Deadlines

Deadlines: Two

Chapter Two: EDITED.

Personally, I think Mom is over reacting. Our house was flooded with people: policemen, investigators, and nosy neighbors. I was stuck on the couch with Grandma while Mom and Dad were in the kitchen with some officers. Jill was upstairs in her room probably still making endless phone calls to Dustin's phone. I could hear Mom bawling her eyes out from here, Dad was most likely the only think keeping her standing. I'm mentally cursing Dustin. How could he be so stupid? I know what him and his friends do under the pier. They get drunk, smoke a shit ton of weed, and act like idiots. I mean, who gets drunk on a Thursday night?

It's rounding six in the morning and the sun is starting to rise. Hopefully Mom and Dad won't make me go to school. I haven't slept all night, and it'll be a great excuse to avoid Aaron. "I'm going to see how your mother's doing," Grandma tells me as she pats me on the shoulder and heads for the kitchen.

One of the officers makes his way over to me, taking the seat the Grandma has just left. "Detective Michaels," he offers his hand for me to shake, and I do. "I'm the head detective on your brother's case," he tells me. "Miss. King, is it okay if I ask you a few questions?"

"It's Payton," I tell him and he nods.

"Alright, Payton," he sigh and takes out his notepad, pulling a pen from his suit coat pocket. "I know this may be a bit difficult for you," I roll my eyes and Detective Michaels frowns. "Do you have any idea where your brother might be? Did he ever talk about running away? Does he have any enemies?"

I let out a short laugh. "Why would he have to run away? He's eighteen, he can leave if he wants. He's in high school, he's a popular guy, so of course other guys probably hate him. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet, aren't you supposed to wait twenty four hours before someone is considered a missing person?" Detective Michaels stays quiet, staring me down. "It doesn't even matter. Dustin's going to come waltzing in the door in a few minutes and Mom and Dad are going to kick his ass for making them worry. End of story."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because," I start, "Dustin is an asshole who's always looking for attention. He craves it. He thinks life is all fun and games. He's a teenage high school boy, Detective. What do you think idiot teenage high school boys do?" He stays quiet so I go on. "Him and his other idiot high school boy friends go out under the pier a lot. They drink and stuff. Dustin probably got so wasted he didn't want to come home. If you asked me, I'd say he probably passed out on the beach somewhere."

Detective Michaels flips his notepad closed and smiles at me. "Thank you, Payton." He nods and walks away. Dustin will probably kill me when he gets home, for tattling on him to a cop.

Jillian shuffled into the room and flopped down on the couch, right next to me. "Do you think Dustin's okay?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Jilly Bean, Dustin's fine. He's just being an idiot." I ran my fingers through her hair, tugging a bit when I hit knots.

"He's never this idiotic though," she sighs.

"Well," I tell her, "We'll make him a card congratulating him on his new high level of idiocy."

"Mom's really worried. Even Dad." I didn't say anything. "What if he really did run away?"

I ripped my hands from Jill's hair and made her sit up straight. "Jillian, don't you dare." I shot at her. She frowned. "Dustin wouldn't do that. He's just being an asshole attention seeker who gets a thrill out of being an idiot."

"You keep calling him an idiot, but you're worried, too." She stands and tells me. "You know you are. You're just using your anger toward him as a façade."