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Back She's Gone Save as PDF
Chapters (95)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Video #1
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Video #2
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Forty-Five
  52. Forty-Six
  53. Forty-Seven
  54. Forty-Eight
  55. Forty-Nine
  56. Fifty
  57. Fifty-One
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Fifty-Seven
  64. Fifty-Eight
  65. Fifty-Nine
  66. Sixty
  67. Sixty-One
  68. Sixty-Two
  69. Sixty-Three
  70. Sixty-Four
  71. Sixty-Five
  72. Video #3
  73. Sixty-Six
  74. Sixty-Seven
  75. Sixty-Eight
  76. Sixty-Nine
  77. Seventy
  78. Seventy-One
  79. Seventy-Two
  80. Seventy-Three
  81. Seventy-Four
  82. Seventy-Five
  83. Seventy-Six
  84. Seventy-Seven
  85. Seventy-Eight
  86. Seventy-Nine
  87. Eighty
  88. Eighty-One
  89. Eighty-Two
  90. Eighty-Three
  91. The Final Video
  92. Acknowledgments
  93. About the Author
  95. Back Cover

Dad just stands there, looking at me. I haven’t raised my voice to him in…ever. No one raises their voice in our house. Just Olivia when she’s excited about something. But no one really yells at anyone. No one gets too worked up. Certainly not Dad. He barely cried when Mom died. When he came to the hospital after the accident, he looked at me like I’d skinned my knee.

He puts down his bag. When he’s angry he goes all silent. Or maybe he wants to lecture me.

He clears his throat. “Are you finished?”

“I think so.”

“I was going to say I’d like to go with you,” he says. “I don’t think you should go to something like that alone. Is there time for me to run to the bathroom? I left campus in a hurry to get here on time.”

I’m too shocked to speak, so Dad brushes past me for the bathroom. Mom always said people can surprise you.

I wonder if she had Dad in mind when she said that.

Fifteen

The vigil is on the football field behind the school. By the time we arrive, the parking lot is almost full, and people are streaming into the stadium. Four news vans hum off to the side, and a reporter in a suit stands practicing before a camera.

The sun is disappearing, and the stadium lights are on, casting a hazy, white glow over everything. A half-moon rises over us, and the air is cooler than it’s been all week. A light breeze kicks leaves across the lot, pushing them against buildings and light posts.

Dad parks away from the crowds. Good move. Either he and I are more alike than I realize, or he’s reading my mind.

Before we get out of the car, I say, “You know, I kind of want to…you know…”

“We can stand near the back. Or off to the side.”

“Right.”

“We don’t have to go in at all if you’d rather skip it.”

“No,” I say. “I think it’s good for me to go. If I don’t, it could be worse.”

Dad pushes open his door, and we walk together, keeping our distance from the main crowd of people. A lot of students walk with their parents. Kids carry homemade signs and balloons and stuffed animals. Can I just say right here that Chloe hates stuffed animals? I take a deep breath and remind myself that people are just trying to be nice. They’ve seen other people bring stuffed animals to a vigil or a scene of a tragedy, so they do it, too. Chloe would rather receive a book or a gift card to her favorite sushi restaurant or advice on getting into medical school, but you can’t really show up at a vigil with those kinds of things.