Vanished by E. E. Cooper Page A

started to grow and I added some larger sticks. My fingers loosened up in the heat .
    â€œSo, do you guys go camping every summer?” Beth held her hands out to warm them .
    â€œNope. We only made it three days before my brother quit and my parents remembered that they’re basically allergic to everything that lives outdoors.” I shrugged and pointed at the now roaring campfire. “At least I got some use out of those classes.”
    Beth passed me the bottle after taking a swig. “Handy skill to have. I’m totally going to keep you around if there’s a zombie apocalypse.”
    I felt absurdly proud. I didn’t know what it said about me that I wanted a brain-eating undead end-of-the-world event to happen just so Beth could find me useful and want me around .
    Spending time with Beth was random. There never seemed to be any sort of plan; she would just show up at my house and ask if I wanted to go somewhere. If I invited her to do something, she would either say she was busy or invite Britney to join us. Time with her alone was on her terms or not at all .
    I took a sip of the bourbon and tried not to spit it right back out. It was like liquid smoke, burning as it went down. I’d had beer at a few parties, but bourbon was so different it didn’t seem possible that they could both be in the alcohol family .
    â€œThanks for coming with me. I had to get out of the house. My mom is in a fighting mood.” Beth tossed a stick in the blaze.I could tell it was too damp to burn well, but didn’t stop her .
    â€œDid you guys always have trouble getting along?”
    â€œNo. Yes.” She laughed. “How’s that for exact? We never got along as well as I did with my dad. I was a daddy’s girl. My brother was a total momma’s boy. I think she resents me because she lost her half of the deal.”
    The smoke from the fire was making my eyes water. I wanted to say something that would make it better, but I didn’t have any idea what that would be .
    â€œI know she wishes I’d been the one to die instead of Lucas.”
    Whatever I’d been about to say turned to ash in my mouth. My heart winced .
    â€œI can’t blame her. You never met Lucas, but he was an amazing kid. He had this giggle that made you laugh, even at his stupid knock-knock jokes. And he was mischievous but insanely cuddly. The thing is that he died when he was really young, right? So he never had a chance to screw up. He never snuck out of the house or brought home a C in math. He never stole liquor from my parents or put a dent in the car. He’s frozen at sort of this perfect stage, whereas I just keep on disappointing my parents over and over. I don’t think I’m that bad, but I’ll never be as good as he was, or as good as she imagines he would have been. We’re sorta doomed.”
    I wanted to reach over and hug Beth, fold her into my arms and keep her safe from anyone trying to hurt her. I shifted on the log, trying to figure out if it would be okay or just weird. She wasn’t the superhuggy kind of friend likeBrit. Beth hardly ever touched me .
    â€œThings are so bad I told my mom I thought our family should see someone. She told me there wasn’t anything wrong with her.”
    â€œI saw a psychiatrist for a while,” I said. The bourbon was burning a hole in the center of my chest. It was like the Iron Man power pack. I took another sip to buy some time. I didn’t know why I’d admitted that .
    Beth nudged me with her elbow. “You don’t have to look like you’re confessing to murder. It’s no big deal.”
    â€œI get anxious,” I explained, just in case she was imagining something worse. Or something less. The tip of my shoe made a pattern in the sand. “I worry about stuff. Like if someone is late, I start thinking about how they might have been in an accident, and then I picture it. How the car would look