SURVIVE THE NIGHT
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turtle necklace and hurry up next to him. “Hey,” I say, nudging him on the shoulder. “Hey,” he says back. Usually his voice is casual, and even a little cocky. Now it sounds strained. I roll my lower lip between my teeth, and silence stretches between us. “So.” I cough awkwardly. “Um, how’s school?” Sam shrugs. His jeans hang low on his hips and his shirt’s a little wrinkled, like he dug it out of the back of his dresser. “Same,” he says. “Any news about James?” I ask. James is Sam’s older brother. He was the one who taught Sam to play guitar, but he’s a meth addict, and he disappeared right before graduating high school. He’s been MIA for a little over a year. Because of him, Sam never touches drugs. He doesn’t even drink. Sam glances up at me. Some of the tightness leaves his jaw. “Nothing new,” he says in a voice that sounds a little more like normal. “Heard he was in California, but who knows?” Sympathy tugs at my chest. “He hasn’t called?” “Once.” Sam pinches the bridge of his nose with two fingers. “It was weird. He didn’t even sound like himself.” I rub my thumb over Myrtle’s shell. Tori Anne, from Mountainside, was a meth addict. She spoke with a lisp because the drug had rotted all her teeth. “I’m sorry,” I say. Sam shakes his head. “Don’t be,” he says. “You didn’t do anything.” Woody calls Sam’s name, and Sam jogs up next to him, leaving me alone. Shana nudges me with her arm. “So cute,” she says. I stare at the back of Sam’s neck, where his hair brushes against his shirt collar. “You never thought so before,” I tell her. Back when we