Page 4

CHAPTER

ONE

ERIN

One year.

That’s how long it’s been since Sarah disappeared.

I’m stupid for expecting she’d come home today.

In my daydreams, her rebellious eyes sparkle as she stumbles in with messy hair, swinging an empty liquor bottle, like no time has passed.

She wouldn’t understand our concern. She and Dad would argue, like always.

But, for once, I’d be happy to hear them fight.

Yet, there’s nothing. Only the same stifling silence that has consumed our table since she vanished.

Mom lays the table, as she does every morning, with more food than we can eat.

She puts out a selection of fruit, cereals, pancakes, sausages, juice, and a pot of coffee.

No matter how early I wake, food is always waiting at the perfect temperature.

It’s always the same, even though nothing else is.

Mom’s fork scrapes against her plate as she slices a banana into tiny pieces, setting my jaw on edge. She cuts her food up so small that it turns to nothing, then pushes it around until she declares she’s full after three bites. She’d rather starve than gain a pound.

“My book club is holding a fundraiser at the weekend,” she declares brightly.

Mom lives for social occasions and loves any excuse to buy new designer clothes.

At fifty, she’s beautiful and still turns heads wherever we go.

She’s the perfect trophy wife, befitting my famous psychiatrist father.

People say we look alike, but I don’t see the resemblance.

Unlike my boring brown straight hair, Mom has blonde waves that naturally fall in all the right places, and wide blue eyes compared to my brown ones.

Sarah used to dye her hair to look more like her.

Dad grunts in acknowledgement and keeps leafing through the newspaper.

He’s an imposing man at six feet tall with a sullen expression.

In his youth, he was handsome with his angular jawline, dark hair and eyes.

Now, wiry gray strands pepper his temples, and his lined forehead makes him look in a permanent foul mood.

It’s not helped by the fact he rarely smiles, and a perpetual cloud of negativity surrounds him.

Nothing, and no one, is ever good enough or up to his exacting standards.

I pick at my food and look up at the faded spot on the wall where our family portrait used to hang.

Mom put it up soon after we moved in, but Dad tore it down and declared Sarah a disgrace.

We moved to the town of Pasturesville for a fresh start shortly after she vanished, and all of Sarah’s belongings were left behind.

He wants to erase her from our lives. We don’t talk about her.

Occasionally, Mom looks like she wants to say something when it’s just the two of us, but she always thinks better of it.

It’s not worth invoking my father’s wrath.

Dad slaps the paper down, and his shrewd gaze sweeps over me. “How was your math test yesterday, Erin?”

I cower under his scrutiny, wanting to blend into the fabric seat covers.

“We’re still waiting for the results,” I lie.

He nods curtly, letting me breathe easily once more.

When he finds out I got a B+, he’ll go crazy, but that’s a problem for future Erin.

I studied hard for the test, but I got distracted.

All I could think about was Sarah. For the millionth time, I combed my memories for any clues that might tell me what happened to her.

Outside, a car horn beeps, providing me with a welcome excuse to leave. That’ll be Mia, my best friend. She took me under her wing when I started at Stonybridge Academy. I’m not allowed a car, but Mia was the first in our class to get her license and gives me a ride to school every day.

I grab a granola bar for the road. “Thanks for breakfast.”

Dad tsks. “You shouldn’t start your day with sugar.”

I freeze. Mom’s shoulders tense, even though she plasters on a fake smile.

“A little sugar won’t hurt,” she says feebly.

Big mistake.

“Won’t hurt?” Dad’s incredulous face turns thunderous.

He inhales deeply and puffs out his chest. “Do you know the dangers of a hyperactive mind, and what it can lead to?” I zone out as he rattles off the reasons on his fingers.

“Lack of sleep, inability to focus, lack of concentration. Do you think this is what Erin needs for her senior year? She has college to think about. She can’t eat this junk.

I don’t know why we even have it in the house! ”

Mom lowers her head. “I didn’t think…”

“You never do,” he replies.

I put the granola bar down slowly, like I’m lowering a weapon, and pick up an apple instead. He can’t have a problem with that, right?

Wrong.

He scowls. “Don’t pretend you care now. I know what people your age are like, remember?

I spend all day trying to fix the damage that’s been done.

You should be grateful that I’m here to guide you in the right direction.

If it were down to your mother…” He shakes his head in obvious disapproval. “Who knows where you’d be.”

“Sorry, Magnus,” Mom murmurs, wringing her hands. “I’ll do better next time.”

He huffs and holds the paper up while Mia beeps the horn again.

“I better go,” I say, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. “See you later.”

“What extracurriculars do you have today?” Dad asks, unable to let me leave without knowing my entire schedule.

“Swimming and piano,” I say. “I’m having an extra tutoring session with Mr. Meyer after school to make sure I’m ready for the concert on Monday.”

“Only one extra session?” He scoffs. “What are we paying those school fees for?” He always finds a reason to complain. If there’s a hole to pick in something, he’ll find it. “I’ll pick you up afterward. Don’t be late.”

“Yes, sir,” I mutter.

“And one more thing.” He picks up the pills hiding behind my coffee cup. “You forgot your medication.”

I grab the colorful capsules and shove them into my mouth, swallowing without water. The giant rectangles sliding down my throat makes me wince. I’ve taken pills every day since Sarah vanished to help with anxiety.

“Have a good day, honey,” Mom says.

I force a smile and hurry away. As soon as I shut the front door, my lungs expand fully, allowing me to breathe easier.

Mia beeps for the third time and lowers the car window to yell, “Hurry up!”

I roll my eyes as I head down the driveway onto the street.

We live in one of the biggest mansions in town within a desirable gated community.

We have seven bedrooms and baths, designer furniture, a kitchen that looks like a movie set, and a garage filled with four cars that no one drives, but we didn’t always live like this.

Mia’s arm drapes out of the window, and she taps her manicured nails impatiently against the side of her pink Cadillac.

It has a custom plate and a sleek, white, leatherette interior.

I joke that it looks like Barbie’s car, but it suits her personality perfectly.

The two of us are total opposites, which is why our friendship works.

Mia’s loud, confident, and completely unapologetic.

She captures everyone’s attention with her vivacious personality and stunning looks, while I’m happy being a bookish wallflower who can easily go days without speaking to anyone.

Mia checks her reflection in the mirror and applies a layer of sparkly purple lip gloss when I appear.

“I thought you were in a hurry?” I ask.

“No,” she replies with a cunning smile. “But I knew you would be in a hurry to leave. Besides…” She adjusts the mirror and angles it at my neighbor’s long driveway. “Your secret admirer is leaving too.”

My cheeks burn as Nate Holt’s car approaches.

“He’s not my secret admirer,” I hiss, simultaneously smoothing down my hair. “Drive!”

Mia doesn’t move as the black Jaguar crawls to a stop beside us and lowers its window.

“Hi, Nate!” Mia chirps. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Nate smiles, looking straight past her. “Hey, Erin.”

“Charming!” Mia flicks her hair in feigned annoyance. “Am I invisible or something?”

“Hi,” I murmur, avoiding Nate’s gaze.

The Holts basically built this town, and it shows.

At Stonybridge Academy, wealth doesn’t instantly guarantee popularity as everyone who attends is already loaded.

However, Nate’s family history and his prowess on the football field have made him a local legend.

Unlike most people, my father doesn’t have a positive opinion of the Holts.

He despises the way ‘their arrogant son’ swans around the streets like he owns them, even though he kinda does.

“Are you coming to the party after the game tonight?” he asks. “It’s going to be wild.”

“N—” I begin.

“Yes!” Mia interrupts. “Of course we are.”

“Really?” Nate’s eyes widen in surprise. “I didn’t think you went to parties, Erin. Aren’t you too cool for them?”

That can’t be further from the truth. Before I open my mouth, Mia jumps in again. “She’ll be there. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Sweet.” Nate beams, showing off two perfect rows of Hollywood-style white teeth. “I’ll see you there.”

Nate’s handsome in a clean-cut way. He has short brown hair, tanned skin, brown eyes, and a killer body.

Although I live under a rock most of the time, even I know he doesn’t date.

His father doesn’t want a girlfriend distracting him during the football season.

Although, that doesn’t stop Nate from having success with many girls, if the rumors are true.

“Mia!” I nudge her in the ribs as Nate speeds away. She’s wearing a smug smirk and an ‘I told you so’ expression that makes me want to punch her. “You know I can’t go. What will my dad say?”

“Come on,” she says. “This is our senior year. He can’t keep you locked away forever like some helpless princess. You told me that Sarah used to go to parties all the time, remember?”

“And look what happened to her,” I mutter.

She went to a party the night she disappeared.