Dreaming Is for the Free

Fifteen

Any notion I may have had has vanished. I am in utter shock. This is the last thing I expected to see. Charlotte's ChitChat video was a surprise, but seeing my dad and his new family was like a slap to the face.

I knew that he had started a new life, but seeing that picture has left me speechless. This is all one scary ass coincidence that my dad's step daughter just so happens to attend the college I attend. And said stepdaughter is missing. Or not missing. Who knows?

Once I dropped that bomb on Maya, the entire dorm fell silent. Now here we are still sitting in my room. I'm on the bed, and Maya is sitting in my desk chair.

This has been a life-changing few days. I don't want to be a college dropout, but it looks like it's headed that way. I don't think I'll be able to handle any more surprises.

Kiara has called Maya twice. She has called me three times. Neither of us can bring ourselves to answer. I know she wants to speak about Charlotte's ChitChat video but the discovery that Maya has also gotten a note and the fact that my dad is connected to Charlotte, has me numb. I'm losing parts of myself every day that I'm in Ansa Hills. If I try to complete this semester, I am confident that I will be a completely different person. Unrecognizable from the way that I speak, handle situations, and even the way that I walk. And I'm not ready for that. That's too much change in so little time. But I don't know what to do.

Maya's phone starts lighting up. It's Kiara again.

All Maya does is turn her phone over so that the screen isn't showing. Then she places her head back into her hands. She looks exhausted. She looks defeated. But sitting here feeling depressed about our situation isn't going to help us at all. We need to come up with a game plan. We need to figure out ways to protect ourselves because honestly we have no idea what is going on or who the note sender is. We don't even know what their motive is. We just have to go with the facts that have been laid out in front of us. Those being that the note sender has been in contact with Maya and myself. Charlotte hasn't been seen by anyone since the night of the party. And even though she released a statement saying that she is fine, no one, not even her family, has been in physical contact with her. That's suspicious. Maya believes that someone, possibly the note sender, is forcing her to say these things so that the police and her family stop looking for her. There's no way of telling what the end goal is for the note sender but it can't be good.

But there's also a slim chance that Charlotte is actually safe, and the note sender is just after Maya and I. If that's the case, who is the "she" the note sender is referring to as dead? And how is it my fault?

"Maya?"

Maya slowly looks up, and we make eye contact.

"What should we do?" I ask.

Maya lets out a quick breath before answering.

"I've been thinking about that for days. Now that I know that this may be more serious than I originally thought, I don't have a solution."

"Well, maybe we should go to the police." I suggest.

"I was thinking that too, but can you remember what happened after we left the party?" Maya's face is expressionless. And I'm sure it matches mine.

"The last thing I remember is getting in the car to come back to the dorms. I don't even remember the trip from the parking lot to our room." I shrug my shoulders.

Every time I try to think back to that night, the only thing that happens is a small headache forms.

"Me either!" Maya's eyes grow big but just for a split second before she goes back to her nonchalant expression.