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speak.”
    Amber’s expression darkens. “She was supposed to take me.” I can hear her thinking, Bitch .
    I wave a hand in her face. “I didn’t not take you, Amber. I’m dying , not shopping on Rodeo Drive.”
    I glance at Lauren, who’s back to studying her nails. “Whatever,” she says. “You know Nicole. Anything to get attention.”
    They all nod, and my stomach flutters. Am I honestly that bad?
    “You know, she was acting kind of weird last night.” Penny runs her hand down the braid over her shoulder. “She wasn’t herself.”
    What the hell does that mean?
    Amber frowns, unsure.
    “Oh, come on, you didn’t notice? She was kind of uptight and snappy. When Drue started blasting the music, she just went and sat by the fire,” Penny says.
    “Yeah, that’s true. It was kind of a downer, actually.” Trent clears his throat. “She definitely wasn’t her usual self.”
    “You mean wild and unpredictable?” Lauren rolls her eyes. “She’s obviously making up for that today.”
    Trent shoots Lauren a look that only I seem to notice. The bell rings and my boyfriend straightens up and slides his hands into his jacket pockets.
    “Well, that’s our cue.” Trent nods at Drue, and they saunter off to their next class.
    Matt pulls open the library door for everyone else and we file inside. The library is quiet aside from the hum of the air conditioner. Only a few tables are occupied, and Ms. Spitz looks up from the stacks when we walk in. She has dyed pink hair, a nose stud, and chunky black glasses. But beneath her hipster exterior lies a drill sergeant, and she runs the library with military precision. No eating, no talking unless it’s about homework, and no funny business. She’s given me detention three times for making out with Trent in the stacks. You’d think I’d learn, but the truth is I like the library. Reading and caring about my grades will always be important to me.
    Penny drops her books on a big table, biting her lip. “What if she’s not shopping?”
    Thank you. Finally.
    “Maybe she’s run away. She’s been threatening to do it for months.” Amber pulls out a chair. “You said she was acting weird last night. Maybe when she got home, she packed her stuff and left.”
    Matt leans back and rests his arm along the back of Penny’s chair, his expression slightly dark and bitter. “What are the odds that some random guy picked her up and they’re now getting married in Vegas?”
    Everyone laughs.
    “Maybe some trucker kidnapped her and she’s locked in the back with a trailer load of livestock,” Amber chimes in. Ms. Spitz shoots her a warning look.
    “Why would that be funny?” my voice punches out in harsh syllables.
    Penny giggles. “Maybe she’s on a bus to New York. #NicoleMakesABreakForIt. ”
    I throw my bag on the table. “Penny, not you, too! I haven’t run away.”
    “Maybe she’s dead.” The table goes silent at Lauren’s casual statement. They all look at her with open-mouthed shock, then at one another . . . and then all start cracking up.
    As my friends laugh, I study Lauren. I take in her dyed blonde hair, the dark roots beneath beginning to poke out. Her hazel eyes are glassy and bloodshot. She flicks her hair over her shoulder and I notice two angry scratch marks just beneath her ear. Who has she been scraping with?
    Her words echo in my head. Maybe she’s dead.
    “I’m not dead yet,” I mumble then lean toward her and yell, “Did you hear me? I’m still out there!”
    Out of the corner of my eye, I see a head pop up from a book and look around the room as if he just heard something.
    As if he just heard me.
    “Hello?” I yell across the room, toward my potential savior. “Please, can you hear me? I need help.”
    The book lowers, and the guy’s eyes pop wide, his mouth dropping open as he looks straight at me.
    My heart sinks.
    It’s Dale Finnigan.

CHAPTER SIX
    WEDNESDAY, 10:47 AM
    Of all the people to finally hear me, it has to be the