Page 9 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

“Some of us don't retain entire textbooks after looking at them once.”

“Neither do I.”

“Shut up.”

They entered the classroom together. Professor Adler's Abnormal Psychology seminar met in one of Whitmore's smaller lecture rooms, which meant twenty-six students had been given forty seats and somehow still managed to sit directly beside one another. Elliot took his usual place near the center. Claire dropped into the chair beside him.

“Did you hear about Mason?”

Elliot stopped removing his notebook from his bag. Only for a fraction of a second.

“What about him?”

“Mason Kerr.”

“I know who Mason is.”

“Apparently he disappeared.”

Elliot looked at her. Claire's expression had changed. The exhaustion remained, but something uneasy sat beneath it now.

“What do you mean disappeared?”

“Nobody can find him.”

“When?”

“Saturday.”

Elliot frowned.

“I saw him Saturday.”

Claire turned toward him.

“You did?”

“At the party.”

“So did half the university.”

“Then I'm probably not particularly helpful.”

“He never went home.”

Professor Adler entered at the front of the room. Conversation around them gradually quieted. Elliot lowered his voice.

“How do you know?”

“Lena told me. Tyler reported him missing yesterday. His parents came to Bellweather last night.”

Something unpleasant moved across Claire's face.

“His mom's apparently losing her shit.”

Elliot looked down at his coffee. A small crescent of foam clung to the opening in the lid.

“Maybe he went somewhere.”