The Vanishing of Hall Abrams

prologue part 2

prologue part 2

There's something off. Maybe it's the fact that I haven't seen Hall the entire time this party's been going on, or maybe it's just me. I don't know. Ashe said that she saw Hall just before she came to get me, but that's about it. I asked some people if they saw Hall, but they all said no.

Suddenly, I notice that someone's snapping their fingers in front of me. I blink, and I'm brought back to reality. I wasn't even aware that I was drifting off. I look at who the owner of those fingers were, and find out that its Noah. "Hey," I say.

"Dude," He replies. "What's with you? Look around! The party's going on around you and here you are on a bench sipping on goddamned water!"

I roll my eyes. "Noah, aren't you even curious about where Hall is? I asked around, but no one saw him except for Ashe."

"So?" He asks, mimicking me. "Look, Hall's probably off in the woods getting it on with a random chick. Doesn't he always do that?"

"I guess... but he's been gone since we got here." I say, standing up. I put down the plastic cup filled with water. "But I guess you're right. We should still keep an eye out for him. I've got this really bad feeling."

Noah grins, and pats me on the shoulder. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" He hands me his oddly stereotypical red solo cup with what smells like beer. "Drink up!"

I look at it warily, but shrug. We are graduating, after all. It can't hurt. Generally, I stay away from alcohol. That's Hall and Noah's thing. But maybe just one can't hurt. After all, if Noah and Hall can drink it like it's water, then I can do it too. I tip back my head, and gulp the beer in one gulp. Almost immediately, my throat feels like it's on fire. My stomach has a slight burn, and I almost gag.

Noah raises an eyebrow at me. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that I'm not used to drinking beer. You and Hall were always the alcoholics between the three of us." I say, half-jokingly. I'm about to make a joke when someone crashes into Noah. He's thrown off-balance, and reflexively grabs my hand for support. I'm caught unaware, so the three of us hit the ground.

The taste of earth fills my mouth. Great. Liquid fire and earth are so delicious. I spit out the dirt that's in my mouth, and try to get up. I hear Noah cursing like a sailor beside me, while the girl is apologizing furiously. When I get on my feet, I brush off the dirt that's on me. "Well, that was a surprise." I say, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Jude!" The girl, who I recognize to be Adeline Burton, gushes. "It wasn't my fault, someone ran into me and I lost my balance. I fell into Noah, and I guess he grabbed you."

"No kidding." Noah practically growls, as he gets up.

Adeline looks like she's about to cry, so I decide to take control of the situation. "Look," I say, stepping forward to put myself in between Noah and her, "Just go. Besides, no harm no foul, right?"

Noah's my best friend, but I know that even he isn't made out of gold. Noah's really hotheaded, but he's generally friendly to everyone. But there was a time when I saw Noah become the worst form of him. He and his girlfriend at that time were having this fight at my house; I forgot what it was about. The girl said something that was totally out of line, but Noah took it personally. The next thing I knew, Noah had slapped her hard. Hall was there too, but he kept pushing Noah to do what he felt right.

Thankfully, I managed to stop him before he did something totally stupid. But after that, I sort of became Noah's guardian. I try to keep him out of trouble, as best I can. Right now, I can feel Noah's petty anger radiating from him, so I have to stop him.