If You're Gone Read Online Free

Lizard are exactly friends, so maybe Brad wanted to go to the party with him but didn’t want you to be upset.”
    “Trust me, Brad doesn’t want to go anywhere with Lizard.”
    “Okay, so maybe he just wanted to go, but he knew you couldn't because of your curfew.”
    “No.” I shook my head. “He would have told me.”
    “Well, does he tell you everything?”
    He tells me he loves me.
    “Look, I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” she continued on in a nonchalant voice. “In this town, you can’t get far without someone seeing you. I’m sure he’s around and he has a perfectly good explanation.”
    “You're right,” I said, nodding as I remembered a detail from the night. “We’re going to the drive-in tonight at seven! Although I hope I won’t have to wait that long for answers…”
    A grin spread across Anna’s face and she let out a laugh.
    “What is so funny?”
    She continued to smile. “You do love him.”
    “Yes!” I exclaimed. “What, you didn’t believe me before?”
    ****
    Anna left to go bathing suit shopping with her mom and I hung on her words to ‘not worry’ for about thirty seconds. Of course I'm going to worry. My fingers dialed Brad’s number again and I listened to the single ring before the call was sent to voicemail. I couldn’t decide if I should be more concerned that he didn’t seem to be contacting anyone, or that he hadn’t contacted me .
    “Brad, it’s me again. Please call me,” I said after the beep. “Your parents are worried about you and so am I.” I lowered the phone to end the call before jerking it back towards my mouth. “I love you.”
    I tried not to panic. My mind raced with scenarios that kept Brad from both going home or returning calls, some positive, but mostly negative. I called and texted everyone I could think of who might know where to find him, but the answers were all the same. No one claimed to have seen him since the graduation ceremony. All I wanted was for the phone to buzz and to hear Brad’s voice on the other line, with a logical explanation for his disappearance
    I re-dialed Brad’s home number and Mrs. Lee and I spoke at length about where he might be and what we should do. She said Brad’s truck was still parked in their driveway and showed no signs of being moved since before the graduation ceremony, but we agreed it wasn’t unusual for him to make his way around our sleepy town on foot. She informed me Brad’s dad had called the hospital, the jail, and finally the police, all to no avail. Mr. Lee talked to a detective who encouraged them to be patient and wait for him to come home on his own.
    “Some kids have a little too much fun on graduation night,” he told him.
    We ended our conversation on the promise that we would call each other as soon as we heard from Brad, holding on to the hope he would arrive for our seven o’clock date as planned. I assured her that I'd continue to reach out to our classmates, and she promised to do the same. But there was one phone number I didn’t have, and it was for the one person I had to speak with.
    I drove my mom’s SUV into town, scanning every sidewalk and storefront for a glimpse of Brad as I passed until I came upon the weathered community bulletin board on High Street. Lost dog posters and advertisements for babysitters were tacked and taped onto the wooden board. Stuck in the center I saw a faded car repair ad scrawled in black permanent marker, right where I expected to find it.
     
    Lizard’s Car Repair. Call anytime.
     
    I punched the number into my cell phone and returned to the SUV as I hit send. One ring. Two rings. Just as the third ring began it was suddenly interrupted by an automated voicemail message.
    “The person you are trying to reach has a voice mailbox that has not been set up yet.”
    “So that’s how you’re going to play this, huh?” I said to myself, swiping the screen to end the call. I stared at the phone for a moment before opening a text