Danny Hacker.

Chapter 4: Ace.

"Hey Ben!" Ronnie yelled when I walked in the next morning. I rubbed my eyes, not necessarily ready for his loud mouth. "Hmm?" I asked hanging my jacket up and walking towards him. He and the owner of the garage were leaning onto the hood of a car looking at something. "You gotta check this out man it's real weird!" Ronnie said handing me a newspaper. I scanned the paper with my eyes searching for what he was so interested in. "Nice" I said handing it back to him after finding nothing important. "No man!" He said sliding the paper smoothly against the hood. He pointed to an article on the page titled "MISSING" and below it was a picture of a dark haired girl who looked about my age. "Okay?" I said raising my brow to him in confusion. "She looks a lot like Walker!" He said nudging me in the ribs. I took a closer look and he was right, the girl in the photo resembled Walker quite a bit. Her stare was very dark almost devilish however, and Walker never looked like that. I looked at the description.

Description:
17 years old, Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, thin framed, last seen wearing a black sweater with grey jeans and a pair of black boots.

The description didn't list the girl's height or weight or really anything else. It did say her name was Danny Hacker. I was relieved but not too surprised that it didn't say Walker. I gave the girl in the photo one last look. Her eyes looked more black than brown to me and started to give me the creeps. "Yeah it does look like her a little." I said pushing the paper back to Ronnie. "You fellas think it really is her?" Bob Dennley (the owner) asked with a slightly spooked face. "There ain't no way." Ronnie replied chuckling. "Look here, The name's different. Walker has them light blue lookers while this chick's got brown. Walker's a Blondie and this one ain't. And there's some slight differences between their faces. Plus ain't ever seen that girl where anything other than the colors of the rainbow!" He added laughing to himself and shaking his head. "I s'pose you're right" bob said laughing too "sure does look like her though" he added before walking into his shop which connected to the garage. "Yup. Definitely not her". I said folding the paper into a roll.
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That night I struggled falling asleep. That girl really did look like Walker. And her hair was about the same color as Walker's roots.. She wasn't a natural blonde like Ronnie was saying. But she did have bright blue eyes unlike the missing girl and they definitely did have subtle differences in their faces. I decided it wasn't worth worrying about and let myself doze off.
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The next day, Walker didn't show up to school. I assumed she was just sick or something so I didn't think about it. That is, until she was absent again the following day, then the next then before I knew it she didn't show up the entire week. She must just have a really bad bug I thought to myself. I went straight home after school, collapsed onto my bed, and rested my arm over my eyes, blocking the light from my window. My mom walked in a few minutes later and interrupted my peace and quiet. "I need you to run down to the pharmacy again Ben." She said causing me to groan and sit up. "Mom I literally just wen—'' I was just about to finish my sentence but I looked into my moms exhausted eyes, sighed and nodded at her. She sighed with relief, thanked me and kissed me on the forehead before walking to her bedroom. That woman and her pills. You should see her bathroom cabinet. You probably wouldn't even be able to open the door without the overflowing amount of orange medicine bottles erupting off of the shelves. Sometimes it worries me that she has a whole pharmacy in her bathroom, but I'd rather her be happy than miserable.
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When I got into the pharmacy I didn't see anyone in there and it was quiet. I usually liked the quiet but pharmacy's are already creepy as is. As I walked towards the desk I saw a blonde girl in mom jeans and a white crop tank top standing at the desk speaking to the pharmacist. I new immediately it was Walker because I recognized her shoes and jeans. It looked like her roots at been fixed because I didn't see any brunette at all. "Thank you! Have a wonderful day!" The pharmacist said smiling at Walker. "Next!" She called motioning for me to move forward. When Walker turned around, she smiled at me as if she was excited to see me. I noticed right away there were slight dark circles below her eyes and she looked a little worn down but otherwise completely normal. I smiled as she walked past me holding a prescription bag. The pharmacist knows me because of my mom, we come here quite a bit. Her name was Nancy Plum and when I was little I thought it was funny because she looked a bit like a plum. "Ben it's so good to see you!" She said "you here for the usual?" She added sweetly. "Yes ma'am." I responded politely. After she rang me up she said "hey, say hello to your momma for me I haven't seen her in ages!" I smiled and nodded and walked out in a hurry. I really wanted to catch up with Walker since I hadn't seen her in so long. But to my surprise she waited for me outside by her bike. "Where's your cycle, Ace?" She asked while untangling the cord that held her bike to the bike rack. "I don't have one.." I said quietly wishing I did have one. "Oh well I'll walk with you then" she replied with a perky smile. I nodded but didn't say anything. After a few seconds of silence I looked at her and raised my brow in confusion, just realizing something she had said a moment ago. She looked back at me catching my confused look. "What?" She asked smiling. I looked down and chuckled for a moment shaking my head, then I looked back at her. "Ace?" I asked still slightly chuckling. "Yeah Ace, like excellent ya know? Like you're a super hip, awesome, cool, interesting, supreme, excellent person." She said giggling.
I laughed at her response then shook my head again and smiled. "Ace." I repeated.