Take Me With You When You Go

lt;b>Jennifer Niven is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of All the Bright Places, Holding Up the Universe, and Breathless. Her books have been translated in over 75 languages, and have won literary awards around the world. When she isn't working on multiple book and TV projects, Jennifer also oversees Germ, a literary web magazine for high school age and beyond. Jennifer divides her time between coastal Georgia and Paris. Find her at jenniferniven.com and on social.

David Levithan's many acclaimed novels include Someday, Another Day, Every Day, Two Boys Kissing, and Boy Meets Boy. His bestselling collaborations include Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and the Dash & Lily series (both written with Rachel Cohn) as well as Will Grayson, Will Grayson (written with John Green). In 2016, David was named the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his contribution to YA literature. You can learn more about him at davidlevithan.com and follow him on Twitter at @loversdiction.

Subject: You. Missing.

From: e89898989@ymail.com

To: b98989898@ymail.com

Date: Mon 25 Mar 12:12 EST

Dear Bea,

I am not mad at you. I don t blame you. But I do think you owe me an explanation.

I know you re gone. We all know you re gone. I think from the moment Mom went into your room and found it the way you left it, we knew. What an exquisite fuck you to her and Darren--a perfectly made bed. Like it had never been slept in. Like you d never been here at all. How many times have they yelled at you to make that bed? How many times have you refused? (Hint: The answer to both questions is the same number.) And now: You left everything smooth and blank.

No note. No word.

I know. I looked.

I wasn t the one who found your room like that. I was sitting at the kitchen table, trying to eat cereal in a way that wouldn t annoy Darren. Suddenly Mom was screaming your name. Again and again, angry at first, then something else--maybe ten percent scared. (It maxed out there, about ten percent.) I ll admit I didn t think much of it, since no morning would be complete without you two fighting. Darren didn t look up from his toast either. But then Mom came storming into the kitchen and launched right into me--Where is your sister? Tell me right now where she is.

If I were you, I would have responded with something like How the fuck should I know? or Isn t it a little early for this shit, Mom? But it s a well-established fact that I am not you, so immediately I was like, I don t know I don t know I don t know--what s going onnnnnnn? Sounding guilty as I tried so hard to sound innocent. Then she turned to Darren and was like, She s gone, and he was like, How the hell can she be gone?

As an answer, we took a family trip up to your room. That s when I saw your bed and thought, Oh, wow. She s taken off.

I wasn t going to say anything more than that, but they saw me looking around and Darren was on me in a flash, asking what was missing. I pointed out that your backpack wasn t anywhere in sight, and that your schoolbooks were now stacked next to your garbage pail. (Nice touch.) Also, the biggest shock, your phone was abandoned on your dresser. Presumably so we couldn t use it to track you.

Mom and Darren acted like insider knowledge was required to make this observation, so the interrogation resumed. I didn t crack, though. Or wait--I guess I did crack. But they quickly saw there wasn t anything behind the crack. You d left me empty too.

They might have kept on me--there wasn t anything else for them to do, or at least nothing else that was occurring to them--but at that moment we were jolted by a honk outside. And I ll admit--even though it didn t really surprise me to find you were gone, it surprised the heck out of me to have Joe in front of our house, coming to pick you up. Because that meant you d left him too.

I probably don t need to describe the ambush that followed. Darren dragging poor Joe out of the car, into the kitchen. Sitting him down, asking him hundreds of questions. And Joe sitting there, it dawning on him that his girlfriend has vanished. You are his life, Bea. You know that. And of all people, Darren was telling him that his life had walked out the door. Buh-bye.

Even though Darren yelled at Joe to look at him, only him, Joe kept looking over to me, begging me to tell him this wasn t really happening, that I had a secret message from you, the coordinates of a meeting place where you d be waiting.

All I could do was shake my head.

Eventually, Mom and Darren were sat