Not Yet Alone

Chapter 15

The other day when I went to take a shower, I noticed the shampoo wasn't in there like it was supposed to be.

Certain that some fool had taken it out, I went on a huge hunt for the missing shampoo bottle. After searching for it for like an hour and not being able to find it, I decided to just do without.

Once I was in the shower, I saw the missing shampoo bottle. It had just fallen down and was hidden by the shower curtain.

If I had not made my own assumption and thought things through, I would have saved myself from wasting so much time looking for the very thing that was there the whole time.

****

The next morning, Austin didn't knock on the door to see if I needed a ride. He just obnoxiously started honking his horn for me.

I came out to tell him that I would be driving myself, but I once I was out there, I realized it would be easier to just ride with him than explain why I didn't want a ride. I can't imagine Austin's response if I said I didn't want to be with him just because I can't read his mind and it scared me.

"You hung up on me last night." Austin stated as I got into his car.

"Naw, we just had a bad connection." Yup, I hung up on him. Should I have lied about it? Probably not.

"Taylor, I'm not stupid." Austin wasn't buying the whole 'bad connection' thing.

"Okay, sorry I hung up on you." I said. "You just surprised me."

"I knew you wouldn't believe me. I tried to warn you, but you insisted." Austin shook his messy blonde hair in a really cute way.

"Austin, I never said I didn't believe you. What you said just surprised me, that's all." I said in an attempt to calm him down.

"Oh," Austin glanced out his window as my statement sunk in. "Hey, are we still getting together at your house after school to work on our case?"

Uh, can I just skip out on that? I'm not too thrilled about finding The Providence. "I suppose," I said reluctantly. "Oh, wait, we can't meet at my house today."

"May I ask why?"

"My sister, Abby, is going to be there today. You don't want to meet her." I replied.

"Why not? Is she like your mom?" Austin inquired.

"Actually, if you like having a girl on your lap, stoking your hair and flirting with you, we may as well just meet at my house as planned."

"Your sister does that? I've been hoping you would do that ever since we first started hanging out." Austin exclaimed. After seeing my unhappy face, he changed his mind. "Just kidding. Why don't we go to Starbucks instead?"

"Fine." I huffed. I would actually prefer not trying to find The Providence at all.

"You aren't mad at me, are you?" I shook my head no in response, but Austin was already reaching towards the back seat. "Here, take this a token of my sorryness." He produced another bottle of Mountain Dew.

"You need to stop getting me Mountain Dew, and sorryness isn't a word." I said.

"I know." He smiled. "But I've got a whole box for you in the back. You may as well drink it up."

****

 "What about if we sent The Providence a virus?"

"Nope, that would just prevent The Providence from helping people." I shook my head. This is ridiculous. "Besides, that wouldn't actually help us find The Providence."