Dead & Forgotten

Ch. 19

Pretty soon, we were all in the Hank family's prominent Mercedes-Benz they have had since over fifteen years, or anytime before I was born. We were on our way to the Springfields' in Stanford to discuss everything over. Chances are, Jerry might be at home right now, and even I had a feeling that he played some sort of role in this whole life-and-death situation. He wasn't as "innocent" as he thought he was; he hurt Rachel big time by ignoring her and pretending she didn't exist....until now, that is. She didn't exist anymore, and he still didn't give a damn.

In the meanwhile, I tried to picture the chaotic situation back at Marshall Academy, with everyone going crazy over me. I could imagine Headmistress Rogers calling the police, and Marvin sobbing with misery about how wrong he was to have neglected me. Okay, well maybe not necessarily "sobbing," but I could still picture him admitting he was wrong to have walked out on me when I really needed him the most. I could imagine everything now....

Marvin, Jeanna, and Donna were in Marvin's Ferrari, going on their own little "adventure", otherwise known as the wild goose chase in pursuit of the missing girl, who so happens to be me. Marvin was doing the driving, Jeanna sitting next to him, and Donna was in the back. Jeanna was acting like the drama queen she truly was by complaining about agreeing to go on this "exciting" little journey. "I don't know why I ever even agreed to this," she protested. "This is useless, Marvin. Please just drive us back to the building already. It's getting to be a little darker out, it's starting to get freezing, and I'm a little starving. Why don't we eat first?"

"Shut up, Jeanna," Marvin simply said. "I don't know where we're going either, but if we see any place that looks like a good hiding spot for Cassandra, we'll stop by and check. Then on our way back, we could perhaps grab a bite somewhere, like at a burger joint. Sound cool?"

"I'm up for anything," Donna said in reply. "I don't care, really, as long as I'm not high-maintenance like this self-centered royalty sitting next to you." That was meant to be a retort, but luckily Jeanna got the hint.

"Gee, thanks Donna," Jeanna said bitingly.

Okay, maybe not exactly how I've imagined it to be, but at least Marvin had enough sense to do the right thing by showing that he cared for me. And it was obvious all along. But I still felt shunned---by Marvin, Donna, and pretty much all my peers. Just then, we were in the neighborhood of Stanford and at the front of the Springfields' house. I felt weird showing up to their house at the most unexpected time, but some things just needed to be said right away.

I rang their doorbell. A woman answered and opened the door. "What a lovely surprise!" she said, and by the looks of it, she seemed quite startled to see us. "My name is Gwen Stephenson. How may I help you?"

"Oh, we're fine, thank you very much, Gwen Springfield," Mr. Hank said. It is true that when Jerry's father, Eli, met his wife Gwendolyn Stephenson, she agreed to keep her maiden name in case they ever split up or anything. Which apparently never happened, but she still decided to keep the Stephenson maiden name nonetheless. "We are the Hanks, close friends of the Fullers," Mr. Hank added.

Mrs. Springfield let us in the house and said, "It's nice to meet you all." Looking at me, she said, "And who does this fine young lady happen to be?"

"I am Cassandra Fuller," I replied, trying to give off a good impression.

"She happens to be the very wealthy daughter of the rich and famous Aristotle and Vivienne," Mrs. Hank said. Yes, she had to add those adjectives because without them, nobody would even give a damn who I was in the first place.