Vanished (23 page)

I walked with her down the hall, our arms linked like we were headed down the yellow brick road together. She looked over her shoulder to make sure we were alone. “God, it's exhausting. All these people want something from me. I'm just trying to get my life back, you know?” She sighed like it was all too much.

“You're a celebrity,” I told her. “Everyone's going to want a piece of you.”

There was a quick twitch at her lips. “Lifetime called my parents. There's a producer there who wants to do a movie of the week about my story. About how I was distraught and Beth saved me, and then I thought I was her, and how eventually I found the courage to fight and get my own memories back. There have been some talk shows in touch too.”

“Wow. A movie.”

“My mom says it's tacky.” Britney tossed her hair. “I don't want to exploit what happened, especially not Beth's death. I don't want to make it into some kind of circus.”

“But your story could really help people,” I urged. The more often she told her story, the more likely it was she would mess up. Be inconsistent. Let something slide. “Maybe you should even think about writing a book, or doing an article, maybe for
People
magazine or something. It's important for you to share.” I pulled out the big guns. “Beth would want you to.”

She glanced at me out of the side of her eyes. “You think?” I nodded. She pulled me over to the lockers so we were out of the rush. “I thought maybe you were mad at me,” Brit said. “At the hospital you seemed, you know, weird. Then you didn't call the last couple days or anything.”

I let myself tear up, just a bit, not too much. “I am so sorry. I was being horrible. All I can say is that I had sensory overload. I thought you were dead, and then you were back, and that meant Beth was dead.” I stared down at my shoes, like I couldn't meet her eyes.

“Of course.” She squeezed my arm. “Trust me, I know all about sensory overload. I feel like I've been on some kind of emotional roller coaster.”

“But you had real trauma. I don't have an excuse.” I took a deep breath. “It's just, when you were writing to me, I really thought you were Beth.” I needed her to trust me. That meant I had to be vulnerable. “There's a secret I need to tell you.”

Brit's mouth pinched. “Sure.”

“Beth and I . . . we were a thing. Nothing official, of course. And I still had Zach. But there was something between us, once or twice. Whatever it was.”

Brit shifted her weight, her eyes widening. She hadn't seen that coming. It probably made her wonder what else she'd missed.

Almost instantly I could see her pulling herself back together, tucking in the rough edges, figuring out how she
could use this knowledge to her advantage. There was no way she'd admit she hadn't known. “I know,” Brit lied. “Beth told me. I was happy for you guys.”

I let out a breath. “I'm glad you already knew. I didn't want any secrets between us.” I made myself smile. “If I was acting weird, it's just because realizing Beth was dead was like losing her all over again. It's still hard.”

“Beth was amazing, and you and I are never going to forget her,” Brit vowed.

I hugged her. “I know we won't.”

The bell rang and Brit sighed like school was already boring her. “I should go. All I need is to be marked late.”

As if we didn't both know that the teachers would never mark her down. They'd likely be falling all over themselves to make sure she didn't have to make up too much work. “I'll see you at lunch.”

Brit reached out and touched my elbow. “You know, it means the world to me to have you in my corner.” Her eyes locked with mine. “If I didn't know I could trust you, I don't know what I would do.”

My mouth was too dry to answer so I nodded. As I did, a flash of blue at her neckline caught my eye. Her hand reached up and touched the small blue teacup hanging on a thin chain. My breath seized in my chest. I watched her disappear down the hall.

I have a confession to make. I always read the acknowledgments
first when I get a new book. I want an inside peek on how an idea became an entire novel. Here's your behind-the-scenes view.

I first have to thank Rachel Coyne for getting me into this book and my new agent, Barbara Poelle, for making sure I crossed the finish line.

To say this book wouldn't have existed without the amazing editorial support of Anica Mrose Rissi and her assistant, Alex Arnold, is not an understatement. They cajoled, cheered, pushed, and pulled until this book was completed. When I was certain I'd written myself into an impossibly deep rabbit hole they were there to help me through. I can't thank them enough.

Writing a book is a fairly solo activity, but publishing requires a team. The group at HarperCollins is amazing. Special thanks go to Katherine Tegen for her fearless
leadership, Joel Tippie with Amy Ryan and Barb Fitzsimmons for the amazing cover. Ro Romanello, Lauren Flower, Alana Whitman, and Onalee Smith for their support in spreading the word, and copy editors Janet Robbins and Bethany Reis for saving me from misused commas and other random errors. For everyone else at HarperCollins that I am forgetting, I owe you cupcakes.

I am indebted to friends and family who support me in my desire to make things up for a living. Special thanks to those who did some early reading of this manuscript and also talked me off the ledge as needed: Jennifer Ochoa, Joelle Anthony, Jamie Hillegonds, Terra Elan McVoy, Joanne Levy, and Serena Robar.

My dog, Cairo, made sure I came out for fresh air occasionally and loved me even on the days when the writing went badly. Never underestimate the power of a dog to make everything seem okay.

Most of all, thanks go to Bob. There is no one else I would rather be on this adventure with than you.

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E. E. COOPER
lives in Vancouver with her husband and a very spoiled dog. This is her first novel.
eecooper.com

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Cover art and design © 2015 by Joel Tippie

Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

VANISHED
. Copyright © 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cooper, E. E.

  Vanished / E. E. Cooper. — First edition.

    pages  cm

  Summary: “A teen girl must race to solve the mystery left behind in the wake of one friend's disappearance and the suicide of another”— Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-0-06-229390-9 (hardcover)

  EPub Edition © April 2015 ISBN 9780062293893

  [1. Friendship—Fiction. 2. Missing children—Fiction. 3. Mystery and detective stories.]  I. Title.

15  16  17  18  19     
PC
/
RRDH
     10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

FIRST EDITION