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This uide to follow and who set us up in our first homes, his name was Malcol you now, John, is that I believe Saht; I believe his father was abducted For Sam’s sake, I can only hope he’s still alive And if Sam’s still with you, I ask that you tell hi it

Beco and powerful and never forget for athe way Be noble, confident, and brave Live with the sanity and valor that you inherited from your father, and trust in your heart and your will, as Lorien trusts in it still to this day Never lose faith in yourself, and never lose hope; remember, even when this world throws its worst and then turns its back, there is still always hope

And I’m certain, someday, you’ll make it back home

With love,

Your Friend and Cêpan,

-H

Blood pounds in my ears; and despite what Henri has written, I know in my heart that if we’d left Paradise when he’d wanted to, then he’d still be alive We’d still be together He came to the school to save me, because it was his duty to, and because he loved one

I take a deep breath, wipe my face with the back of , Sa the second floor, even when Six and I offered to take it instead I go up the stairs now and knock on his door I enter and flip his bedside lahtstand Sam stirs

"Sam? Hey, Sam Sorry to wake you up, but there’s soets his attention and he pulls off the blanket "Tell et mad I want you to know that I had no idea of any of what I’m about to tell you until just now And whatever Henri’s reasons were for not telling you to your face, you have to forgive him"

He scoots up the mattress until his back rests on the headboard "Damn, John Tell me already"

"Promise me"

"Fine, I promise"

I hand him the letter "I should have read it sooner, Sam I’m really sorry I didn’t"

I leave the rooive him the privacy he deserves I’ how a person will accept the answer to the question they’ve asked most of their life, the question that’s haunted them

I walk down the stairs and slip out the back door with Bernie Kosar, who runs into the forest I sit on the top of a picnic table I can see my breath in the cool February air Darkness is pushed to the west, while the ht bleeds in from the east I stare up at the half- at it, or if any of the othersit Me and the others, the five still alive, are meant to assume the roles of the Elders I still don’t entirely understand what that means Then I close my eyes and lift my face towards the sky I stay that way until the door slides open behindto see Sam, but it’s Six She climbs up on the picnic table and sits next to me I offer her a weak smile, but she doesn’t return it

"I heard you walk out here Is everything okay? Did you and Sa?" she asks

"What? No Why?"

"All I know is he’s crying on the couch downstairs and he won’t talk toher "I finally read the letter Henri left behind There’s some stuff about Sam he and I haven’t told you It’s about his dad"

"What about his dad? Everything okay?"

I turn my body so our knees touch "Listen When I met Sam in school he was pretty obsessed with the disappearance of his dad, who just didn’t corocery store one day They found his truck and his glasses on the ground next to the truck You know those glasses that you see hi around all the time?"

Six turns to look inside the back door "Wait Those are his dad’s?"

"Yeah And so the deal is that Sam is pretty convinced he was abducted by aliens, which I always thought was crazy; but I, I don’t know, I let hi it because who aain? I aiting for Sam to tell you all this, but I just read Henri’s letter, and you wouldn’t believe as in there"

"What?"

I tell her everything, about Sa a Loric ally who met Henri and me when the ship landed, why Henri moved us to Paradise

Six slides off the top of the picnic table and lands aardly on the bench "That is just so totally random that Sam is here In there"

"I don’t think it is I mean, think about it It just so happens that of all the people in Paradise I’m drawn to for a best friend, it happens to be Sam? I think ere destined to ht"

"Pretty cool that his dad helped us that night, right?"