Gia Cribbs - The Disappearance Of Sloane Sullivan

I hoped he wasn’t considering it a date.

Sawyer led me to the end of a table where Jason and Livie were already sitting next to each other. Livie slipped her hand out of Jason’s and waved when she saw us.

“So.” Sawyer settled into the seat next to me, across from Jason and Livie, and slid my tray over. “Are you from Tennessee?”

My heart skipped a beat. I had lived in Tennessee. Granted, it had only been for two months, but it hadn’t even been a year since we’d left. Please don’t tell me I have to worry about someone in addition to Jason recognizing me.

“Because you’re the only ten I see ,” Sawyer continued without giving me the chance to reply.

I let out a shaky laugh. I could’ve hugged the person who created such a corny joke right then.

Livie groaned. “At least let her eat before you pile on the pickup lines. They’re hard to take on an empty stomach.”

Sawyer reached over and snatched a piece of pepperoni off Livie’s pizza. “You’re just jealous I found someone new to pick up. Plus, I think Sloane likes them.”

“I think you’re delusional,” Livie fired back. “And I’m actually thrilled you’ve found someone else to practice on.”

Jason leaned across the table toward me, a half smile playing on his lips. “They argue like this all the time. You’ll get used to it.”

It was a look I remembered now too, like the smirk. The one that always made it seem like he was letting me in on a secret.

Jason popped a tomato from his salad into his mouth. “So where are you really from?”

I hesitated, instinct warning me to tell him as little as possible. But this was why Mark created fictional backstories every time we moved.

“Pierre, South Dakota,” I lied.

“Wow,” Livie said. “What’s it like there?”

I bit back a grin. “Cold.” I’d never actually been to South Dakota, but I had lived in four of the six states that bordered it and that much I knew well. I peeked at Jason. “I lived there my whole life though, so I got used to it.”

“You probably didn’t get to see much water,” Sawyer guessed.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “It’s on the Missouri River. And there’s a large lake nearby.” Thank you, internet research.

Sawyer’s light brown eyes brightened. “But have you seen the ocean yet? The beach is so close. Maybe I can show you.”

I glanced down at my plate. I grew up in the Atlantic Ocean, like all the other kids who lived in my beach town on the Jersey Shore. But I hadn’t seen it since I left; I hadn’t even been back to the East Coast since I left. And I wasn’t ready to see it again. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Are you a senior?” Livie asked.

I nodded.

She frowned. “It must’ve been really hard to move this close to graduation. I moved here at the beginning of the school year and it sucked starting my senior year someplace new, even with the First Day Buddy I got.”

“It’s not that bad. My dad got a new job and he had to start right away.”

“But what about your mom?” Livie continued. “I mean, couldn’t you two have stayed in South Dakota for a few more weeks until you graduated and then met your dad out here?”

“I don’t have a mom,” I said.

Sawyer and Livie wore matching shocked expressions but Jason’s eyes were a bit narrowed, more curious than surprised. I pretended not to notice.

“I mean, I have one. I just don’t know where she is.” I stabbed a piece of chicken with my fork. “My parents were only sixteen when they had me. My mom stuck around until I was three but she wanted freedom and parties, not a toddler. So she took off and it’s been just my dad and me ever since.” It was a variation of the story we used every time Mark pretended to be my father.

Livie sat straighter. “Your dad’s been taking care of you by himself since he was nineteen? That’s so sweet.” She fiddled with the edge of Jason’s shirt around his bicep. “We should set him up with your mom.”

I put my fork down. “What?”

“Jason’s parents are divorced and his mom’s the best. She totally needs a sweetheart to sweep her off her feet.”

Disbelief coursed through me. I never would’ve thought it was possible for Jason’s parents to be anything other than fairy-tale happily-ever-after in love. What happened?

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “You know she doesn’t like blind dates.”

“So we’ll have a welcome party for Sloane and her dad,” Livie said. She wrapped her hands around Jason’s arm and scooted closer to him. “I can help your mom cook and she can get to know Sloane’s dad before they go out. Then it won’t be a blind date.”

Even if Mark would’ve gone for that, Jason looked uncomfortable with the idea. And there was no way I was putting the two of them in the same room together. “My dad’s really busy with his new job. It might be a while before he has any free time.”

Livie’s shoulders fell. “Oh.”

Jason gave me a grateful smile. “I think you came at the perfect time. All the senior stuff is about to start.”

“That’s right,” Sawyer agreed. He bumped my shoulder with his own. “Tomorrow’s the senior scavenger hunt. Every team has to get pictures of different things around school and the team that completes their list the fastest gets to pick the music that plays when we march out of graduation.”

I inched my chair away from his. “Really? You can pick any song?”

Jason nodded. “As long as it doesn’t have curse words, anything goes.” He turned to Sawyer. “Remember last year was that continuous loop of the theme song to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood ?”

“If we win we should pick ‘Fight for Your Right’ by the Beastie Boys,” Sawyer declared.

Jason pointed his fork at Sawyer. “Can’t go wrong with a classic.”

“Come on!” Livie whined. “Don’t Sloane and I get a say?”

I choked on a bite of chicken. “You want me on your team?” I’d already been plotting ways to avoid the whole thing.

“It’s part of your First Day Buddy experience. Mrs. Zalinsky was adamant about me including you on my team.”

Damn Mrs. Zalinsky and her thoughtfulness. “You really don’t have to—”

“Nope,” Sawyer interrupted. “There’s no getting out of it. You have to be on our team.” He patted my arm like he was comforting a confused senior citizen. “You’re part of the club.”

I opened my mouth then closed it, trying to figure out where he was going with this. “What club?”

Sawyer widened his ever-present grin. “You are Sloane Sullivan , right?”

My heart stuttered, but I plastered on a teasing smile. “Who else would I be?”

Jason’s eyes lit up as he held my gaze. “Two first names,” he explained.

I tore my eyes away from Jason to study Sawyer and Livie. “Wait. Do all of you have two first names?”

Livie pointed as she identified each of them. “Jason Thomas, Sawyer James, and Liv Dawson.”

Leave it to Jason to find a whole club. “Okay, but does Sullivan really count as a first name?”

Jason nodded. “It was my grandpa’s first name, remember?”

Memories I hadn’t thought of in years danced in my head: Jason’s grandpa dressed like Santa every Christmas, the way he’d pull quarters from behind my ear, going to his funeral when we were nine. My pulse raced. Is he asking if I remember all that?

“I said that when I saw your schedule this morning,” Jason continued.

I blew out a silent breath.

“There’s that cute actor from the FBI show with the tattoos. His first name is Sullivan,” Livie added, unaware of my momentary panic. “Oh, and the singer for some punk band I’ve never heard of before. Some girls were talking about him in class the other day.”