The Story of Us

Chapter 2

I'm woken up at 4 am to the house phone ringing. Who in the world is calling the house at 4 a.m.? I hear my dad go downstairs and talk to whichever lunatic is calling at the ungodly hour on a Saturday. I try to hear the conversation but it's a bit too quiet. I hear my dad come back up the stairs and he's quietly opening my bedroom door so I pretend to be asleep. Probably making sure I've not snuck out again. He leaves after a few seconds and then walks back downstairs and talks to the person on the phone for another minute and then goes back to bed. I then hear him and my mom talking. "Well did you check?? Under the beds, the closet?? Oh for fuck sake Harry!" Next thing I know my parents barging into my room and turning on my light "What the fuck..." I groan half asleep and blinded by the light. "Is he in here?" My mom asks as she's looking under my bed. "Is who here?" I ask getting more and more confused. I look at my dad hoping to get an answer "Sam" He responds. My mom then gets up after finding nothing under my bed and checks the closet and I roll my eyes "You won't find anything. You locked my window remember? And we've got squeaky floorboards so it's not like I would have been able to sneak him in through the front door" I tell them. I look at my dad and he shakes his head to say just let her get on with it and she'll give up. At least one parent knows I'm smart enough to not try sneaking Sam out right after I got busted for sneaking out. Once my mom is satisfied with her search she looks at me. "Promise me you don't know where Sam is. I know you like to be smart and think you're clever but this is serious" she tells me and I nod "I promise you Sam is not here. I've not seen him since yesterday after we hung out at the beach. Now if you're done with being paranoid at 4 a.m. can I go back to sleep? And who was calling anyway?" I ask. My parents look at each other and then sigh. My dad sits on my bed and looks at me. "When Sam got home last night Allison and him got into a fight about you guys sneaking around when Allison isn't home. He got mad and ran out. That was at about 7 pm. No one has seen him since honey" I nod trying not to panic. This is not like Sam at all. He's stormed out on his mom before but he always returns quickly so she's not worrying. He cares about her a lot. This is not like him at all.

I get out of bed and start finding clothes that aren't pyjamas to wear. "And where do you think you're going?" My mom asks as I'm putting on my jumper. "To help find Sam. I know all his secret spots. Places to look that others won't know about. This is not like Sam and you know it. I'll be fine" I tell her. My dad has now left the room while I change so I quickly put my leggings on and a pair of old shoes. And then I go downstairs and grab a flashlight and a warm jacket. I then turn to my parents "If it was Dad you'd be gone in an instant Mom. You would as well if it was Mom. I need to help find Sam" I then grab the spare house keys and walk towards the door. "Hold on a few minutes honey so I can change. I'll join you" my dad tells me as he goes upstairs to change and I smile a little. My mom is never the most understanding person when it comes to me but my dad is. I can always count on him.

He returns a few minutes later ready to go. He kisses my mom and she quickly kisses him back and then looks at me. "No funny business," she says and I nod.
"I'll keep her out of trouble don't worry. And she does know Sam better than anyone" my dad tells her. He then grabs a flashlight and we leave together. "So where to first?" He asks as we get into his truck. "The woods. There's a spot he likes there" I tell him as I buckle up. He nods then starts driving. For a few minutes, we drive in silence until I finally decide to speak "I'm sorry I've been sneaking out. I know it was wrong and dangerous. I don't even know why I did it" I tell my dad. He takes a minute before responding "I know why you did it. You're young and in love. You wanted to spend all the time you could with Sam. Love makes you do stupid things. Believe me, I know. What you did was incredibly stupid and dangerous. If something happened to you, me and your mother wouldn't have known about it until it was possibly too late. So please no more sneaking out" he tells me and I nod. "I won't," I tell him.