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close to here," I said.
    "Shush!" Shaunee said.
    "We know!" Erin said.
    "So far there are no leads as to why he was in the Woodward Park area. Chris's mother said she didn't even know her son knew the way to Woodward Park, she's never known him to go there before. Mrs. Ford also said that she expected him home right after football practice. He has now been missing for more than twenty-four hours. If anyone has any information that might help the police locate Chris, please call Crime Stoppers. You may remain anonymous.”
    Chera went on to another story and everyone unfroze. "So, you know him?" Shaunee asked.
    "Yeah, but not real well. I mean, he's one of Union's star running backs and when I was kinda sorta dating Heath—you guys know he's Broken Arrow's quarterback?”
    They nodded impatiently.
    "Well, he used to drag me to parties with him, and all the football jocks knew each other, so Chris and his cousin Jon were at a bunch of them. Rumor has it they've graduated from getting trashed on cheap beer to getting trashed on cheap beer while they pass around nasty joints." I looked at Shaunee, who had been showing an unusual amount of interest in the newscast. "And before you ask, yes, he is as cute in real life as he was in his picture.”
    "Damn shame when something bad happens to a cute brother," Shaunee said, shaking her head sadly.
    "Damn shame when something happens to any cute guy—no matter what color, Twin,” Erin said. "We shouldn't discriminate. Cuteness is cuteness.”
    "You're right, as usual, Twin.”
    "I don't like marijuana,” Stevie Rae piped in. "It smells bad. I tried it once and it made me cough my head off and burned my throat. Plus I got some of the weed in my mouth. It was just nasty.”
    "We don't do ugly," Shaunee said.
    "Yeah, and pot's ugly. Plus it makes you eat for no good reason. It's a shame the hottie football players are into that," Erin said.
    "Makes them less hottie," Shaunee said.
    "Okay, hottie-ness and pot are not really the point,” I said. "I have a bad feeling about this whole disappearance thing.”
    "Oh, no," Stevie Rae said.
    "Well shit," Shaunee said.
    "I really hate it when she gets one of those feelings,” Erin said.

    All any of us could talk about was Chris's disappearance and how bizarre it was that he had last been seen so close to the House of Night. In comparison to a kid being missing, my little drama-trauma with Loren seemed insignificant. I mean, I still wanted to tell at least Stevie Rae about it, but I couldn't seem to concentrate enough on anything but the sucking black feeling that had filled me since I'd seen the news.
    Chris is dead. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to know it. But everything inside me said that the kid would be found, but he'd be found dead.
    We met Damien in the dining hall, and everyone's conversation was centered around Chris and theories about his disappearance, which ranged from the Twins' insistence that "the hottie probably had a fight with his parental units and he's off drinking cheap beer somewhere" to Damien's firm belief that he might have discovered homosexual tendencies and had taken off for New York City to fulfill his dream of being a gay model.
    I didn't have a theory. All I had was a terrible feeling, which I wasn't willing to talk about.
    Naturally, I couldn't eat. My stomach was killing me. Again. "You're picking at your excellent food," Damien said.
    "I'm just not hungry.”
    "That's what you said at lunch.”
    "Okay, well, I'm saying it again!" I snapped, and was instantly sorry when Damien looked hurt and frowned down at his yummy bowl of Vietnamese noodle salad called Bun Cha Gio. The Twins raised one eyebrow each at me, and then went back to focusing on using chopsticks correctly. Stevie Rae just stared at me, silent worry clear on her face.
    "Here. I found this. I have a feeling it's yours.”
    Aphrodite dropped the silver hoop beside my plate. I looked up at her perfect face. It was weirdly expressionless,