I'm on my way into the school with Hope hot on my heels when I barrel right into Eli.

"Oh, hey," I say, leaving my hand on his chest for a long second, until I clue into what I'm doing and pull it away. "Are you...like...alright?" He looks better than when he'd left the party last night, but still not great. His hair's a mess, his clothes are rumpled. I've never seen him like this.

Hope doesn't slow. She strides past me into my school, obviously ready to find Micah all on her own. I still don't have a clue what she thinks he can tell her about our mom. Or my dad, for that matter. I'm starting to believe my whole family is a little bit cracked.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for... that," Eli says, pulling my thoughts from Hope.

"For almost killing you, you mean? Sure. Anytime."

The side of his mouth twitches a bit and I think he's going to smile, but then he doesn't. As usual, his eyes are impossible not to sink into. I immediately fall into a daze and can't think of a single thing to say. The bell for first period startles me.

Eli looks toward the school office. "I have to get out of here."

I squint at him. "Out of here? You don't skip classes, do you, Elijah Andrews?" I almost trip on his name, since I hadn't meant to call him Elijah, but either his whole name doesn't bother him or he didn't notice. He's definitely distracted. But he's leaving the school, and part of me is tempted to ask him to take me with him, just to get away from my life. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere." He shakes his head. "I can't stay. You should come to Cranston Park tonight, though." He backs away, and it reminds me that the second bell is going to go at any minute, and who knows where Hope has gotten to.

"Yeah. Maybe." An unfamiliar feeling rushes through me at the thought of another student inviting me somewhere. If I can find my dad, yeah, it's possible that I could have something normal in my life for once.

Eli holds my gaze for one more second, and then he's gone.

Micah isn't at his locker, so I race through the halls for Liz's locker.

"Have you talked to Micah?" I ask, breathless, when I'm still ten feet away.

She faces into her locker. "No. We broke up, remember?"

"Broke—" I shake my head. "Liz, you had a fight. People fight, they have problems, and have to figure out ways to—"

"It's over, Kass. I can't do it anymore, okay?" Liz never speaks to me like this. Her eyes are rimmed with red when she turns to me, and I know better than to try to convince her when she's wound up.

"So you don't know where the jackass is?" I ask, like I'm on her side. Like I might be looking to beat the snot out of him for hurting her.

She cracks a sad smile, but shakes her head.

I don't find Micah, but at least I find Hope. She's on her way out of the school. I chase after her as the second bell sounds. Other students are rushing into classrooms and if I don't get out of here quickly, I'll have security on my ass.

"Hey, wait up!"

Hope glances back, but then keeps striding for her car.

"I couldn't find Micah anywhere," I tell her as I catch up. "Maybe he's not here today."

"I found him. Didn't help much." She shoves a blue paper into her back pocket. I recognize it as the paper Micah's written little notes to Liz on before.

I want to ask her what's on it, but instead, I say, "What did you think he'd know about our parents, anyway?"

She shakes her head. "It was a stupid thought. Any other ideas of where your dad could have gone?"

I direct her to the grocery store where Dad shops, where the cashiers all know him. It had been closed when we got to it last night, but I've still been picturing him locked in the store, crouched in a corner of the produce section overnight. It's the only place he ever goes on his own, but we traipse through each aisle, and when we ask at the front counter, no one has seen him.

After that, I take Hope to the craft store where Mom used to work. Another dead end. We drive around all the main streets again, hoping the daylight will help us spot him, and then even the outskirts of Empire. Nothing.

Back at the apartment, I pace a trench into our living room carpet, trying to come up with anywhere else I can look for either of my parents, but my mind is a barren expanse. There's nowhere else dad would voluntarily go alone.

Hope slips out onto our balcony, telling me she has to call her dad to check in, but when I glance outside, I see her pull the blue paper out of her back pocket before she dials.

So Micah gave her a phone number? Of who?

I check the messages on our voicemail for the fiftieth time, then leave a message on there for Dad, plus a note, right inside the front door. If he comes home while we're out looking for him, I want to know about it immediately.

It's stupid how pathetic I am without my dad. It's not like he's infused with any kind of strength. If anything, he's the weakest, most incompetent person I've ever known. But he's also the one constant in my life—he's always there, the one person I can count on. It's strange how you can feel like you don't need someone—even wish you didn't have to deal with them every single day—but the moment they're gone, it's as if every bit of your strength crumbles to dust.

I search the whole apartment again for any sign of where he might have gone, but I seriously think I'm going to lose it if I stay here.

My cell phone rings and I leap for it on the coffee table, not even taking time to check the ID.

"Dad?"

There's a pause. "No, it's me." Concern warms Liz's voice. "Kass, are you okay?" My stomach bottoms out again at her question, because I'm not. I'm really not.

I shake my head, even though she can't see it. "I came home last night to find my dad missing." I suck in a breath and recount the rest of the story. I've never allowed much vulnerability around anyone, even Liz, but in this moment, I don't care. Desperation leaks out in every word I say to her.

She asks if I've called the police, and I explain that whole situation, too. She's the only person at school who knows Dad has problems, but even she doesn't know the extent of them. I check my watch and it's already dinnertime. No wonder Liz is already home. All that running around with Hope today, and rechecking our apartment, it must've taken longer than I thought.

"So...is there any coincidence here? I mean, your new sister shows up and then your dad's suddenly gone?"

I glance out the balcony door and I think about that. It is a pretty big coincidence that our mom's missing, then Hope shows up, and suddenly Dad's missing, too. Hope must know more than she's letting on.

"I talked to Micah for a few minutes after school."

I wait, not sure if I should ask about their relationship, or ask about what I really want to know. After three seconds or so of deliberating, I can't hold out any longer. "Did he tell you he talked to Hope?"

"Yeah. He said she was asking him more questions about Nolan's hospital in Cape Falcon. Weird, right?"

Weird and... maybe making some sense. "You don't think... I mean, my dad has problems, right? You don't think Hope would have decided it's her place to try and get him committed?"

"But you said your dad went missing last night. And she was still bugging Micah to give her the details this morning."

I'm glad I have Liz to help bounce things off of. I'm way too emotionally charged about all of this. "How are you and Micah?" I owe it to her to ask at least that.

"We're...I don't know. At least we're talking, I guess. We'll see."

"He's a good guy." It takes everything in me to force out these words. They're true, I just have trouble admitting them, since he doesn't exactly like me.

Hope comes back in from the balcony as I'm hanging up. The blue paper is stuffed away again.

"Who did you—"

"Do you know a girl who was at the party last night?" she asks, cutting me off. "Really long blonde hair? Big boobs? Turquoise top?"

"Vicki Larson?" I'm trying to think back to her image, leaning against the pool table when I'd been looking for Sebastian.

"Do you know her?"

I shrug. Do I really know anyone at our school?

"We should have tried to find her at the school, too. She had a bracelet like the one your dad took."

I decide not to argue about whether or not Dad "took" her precious bracelet. "Vicki will probably be at Cranston Park tonight. There's some music thing there." If Sebastian and Eli invited me, they definitely would have invited Vicki.

"You know where that is?"

I nod.

"All right. Let's grab something to eat, and go."

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