his phone and said, "It's Lyla."
He could make out the words Don't freak on the first text, but the second text was all weird and was practically unreadable. Jason thought, How does she expect me to read this? I can't decipher this. But when he looked at it more closely, he could make out the words emergency room and meet me.
"Oh no!" said Jason. "This is terrible!"
"What?" asked Tim.
"Lyla's at the emergency room. I've got to go," said Jason. He immediately rushed toward his car to get to the emergency room as fast as he could. He was worried that something was seriously wrong with Lyla.