When he awoke, it was cold. Nobody sat in the seat beside him. He didn't have to turn his head to look. He could tell by the lack of radiating

body heat

. The full moon shined as bright as that final image right before he dozed off.

Jack was probably outside. Pissing or something. That was what Alan's brain thought. But the explanation didn't sit right in his gut. It was like he could feel that he was alone. There was nobody there in that middle school parking lot besides him. It was a scary thought. Like something bad could've happened while he was asleep.

He checked his phone. No new texts. Nothing from Imogen or Jack. He texted Jack but immediately saw a red exclamation point. Unreachable. Alan sat straighter. Straightened out the car seat as well. Went to his and Aaron's conversation. "Hey is Jack with you?"

Only a few seconds. "No. Where you two at?"

"at the middle scool." So Jack must be here Alan thought. He opened the door and half stood out of the car.

He missed the sound of bugs screeching into the wind. Summer would be here soon. This was the first time he thought this in December. It wasn't even the new year and here he was chasing summer.

"Jack?" he called out into the darkness. He couldn't see Jack or anyone. Couldn't hear anything either. The first instinct was to walk around to look for him. Instead he got back into the car and texted Aaron.

"You should come to the middle school parking lot. I actually fell asleep and now Jack's not in the car. Come help look for him."

"Okay!"

It was probably nothing. Jack was probably walking around the school or something smoking a cigarette. Alan kept saying this to himself, but he had a bad feeling about this. Aaron couldn't arrive soon enough.