Down the Rabbit Hole

Sometimes, do you ever want to literally shove a sock into someone's mouth? Yep, that's me right now. My name is Ali. Ali Kingsley. My friend, who is currently in danger of getting a gym sock stuffed in her mouth, is Sice. Why the weird name? That's the first thing I've ever asked her, yet she still refuses to answer me. Now, she's blabbering on about how unfair one of our teachers are. Her name is Ms. Daymon, but due to her difficult tests and excessive homework, her students have dubbed her "The Demon".

"Ugh! It's so unfair!" she cried, shaking her fists angrily in my direction. "I wasn't even cheating on her stupid test! I was helping Ash cheat..."

At the mention of Ash, Sice's expression grew dreamy. She'd had an insane crush on him for as long as I could remember! Though, I suppose I couldn't blame her. Ash was quite the looker with disheveled silver hair, amber hues, and a cool attitude to match. But he was constantly falling asleep! He would literally fall asleep anywhere and everywhere. It could probably be considered a talent. But, Ash being Ash, he fell asleep during The Demon's lesson and needed major help on the test. Of course, Sice was more than eager to pass her paper his way to copy.

"Hel-lo? Earth to Ali? Are you even listening to me? I'm trying to rant here!" Sice snapped, bringing my attention back to the real world. I'd been so caught up in reminiscing the whole Ash incident I'd totally zoned out on Sice's tangent. With an exasperated sigh, she flicked my forehead, causing me to groan in pain. "Still spacey as ever. Any progress on finding your lover boy, Detective Ali?"

She must have been talking about Joker. Yes, even I wasn't immune to high school romance. He was, quite possibly, the hottest person alive. But...in an alternative way. He wasn't super buff, didn't play on the football team or anything like that, but i swooned over him nonetheless. He had shaggy black hair, a pale, lean figure, and a constant look on his face that screamed "leave me alone." But, perhaps his most intriguing feature was his eyes. For some reason, they were a passionate crimson. Honestly they were the most breathtaking color I'd ever seen. How did he even have red eyes? Who knows? Maybe it was that mysterious atmosphere surrounding him that made him so appealing. I couldn't resist. I dropped over him practically whenever he crossed my blessed field of view. But, of course, I figured I had no chance with a guy of his caliber. Heck, no one had a chance with him. He was somehow even more withdrawn from society and antisocial than I was. Even if I somehow ever worked up the courage to talk to him, I couldn't. About a month ago, Joker had simply just up and vanished. His parents were so worried that you couldn't walk two feet in our small town without seeing a missing persons poster. The police stopped searching for him after sending out countless search parties that failed to borne fruit. They...even announced that there was a high possibility of him being dead. However, I couldn't give up that easily. I continued to search for him on my own, but my trail had gone cold recently. Due to his antisocial nature, he didn't get out much. Evidence was scarce.

"Nothing," I replied to Sice with an exasperated sigh. "Maybe he wasn't meant to be found." It wasn't my supreme crush on Joker alone that drive me to such lengths to find him, however. His parents must have been devastated. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose someone you care for so much and then have no closure. He could be alive, dead, tortured or some other unforeseen horror.

Sice patted my shoulder in an attempt to console me. "Sorry, Als. Hey, you're working your butt off to try and find this guy. He's gotta be out there somewhere. Sice said, glancing down at her cell phone with a sigh. "Ah, crap. It's late — ugh, I have to go home and write a dumb apology letter to The Demon. See ya tomorrow?"

I waved and tried my best to smile before setting off in the opposite direction. "Yeah, tomorrow. Thanks, Sice."

As she and I parted ways, I gained a newfound determination. It was like a bullet of courage and perseverance or something had been shot through me, or some other corny garbage. Joker was out there, alive, for sure! And I was going to find him. The library was a few blocks away — jackpot! There had to be something — anything — there on Joker's disappearance.