Summer reading post 3

    "We walked across the dorm circle to the gym. I sported baggy jeans, a sweatshirt with no shirt underneath, and a bad case of bedhead. All the teachers were in the dorm circle knocking on doors, but I didn't see Dr. Hyde. I imagined him lying dead in his house, wondered who had found him, how they even knew he was missing before he failed to show up for class. "I don't see Dr. Hyde," I told the Colonel. "Poor bastard." The gym was half full by the time we arrived. A podium had been set up in the middle of the basketball court, close to the bleachers. I sat in the second row, with the Colonel directly in front of me. My thoughts were split between sadness for Dr. Hyde and excitement about Alaska, remembering the up-close sight of her mouth whispering, "To be continued?" And it did not occur to me—not even when Dr. Hyde shuffled into the gym, taking tiny, slow steps toward the Colonel and me. I tapped the Colonel on the shoulder and said, "Hyde's here," and the Colonel said, "Oh shit," and I said, "What?" and he said, "Where's Alaska?" and I said, "No," and he said, "Pudge, is she here or not?" and then we both stood up and scanned the faces in the gym. The Eagle walked up to the podium and said, "Is everyone here?" "No," I said to him. "Alaska isn't here." The Eagle looked down. "Is everyone else here?" "Alaska isn't here!" "Okay, Miles. Thank you." "We can't start without Alaska. " (page 70)

    Pudge and the colonel are found by the headmaster of the school and he tells them to go to the gym for an announcement. Alaska doesn't seem to be there.