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Gone Missing

I didn't talk to anybody about running into Adam. There wasn't anyone I really talked to besides him anyway, and there was no way I was calling him up. I didn't owe him an apology, that was for sure. He was the one who'd said stupid stuff, not me. I shouldn't feel bad for what I'd said, because it was all true. Sometimes he got too wrapped up in himself, like he didn't care about anything. But I knew he was just the opposite inside—he cared about everything. He got hurt a lot easier than he admitted, but he didn't show it by crying or getting all sad. He showed it by getting grumpy, and since he'd been in a really long bad mood, I figured he'd been hurt for a long time. Still, that didn't give him a right to act like any of it was my fault. I'd tried to help him out; I'd tried to talk to him. He just hadn't let me. So if he was angry, he had nobody to blame but himself. Of course, that reasoning didn't make me feel much better, really.

There were a lot of thoughts in my head over the next two days after I'd argued with Adam, and his bad mood was definitely one of them. I really almost picked up the phone and called him, but then I forced myself not to. He'd come around eventually, I kept telling myself. He didn't need me checking up on him. I talked myself out of calling more than once, so I was really angry at myself when Mrs. Nyler phoned my mom in the middle of dinner with some weird news.

We were all just sitting around the table—mom, dad, Corey talking too much, me being quieter than usual—when the phone rang. Mom answered it, even though we didn't usually do that during dinner, and all of us eating chicken salad stared. We watched her face change shapes as the person on the other end of the line talked. Then she said, "Hold on, let me ask him," and she turned to me. "Cole, Mrs. Nyler wants to know if you've seen Adam recently."

I shrugged. "A couple of days ago, at Sloppy Soldiers."

My mom transferred that information to Mrs. Nyler, then listened and looked back at me. "Not since then? That was the last you saw him?"

Putting down my fork, I narrowed my eyes like I was thinking, even though I knew the answer to her questions. "Nope. That was the last time."

More talking into the phone by mom. More of her listening to the person on the other end. More of her face shifting. She began to look kind of concerned. I watched her, starting to get a little nervous. "All right," she finally said. "I'll tell him that. Let me know if there's anything else we can do." Then she hung up and sat back down at the table. I kept watching her, not bothering to pick my fork back up.

"What was that about?" asked dad, piling mayonnaise-drenched chicken and lettuce into his mouth.

Mom chewed her lip. "Anne. She says she hasn't seen Adam since he went to bed last night." She shook her head. "She said she wasn't worried at first, but now that it's nearing dark, she's a little nervous." I think my mouth must've been open, because my mom glanced at me and added, "Don't worry, Cole. I'm sure he's fine. You know Adam; he tends to do his own thing."

"Yeah, but 'his own thing' isn't wandering off all alone for a whole day," I said, starting to feel my stomach sink.

Dad frowned. "Now, you don't know that. Weren't you saying just last night that he was in a bad mood?"

"So?"

"So maybe he decided to spend some time alone. He probably just went out for a walk to clear his mind and is on his way home now."

"No," I said, sure of my answer, "he's not. That's not what he'd do. Adam doesn't go out to clear his mind. I don't think he'd know how to do it. What does that even mean? I wouldn't know how to do it either. He definitely didn't go out for a walk."

Dad put a hand on my arm, which was resting on the table. "Don't worry, Cole. If anything's wrong, Mrs. Nyler will let you know. If Adam happens by, you just need to call her." He removed his hand and scooped some more chicken onto his fork. It practically dripped mayo.