Grace.

Chapter 19.

When we were fifteen, Lucy told us that she lost her virginity. She'd never told us about any guy around that time except for Edgar who was out of town, so it wasn't him. It was in fact, Tom. Tom was...at the time, a forty nine year old married man with three kids. My heart broke when she told us, but she seemed so okay with it, I played along. Lucy was a minor who excepted gifts from an old man who in turn wanted something from her that she could never get back.
We knew it was because she got rejected by Edgar. She just spiraled. She cut her hair and went from blonde to brunette. She started smoking and doing some really wild stuff. Lucy went full on bad girl. Her and Tom went on for a really long time. I won't lie, he spoilt her rotten! She'd get anything she wanted and we'd get to ride on his boat. Fancy ass boat. Lucy's parents divorced and her relationship with her mom wasn't so good and her dad stopped calling. He moved out of town and started a family and remarried.
Lucy is gorgeous and people fear her and she seems to have her shit together, but she doesn't. We knew because we were her friends and I couldn't make her life even more miserable by dating a guy who meant so much to her.
School was depressing and Luke made it even worse. He was definitely on edge. Donna, on the other hand didn't show up. I asked everyone and no one had seen her. I called Ria to fetch me after school because Mimi had to stop by Edgar first. I couldn't believe Naomi! I wasn't expecting her to root for me and her brother the way that she did! Don't get me wrong, I was happy that she felt that way. And don't hate me but, Lucy was cockblocking me! Is that even the right term?
Anyway, whatever. Screw that! We had to find Donna, ASAP!
After school, Gloria and I drove to Donna's house. Mimi was already there. Bebe was with Caleb and no one knew where Lucy was.
"Hey, Mimz," said Gloria.
"Hey, Ria," Naomi hugged her.
"Grace told me about Donna so I thought I'd help," she said.
"Thank you, Ria," Mimi smiled.
"Shall we?" I asked.
We walked to the door and I knocked. After a while Donna's sister, Diana, opened.
"Grace? Naomi?" She had a worried look on her face.
"Hi, baby. Is your aunt home?" I asked.
"She's gone out. Where is Donny? Is she at Bebe's or?"
We looked at each other.
"What do you mean? Hasn't she been here?" Naomi asked.
"Last saw her yesterday morning. She was leaving for school," she answered.
Holy shit.
"Uhm...oh right, you guys! Remember she said she'll be with Bebe?" Gloria chimed in.
"Yeah! To prepare for the lunch tomorrow!" I  added.
Diana looked at us suspiciously but then relaxed. "O-okay. Please tell her to call Aunt Vanessa as soon as she can?" 
"We will, sweetie," I assured her.
Fuck. We said goodbye and left. In the car we tried to think where on earth Donna could be. We called Bebe to find out if she was home. After picking her up, we headed to the mall.
"She's still not answering," Bebe informed us, after calling Donna again.
"Gosh, you do know that if we fail to find her today, we have to go to the police later?" Gloria said.
"We have to look everywhere first. If we fail, then we're definitely going to the cops."
"But where could she be? Did she say something? She probably did."
"I'm a hundred percent sure she didn't."
"I've just texted Lucy, she said she's on her way," said Bebe.
We started searching at the mall. At the diner. By the lake. At the coffee shop. At school. Everywhere. Last place we headed out to was the river and the fields. Ria dropped us off and left. She had a date with Daniel.
"Where the fuck is Lucy?" Naomi grunted.
"Here I am."
We wheeled around and saw her. She strode towards us. Along side her...Edgar. What the heck?! He sheepishly greeted us. I looked over to Naomi who shrugged. Bebe looked at both of us. Questions filled in her eyes.
"I hope you guys don't mind. Me and Edgar were chilling when you called. I asked him to tag along," Lucy smirked.
Naomi walked away without another word.
"Me and Mimi will search by the river," I said and then ran over to her.
"Bebe, you can come with us. We'll search the fields."
We split up and started searching. I ran to catch up to Naomi. "Mimi! Wait!"
"Can you believe it?! Like, what in the...?!"
"I know, right. But it's none of our business. We need to find Donna. That's what's important. Come on," I pulled her.
After searching the river and fields with no luck, we met up to discuss the next move. The weather changed and it started drizzling. I was the only one wearing a dress and I was starting to get cold. Edgar noticed and without thinking twice, took off his leather jacket and gave it to me.
"Here, take this," he offered.
Reluctantly, I did and wore it. Before Lucy could react, he moved over to her, hugging her.
"I'll get my heat from you," he said.
She smiled and they walked away, clinging onto each other. He looked back at me, and then faced front again. Excuse me, what?!
"I need drugs. And the only person to hook me up is missing! How nice," I snorted.
We decided to go to the police station: me, Bebe and Naomi. Lucy and Edgar left. I hate police stations. They're cold, smelly and uncomfortable. The officer at the help desk ignored us while he finished his jam donut. The jam oozing down to his shirt, which was hugging him tightly because of his big, round belly.
"Come," he called us, licking his fingers. "What seems to be the problem?" He asked.
"We're here to file a missing persons report," I spoke.
"Are you related to the person?"
"She's our friend," said Bebe.
"Friend? When last did you see her?"
"Wednesday, after school. Her sister said she left for school yesterday morning, but hasn't returned till today."
"Has she gone missing before?"
"No."
"Does she drink? Party?"
"Uhm...how is that of importance?" I wondered.
"Young lady, I get situations like this everyday in this town. You kids disappear only to be found at some party. It happens all the time. Your friend is probably blowing off some steam somewhere. She'll pop up."
"Our friend isn't like that! Something is wrong! We know it!" I snapped.
"And if it were true what you are saying, her family would've been here, not you! Come back Monday. That's if she still hasn't shown up. Next!"
What the hell? What were we going to do now?! We stormed out of the station pissed and annoyed.
"Stupid! Stupid cop!" I shouted.
"What is going on? First Donna. Now Lucy and Edgar?" asked Bebe
Me and Naomi looked at each other.
"The Edgar story, you do not want to know," Naomi told her.
"Are they together? They weren't talking last time I checked. What's this now? When? How?" It was clear Bebe wasn't letting this slide.
"He said they made peace," Naomi answered.
"So, they're together?"
"No!" Mimi grumbled.
"It didn't look that way to me," she opined.
She was right. It didn't look that way. Edgar was a known player. Why would he wait on me when I made it perfectly clear that I wanted nothing to do with him? I didn't actually think that he'd move on to Lucy, and so quickly! I held back the tears and avoided having that conversation. The rain started again, this time with cold wind blowing. Bebe called Caleb to come get us. Sitting on the bench outside of the station, Mimi moved closer to me.
"Well, it looks better on you than it would've on her," she comforted.
"It smells like him," I sniffed.
It really did. And I couldn't help but wonder where he and Lucy were heading to.
"Look, I don't want you hating Lucy over this. Please," I continued
"What?! I would never...!"
"You've been throwing bad comments at her, Mimi. We're friends. We've been friends forever. Nothing is going to change that. Especially not a boy," I clarified.
She pulled her bottom lip. Brooke walked back to us and took a seat next to Mimi.
"He's on the way," She informed, cuddling in with us.
"How are things going between you guys?" Naomi asked.
"Really great!" She beamed. "He's mentioned how after school, we should start a life together. Like get married, have kids, all of that!" She was excited about it.
"Wow! That's great, Bebe! Are you like, ready for it though?"
"Definitely! It's all I've ever wanted, remember? To be a wife. To be a mom."
"Can I be a bridesmaid?"
"All four of you!" She smiled
"Okay! But I'm definitely a godmother to your kids, right?" I checked again.
"Of course! Baby Amber and Baby Alex would be so lucky to have you as their godmother!" She beamed.
"Amber and Alex?"
"If it's a girl, Amber. If it's a boy, Alex."
"I love it!" I cried out.
"Just imagine how cute Alex is going to be! With blonde curls just like his father," Naomi gushed.
We all giggled. Caleb arrived with Josh. Thank god. Apparently Hunter had something he was busy with.
"I think we should cancel tomorrow's lunch, you guys," Bebe suggested.
Brooke's mom had offered to cook up a storm for Brooke and all her friends (us plus the guys) I thought it was really sweet of her.
"Yeah, if Donna isn't found yet, we definitely have to," I agreed.
"Does she have like a secret hang out?" asked Josh
We all shook our heads.
"We could drive around one last time to look for her. Maybe she's parked her car somewhere," said Caleb
"Holy! What if they've stolen her car and then she - she..."
"No, Bebe. Please! We can't think that way! Caleb is right, let's just look around one last time," I begged.
Naomi tried calling again but nothing. We drove around the whole town again till it got dark. We made a stop at the fields. Josh started calling out her name and we all joined in.
"Donna?! Donna?!"
My phone chimed. It was a message from Edgar:

Please keep the jacket. I'd love it if you did. Plus, you look really good in it. Love, Eddy.

I remembered the picture Naomi took of us, and sent it to him, switching my phone off afterwards. I didn't know how to feel. I had no clue what was going on. Why was he with Lucy?
After a while, the sun was gone and the lights were on. It was getting late. We had to get going.
"Where on earth could she be?!" Bebe worried.
"What the hell are we going to tell Diana?" Naomi added.
"Let's get some rest and be at it again tomorrow. We won't give up," I vowed.
Josh walked over to me before getting in the car. Somehow, he always seemed to notice how I was never in a good mood.
"Don't worry, we'll find her," he said to me, rubbing my arm.
"Thanks," I half smiled.
"Tomorrow we'll look in other places. We'll find her. We will."
He looked so worried. I stepped forward and hung onto him with my arms around his neck. He tightened his grip around my waist, and we hugged for a few seconds.
"It's going to be all right, you'll see," he repeated.
They dropped me off first. All cars were outside, meaning that everyone was home. I wasn't in the mood for family. But I stood up straight and wore my best smile.
"Buenas tardes!" I greeted.
"Hola!" They chorused.
"Hola, mija. ¿Dónde has estado?" Dad asked.
"Looking for Donna," I sighed.
I took a seat next to Gloria who was sitting on the couch reading a book.
"¿Por que?" Mamá asked.
"They have a project they need to do. Did you end up finding her?" Ria jumped in.
I love her. She saved me the long talk.
"Yeah. W-we're actually continuing with it tomorrow, so."
"Oh, okay. Pero, next time, let us know, bonita."
"I will, Mommy."
I leaned in closer to Ria to see what book she was reading.
"One hundred years of solitude," she said.
She had her reading glasses on and her eyes never left the page she was reading.
"When'd you get it?" I pestered.
"Today. From Daniel," she answered, flipping the page.
"Can I read it once you're done?"
"Yes, Grace. Now can I read in peace?" She sighed, putting her book down.
"Sorry. I'll go upstairs."
I didn't want to go upstairs because going upstairs meant being alone with my thoughts. Being alone with my thoughts meant - Edgar.
I didn't want to think about him. He had moved on...with Lucy, apparently. I was happy for her. I don't know. I won't lie. What I did know was that I was in my senior year and I needed to focus on my studies.