My Daughter ‘Went to School’ Every Morning – Then Her Teacher Called and Said She’d Been Skipping for a Whole Week, So I Followed Her the Next Morning

“She leaves the house every morning. I watch her walk out the door.”

“No,” Mrs. Carter said. “She hasn’t been in any of her classes since Monday.”

“Monday… okay. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll talk to her.”

I hung up the phone and sat there. My daughter had been pretending to go to school all week… where had she really been going?

When Emily came home that evening, I was waiting for her.

“How was school, Em?” I asked.

When Emily came home that evening, I was waiting for her.

“The usual,” she replied. “I got a whole ton of math homework, and History is so boring.”

“And what about your friends?”

She stiffened.

“Em?”

Emily rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “What is this? The Spanish Inquisition?”

She stomped off to her room, and I watched her go. She’d been lying for four days, so I figured a direct confrontation would just make her dig a deeper hole.

I needed a different approach.

She’d been lying for four days.

***

The next morning, I went through the motions.

I watched her walk away down the driveway. Then, I ran for the car. I parked a short distance from the bus stop and watched her get on the bus. Nothing concerning so far.

So, I followed the bus. When it hissed to a stop in front of the high school, a sea of teenagers poured out. Emily was among them.

But as the crowd flowed toward the heavy double doors of the building, she peeled off.

I watched her walk away down the driveway.

She lingered by the bus stop sign.

What are you doing? I soon got my answer.

An old pickup truck rolled up to the curb. It was rusted around the wheel wells and had a dent in the tailgate. Emily yanked the passenger door open and hopped in.

My pulse turned into a drum solo against my ribs. My first instinct was to call the authorities. I was reaching for my phone… but she’d smiled when she saw the truck, and he’d climbed in willingly.

The truck pulled away. I followed them.

Emily yanked the passenger door open and hopped in.

Maybe I was overreacting, but even if Emily wasn’t in danger, she was still skipping school, and I needed to know why.

They drove toward the outskirts of town, where the strip malls give way to quiet parks. They eventually pulled into a gravel lot near the lake.

“If I’m about to catch you skipping school to be with a boyfriend you haven’t told me about…” I growled as I pulled into the lot behind them.

I parked a short distance away, and that’s when I saw the driver.

They drove toward the outskirts of town.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

I was out of my car so fast that I didn’t even close the door behind me.

I marched toward the pickup truck. Emily saw me first. She was laughing at something he’d said, but her smile dropped the moment we made eye contact.

I marched up to the driver’s side window and rapped my knuckles against the glass.

Slowly, the window lowered.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

“Hey, Zoe, what are you doing—”

“Following you.” I braced my hands against the door. “What are you doing? Emily is supposed to be in school, and why on earth are you driving this? Where’s your Ford?”