Chapters (95)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Video #1
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Video #2
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Video #3
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- The Final Video
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
“It’s a mistake. The lawyer told you to keep a low profile when you left the hospital. And you posted that on a school channel?”
“Dad—”
“It’s not a school channel,” Olivia says. “It’s a club channel. Hunter and Chloe created it, and this livens it up a little. Usually, Ex Libris posts boring poetry readings. Snooze.”
“Oh, jeez,” Dad says, shaking his head. “Okay, I’m late. Are you sure you’re okay to drive to school?”
“The doctor said I could.”
“Okay. Just be safe.”
And then he goes to the door without looking back.
“What are you so pissed about, Dad?” Olivia asks.
“Livvy, it’s okay,” I say.
“No,” she says. “He’s trying to help find Chloe. He has the right to do that, even if his presentation is ass.”
Dad stops in the open doorway. He doesn’t go out and doesn’t come back in. He just stands there, a man caught in-between. He doesn’t look over his shoulder when he speaks. “The cops said to keep a low profile. There are a lot of raw emotions. People get…” He pauses and lifts his free hand to his forehead. “Hunter’s going back to school today and that…It’s going to be tough.”
“What if the video helps us find her?” Oliva asks, her voice rising.
Dad stands in the doorway a few moments longer. He looks like he’s going to say something but stops. Then he says, “Just be careful driving, okay? And if you don’t feel well, go tell the nurse.”
And he’s out the door and off to work.
Olivia throws her hands in the air in an overly theatrical gesture. She wants me to be just as outraged. Which I am, in a way, but I’m also trying to understand. Dad doesn’t like talking about things. He doesn’t like emotions being on display.
As Chloe used to say, “The apple doesn’t fall far.”
Used to say? No. Says. Chloe says that about me.
“It’s okay, Livvy. Maybe I shouldn’t have made it. Maybe it’s just going to make things worse. All the things people will say…all the things they’re posting.”
Oliva stares at me with her mouth wide open, her braces gleaming beneath the kitchen light.
“What people say? What people say? Is what people say or post worse than the fact that nobody knows where Chloe is? Or people harassing us by smearing dog shit on the porch? Or knocking over the trash cans? Come on, Hunter. Think. Is that stuff worse?” She stomps off, but as she goes up the stairs, her voice floats back to me over the sound of her heavy steps. “I think it’s beautiful how much you love Chloe, Hunter. I really do.”
And she’s right. I do love Chloe.
And I love my lunatic sister, too.