Free Missing by Francine Pascal

have needed to waste so much time putting themselves and each other through hell. But it had been so hard for Sam to be honest because he had still been with Heather. And Gaia . . . well ...
    She wasn’t really one to express her feelings openly. It always seemed her life was too complicated, too filled with mysterious dark secrets. She was so hard to read....
    â€œMan, I miss her so much,” Sam muttered to himself, shaking his head.
    â€œDude, you’ve got it bad,” Josh said—but his tone was sympathetic.
    â€œLook at heem,” Zolov remarked, making Josh and Mr. Haq his audience. “He ees like loveseeck small poodle dog.”
    Josh laughed. So did Mr. Haq. Even Sam had to smile.
    â€œUh-oh,” Josh suddenly muttered, peering over Sam’s shoulder.
    Sam turned to see what had switched Josh’s mood so instantly. It was Brendan, with a couple of girls Sam had never met before. He knew they were juniors, but that was about it. A twitter of nervousness shot through him. Brendan hadn’t looked at him the same since Mike’s death. In fact, Brendan had avoided him.
    â€œBrendan, what’s up?’ Sam asked, motioning for him to come join them.
    Brendan didn’t smile in return.
    Sam swallowed. He knew exactly what was going on here: Brendan was suspicious. How could he really believe Sam would hurt one of his friends? “Come here,” Sam called.
    â€œNo.” Brendan shook his head.
    Sam sighed. “Why not?”
    â€œI ...don’t want to be seen with you.”
    Now Sam was pissed. “Why the hell not?”
    Brendan didn’t answer. The girls stared at their feet.
    â€œLook, Brendan,” Sam began. “How could you possibly think that I—”
    â€œI know you’ve been acting like a psycho for weeks,” Brendan interrupted. “And that’s what I told them.”
    â€œTold them?” Sam’s pulse picked up a beat. “Told who?”
    â€œAnd I’m transferring to another dorm, Sam,”Brendan stated, leaving the question unanswered, “so find yourself another roommate.” With that, he and the girls turned and walked away.
    Sam’s heart was now pounding full throttle. Suddenly he realized how many faces were turned toward him. Suspicious faces, whispering on a bench, or sitting on the grass, or walking by him at that very moment. Kids were so damn desperate for something juicy to talk about, something to add to their boring lives and infinitely repeated conversations. The news of Sam’s new suspect status must have already spread throughout all of NYU—and probably the rest of the tristate area as well.
    â€œForget him, Sam,” Josh said, flicking Sam’s head with a lighthearted slap. “Any friend who could turn on you so fast is no friend, dude. That kid’s an asshole.”
    San tried to smile, but his lips felt like sandpaper. This was no good. He couldn’t take his eyes off Brendan’s retreating form “I really thought he was . . . I don’t know. He didn’t used to be—”
    â€œForget it, Sam, come on,” Josh said. “It’s your move. Let’s play, poodle boy. Tell me more about Gaia.”
    Sam turned back to the board. He wanted to keep playing, to talk more about Gaia, to do anything to take his mind off Mike Suarez . . . but he couldn’t. Still, at least he had Josh. The guy didn’t act at all like an RA. He acted like a friend. Judging from the way everyone had beenlooking at Sam lately, Josh was fast turning into the only friend he had. And Josh hardly even
knew
him.
    â€œThank you, man,” Sam found himself blurting out.
    Josh grinned, cocking his eyebrow. “For what?”
    â€œFor everything. For hanging out, and for listening to me babble about Gaia, and for not believing the crap those cops were saying about me.”
    â€œYou don’t have to thank me,” Josh replied with a shrug.