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staring at the widescreen TV in front of him. It was turned off. “No.”
    “Where have you been for the past few days?” Samara asked , realizing immediately, judging from the way Seth shifted in his seat, that she had chosen the wrong words. “I mean…I’m not trying to intrude or anything. I was just wondering who you were staying with while you weren’t here. We all worry about you while you’re gone, you know.”
    Seth stared down at his shoes. “Just places.”
    “Seth, is everything okay?” Samara asked. “If you’re having problems at school or if something’s bothering you, you can always talk to me . . . or mom and dad. We’re all here for you, even though you might not believ e it. We all care about you.”
    “I’m fine,” Seth muttered. Before Samara could say another word, her brother leapt up from the couch and stormed out of the living room. Moments later, she heard his bedroom door slam shut and the sound of rock music by a band who she wasn’t able (and didn’t want to be able) to identify being turned on.
    Sighing, Samara kicked off her shoes. She hated that her brother had suddenly become so angry. It wasn’t even just because he was constantly fighting with their parents. Samara also was beginning to feel shut out of his life, and she hated it. Years ago, they had been really close. When she was little and obsessed with The Lion King , Seth would pretend that he was Pumba and she was Timon . As they got older, they found that they had common interests. They both enjoyed being outdoors, and Samara didn’t mind kicking around a soccer ball with him as long as he promised to swim in the lake with her. She fear ed that they would never be that c lose again.
    Her mom thought that Seth was going to grow out of this “phase” that he was in, but Samara feared that it was only going to get progress ively worse as time went on.
    As she grabbed a container of strawberry banana yogurt from the refrigerator, Samara looked out the kitchen window , and that’s when she saw it. A gray fluffy tail. The wolf turned around and stared her in the eye before running into the wooded forest that separated the McKinley’s house f rom Starlight Lake. 

 
    Chapter 6
     
    ****
 
    “So, you definitely missed out on one amazing shopping trip!” Emma said excitedly whe n Samara answered her iPhone.
    “ Maybe for a shopaholic,” Samara said sarcastically, thinking about how Emma, Ashley, and Brielle all loved to shop. Having a Platinum card made their lives complete. Samara just didn’t understand the appeal of owning hundreds of pairs of shoes if you only ever wore one o r two pairs on a regular basis.
    “What’s that?” Emma asked.
    “Nothing,” Samara replied, rolli ng over onto her side. “Look, I’m just not really in the mood to shop right now. I have other things on my mind.”
    Emma groaned loudly. “ I think that you need to stop being so lame, Sam. You’re missing out on all of the fun things in life. Live it up a little. You’re only fifteen, ya know. There’s no reason you have to a ct like a grownup all the time. ”
    Samara felt her annoyance rising . Emma had never given her a reason to believe that’ s what she thought of her. Maybe their friendship had more problems than Samara had realized. “ I just feel like I don’t have much in common with Ashley and Brielle,” Samara blurted. This was the first time she had admitted this to Emma or herself.
    “You never feel like you have much in common with any of the girls our age,” Emma snapped. “That’s wh y you have no f riends.”
    Feeling the tears build up behind her eyes, Samara hit the end button on her cell phone. She didn’t need to deal with this, and between everything going on with Luke and her brother, she really didn’t want to right now. Samara needed a best friend who would be supportive of her, not criticize everything she does.
    Wrapping her white down comforter around her body and wiping aw ay a lonely