Adventure Land // N.H. AU

Chapter 14

Niall. 

"I do not have a thing with your sister, dude. Yes I admit that she has slept over before, but that was when she found out about your parents. She slept on the couch and I didn't touch her." I try to tell Maxwell as we talk over a beer. We are out sitting on my deck outside around the pool. Tyler, Max, Jamie, Haley, Greg and his girlfriend are all over and we are having a small pool party. 

"I am 21 and she is 19, I am not really into that age difference, and Haley and I seem to be hitting it off again." He nods his head and then motions over to Jamie. 

"I agree with ya! Jamie is literally my idea of perfect. She is an angel and treats me like no one else has ever done. I see that Greg and his girlfriend are getting along pretty well." Max points out as I get up to get another beer from the cooler. 

"We need someone for Tyler then, he is alone!" I laugh as looking over at him trying to hangout with the girls. 

"I am still pissed at Tyler!" 

"What, why?" I ask as I sit back down next to him. 

"Caused he fucked Maggie. If you are my friend, my sister is off limits." 

"I agree." 

I haven't talked to Maggie in over a week, when I bumped into her as she was going to the bathroom. She wanted to cut off everything between us and didn't want anything else to do with me, and if that is what she wants then fine. 

Max and I get up from the porch and join everyone else in the pool. Haley immediately jumps on me and wraps her legs around my torso and I hold her close to my body. Even though she dumped me for Max and cheated on him for some other guy, I will alway have a place for her in my heart. 

We talk a bit about our days and how everything is going until Max's phone goes off and interrupts the conversation. He disappears out of the pool to go answer it. 

"What are you talking about?" Max says quite loudly. "No, I haven't seen her since Thursday." Max says again. 

Today is Tuesday. 

Max hangs up the phone and grabs all of his stuff off of the chair and throws his shirt on in a rush. 

"Max, what is going on?" Jamie asks while stepping out of the pool. 

"Maggie is missing. Mom thought she has just been over at Harpers since Sunday, but Harper came looking for her this morning. No one knows where she is" Max tells her. He then leaves Jamie alone and rushes out of the yard and to his car. 

I pull my self up onto the grass and grab my phone and rush into the house and up to the bathroom. If I am going to call Maggie, I need to be alone so no one can know what had gone on. 

I dial in her number and wait for her to answer, but she never does. Her voice mail begins to play and her bubbly voice comes through the speaker. 

"Hey, you must of missed me. Leave a message and maybe I'll answer." I can tell at the end she is smirking. 

"Magnolia, where are you. Where did you go. If you are safe, at least tell someone." I hang up and then begin a text to her. 

Me: Magnolia, please just tell someone where you are or where you went. 

Me: This isn't a game, where are you?

Me: Everyone is so worried. 

I set my phone down on the counter and try to count to ten to calm down. This girl that I use to have a crush on when I was 13 and and she was 11 is missing and I never thought it would feel like this. I hear a knock on the door and I lock the door immediately after. 

"Niall, is everything okay?" Haley says through the other side. 

"Can you please just tell everyone to leave." 

"Do you want me to stay?" 

"Please just leave." It takes a moment till I hear foot steps finally leave my other side of the door. I text Maggie again. 

Me: Magnolia, if you text me I won't tell anyone, I will keep it between us... Our little secret. 

I just need to know that she is okay. 

Where could have she gone. I open the door and walk out of the house and start my truck and drive down the road to the places where I know she always goes she she is upset. 

I pull off onto a old road that barely gets used and turn off my truck and walk down a little trail that goes to an old train bridge that faces a little waterfall. When Max and I just got our licenses we would drive here with girls and hope that we would get a little action. It never seemed to happen for me, but it always did for Max. 

I came here once alone when I was stressed with stuff going on in my life and saw Maggie sitting on the edge of the bridge dangling her legs off and lying her bike on the tracks. I spooked her when I walked up to her and her eyes were puffy and red. 

That was the day that her first boyfriend broke up with her and I comforted her for maybe an hour until she finally seemed to calm down. That night I went to that boys house and egged his car for breaking Maggie's heart. 

When I approach the bridge I see no one in sight, or even off to the edge trying to hide. There is nothing left here other than a few empty cans and some trash. I just thought that maybe she would be hiding here away from her problems, but I guess her problems were to big to hide from, maybe she just needed to escape them.