Dancing In The Dark

5

Ro Blake

The remainder of the day went pretty smoothly and relaxing. I finally found a way to control my frustrations over the annoyingly sexy detective: by wolfing down a whole bag of salty potato chips dipped in cookie dough ice cream.

Lucas stayed with me a while longer than Harry, and we just talked things through. Now finally, he trusts me enough and isn't too worried about Harry. I can tell Harry sort of makes him paranoid; he randomly started asking me to promise I'd never leave him for anyone.

But deep inside, being the sweet, protective guy he is, I know he doesn't want to lose me to a guy who's four years older.

You better not mess up, Ro!

Ever since Harry started the investigation, mom was more relaxed and had some hope that we could finally find dad again. She seems so happy now. It's nice to have her back.

"Scott, it's time to go to bed." Mom says to him, so I take that as a cue to go to sleep as well. I work at the diner across the street in the summertime and my boss, Vance, will kill me if I'm late. Scott and I head to our respective bedrooms after saying our goodnights to mom.

"Have sweet sweet Harry-filled dreams, sissy." Scott teases me, standing outside my door. He starts making stupid little kissy noises. I grab my pillow, ready to chuck it at him. He flinches back whilst sticking his tongue out.

"Aw shut it, Veronica's fan." I shoot back and finally Scott purses his lips into a fine line. His face is beet red.

"Night, Ro." He says, turning to leave. Seconds after I get comfortable under my sheets, he peeks his head through the doorframe again. "Don't let the Styles bite." He winks and my cheeks flush. Ew, he's so inappropriate!

Before heading into my deep slumber, I decide to check my Twitter feed. Nothing really interesting. I also put on some Ed Sheeran, his music is amazing...and his lyrics? No words to describe how touching it is, simply the best.

Suddenly, something got into me, and I decide to go through the pictures I took earlier of the mystery ring I found in dad's office room. I spend several minutes staring at the picture, wondering who it could belong to.

I'm a hundred percent sure that it's not mom's, because she wouldn't leave her jewelry on the floor carelessly like that.
Tilting my head to a side, I zoom in on the picture. I observe it closely at all angles, until something catches my eye.

Squinting my eyes into the inner rim, I try to make out the engraved lines. My eyes widen when I realize they're letters.

G.K.

What could this mean? Maybe a name, but whose? It can't be dad's, because his initials are NB and mom's is LB. Even though I know the little argument is cleared up, I think of Lucas' mom. Her name is Susan Waters, so I feel relieved to know for sure that it's not hers.

They're a lot of people with the initials of GK. But how will we find this person in particular?

Did Harry notice the initials on the ring? Because he has the ring with him and all of dad's possessions. Should I call him? What if he's asleep by now? Will he mind me calling him this late?

Come on, Ro. You're desperate to find your dad, one phone call to Mr.Walking Sex won't kill you.

Taking in a deep breath, I take out Harry's business card from under my bed. I might have sort of stolen it from mom's purse to admire it but...whatever. I dial the number on the card hoping he's still awake.

He picks up immediately. Well that confirms that he's not asleep yet.

"Hello?" I speak slowly but nervously.