“There are still people who aren’t?”

He chuckles. “I’ll find you, Piper…?”

“Willis.”

With a sharp nod, he lets go of my wrist and walks away.

He’s going to find me on Facebook. What is my life right now?

I head down the trail to look for Hazel, and the rain finally stops. There are people from all three high schools in the area. The size of the crowd is easily over a hundred, so finding Hazel isn’t going to be easy. She left before me and lives closer, so she has to be here already.

It’s really warm tonight, so why anyone felt the need to light a damn bonfire, I’ll never know. Though I’m impressed they got the fire going with the drizzle. Hazel hates heat, so she won’t be near that. I’m the opposite; I’d rather be too hot than even a little bit cold.

By some miracle, I spot her right away. She’s talking to three girls I don’t recognize. Her arms are folded, and one of her eyebrows is arched. She looks as if she’s giving them attitude.

This will be fun.

I power walk over to her, and it’s only when I get close that I realize what this is about: Lucie. Missing girl number eleven.

“How do you not know? She was your friend!” Hazel says.

The three girls look at each other.

“What’s going on?” I ask Hazel, stopping beside her and smiling at the girls who look a little scared of my socially awkward friend.

Hazel’s head tilts in my direction. “Lucie’s friends don’t know why she left or where she’s gone.”

“Everyone wants to get out of this hellish town,” the one in the middle shoots back, firing one impressive death glare at us.

Hazel might be a little blunt, but she’s my friend. “Still weird, though. I mean, she was your friend and you had no idea that she was going to take off?” I say.

They turn their attention to me, and the girl in the middle, the spokesperson for the group apparently, huffs. “Get out of our business. You don’t know Lucie, so save your opinions.”

“I’m not judging you, but who runs away without telling a single person where they’re going? Or at least leaving a hint?”

“Well, obviously people who don’t want to be found, like Lucie.”

I raise my palms. “Okay. We were just curious.”

“Well, don’t be. This has nothing to do with you,” the girl snaps. She walks off first, and the other two follow like good little puppets.

I turn to Hazel. “What was that about?”

Shrugging, she raises her eyes to me. “I overheard them talking about Lucie, saying she hadn’t replied to their texts.”

“And you couldn’t help yourself?”

She turns her nose up. “I think it’s a disease.”