The Unproven Theorem of You and I

chapter six - emergency phone calls

[ dedicated to @LostMisfits ]

"Can you be my nightingale?

Sing to me, I know you're there

You can be my sanity,

Bring me peace, for me to sleep..."

– Nightingale, Demi Lovato

Chapter Six

 

ELLE'S PARENTS HAD TAKEN DR. HARRISON'S ADVICE and consequently had Elleon complete lockdown. Apparently, yes, soon-to-be eighteen-year-olds do get grounded. Only in Elle's case, being grounded meant locked in a room for the whole weekend, with no television, no computer, no books, no Internet, and no freaking food.

  Her father had made sure that any possible form of entertainment was stripped from the bedroom she and Savannah shared.

            Thank God for the heating system.

            With her father at work, her mom at the diner, and Savannah currently AWOL, Elle was left home alone, with absolutely nothing to do but mope around, doing absolutely nothing. And not even the good nothing, like lying on the couch with a bucket of popcorn having a Netflix marathon – it was the bad kind of nothing, the one where you literally do nothing. Nil. Zilch.

 But on the upside, Elle had a lot of time to cry.

            Her sister was gone. Elle had a really hard time making herself believe it. Not dead gone, but missing gone. And for Elle, strangely, Savannah being 'missing gone' was much, much worse.

            So for nearly an hour, straight, all Elle did was bawl her eyes out on her pillowcase, making sure no tear was left unshed. And then when she was done... she still had fifteen hours left in the day, and nothing left to do.

            She rolled onto her back and stared at the glow-in-the-dark night sky her father had super-glued onto her ceiling when they'd moved in. She hadn't objected, for various reasons. She hadn't bothered taking the plastic stars and smiley-faced moon down ever since, and now thanked herself for doing so. It kept her occupied for about three minutes.

            And then she was back to square one.

            Minutes passed by. Hours followed suit. Soon, it grew lackluster, watching the sky outside shift from gentle celeste blue to bright electric at midday, to mediocre powder blue to, at last, deep, pure, oxford. She lost track of time. When her mother returned at around eight p.m. with dinner, Elle hungrily scarfed down her food.

            The next day was worse.

            It was only at around midday when Elle flopped on her side and stared numbly at Savannah's unoccupied bed, eyes grazing over the pristine, smoothed-out comforter spread over her sister's mattress. It looked as if no one was ever there.

            Except for a barely noticeable bump concealed just under the careful fold of the blankets where it met the piled, fluffed pillows.

            Throwing aside her covers, Elle padded over to her sister's side of the room in a pair of fuzzy, light yellow socks that she saved especially for chilly days. Gingerly, she lifted the portion of Savannah's blanket concealing the suspicious object –