Bitter A Prequel: the Marjorie and Siobhan Backstory

Siobhan Disappears

Marjorie paced her room. Her mind was jumping to conclusions in all different directions. It had been three days since she last saw Siobhan. Three days! She wasn't extremely alarmed over the weekend. Siobhan's dad frequently carted her off to some church event, but usually Siobhan would give her fair warning that she wouldn't be around. Not this time. In the nearly two years since they had met this had never happened before. Never.

She decided that when she woke up tomorrow, she was going over there. Maybe she would even be brave enough to knock on the door. Shibby wouldn't like that though. Marjorie knew that there were things about her life she still kept hidden. She never pressed.

The truth was if she had her friend would probably cave and tell her everything, but she would be embarrassed and feel ashamed. Marjorie never wanted to be the reason Siobhan felt those things. She saw how the children treated her at school. Siobhan never showed it, but Marjorie knew that it hurt her friend.

Almost worse than that was how they treated her after she became a Van Gould. Kids that wanted nothing to do with her before now wanted to be friends. She didn't need them. She had her friends, and she was proud that they had found each other without the need for such a name.

The next morning, she was up and out the door within ten minutes.she rode to Shibby's house and got the ladder out. "Siobhan you better answer that window because I am not gonna be happy if I have to climb this ladder." She grabbed three small pebbles and flung each at the window spaced out to give Siobhan time to answer. The nearly thirteen-year-old did not want to climb the ladder, but without an answer it was her only choice. She climbed each rung with care.

As she reached the top she tapped on the window. Still no answer. She pulled at the window. Locked? Siobhan never locked the window. Never. It was their deal. They always left them unlocked in case the other had to escape their own home at night.

By Friday night Marjorie was frantically pacing her room. She had even gone to the little house by herself. That was something they had promised they would never do. They had been going there for over six months, but only ever together until today. Marjorie looked for signs of Shibby there, but she wasn't there. As far as she could tell she hadn't been there. She checked her window again before coming home. Still no answer. Still locked.

Marjorie began to sob. She had no one to go to. Her mother wasn't an option and in the two years since she had known him, she had never asked Charles for help. She couldn't knock on the door at Siobhan's house because she had promised never to do that. She wanted her friend back, but she wasn't going to break her promises. Not yet anyway.

She laid on the bed no longer able to control the sobs or the shaking. Soon she drifted off in what can only be described as a fitful sleep. As she drifted off, she got the horrible feeling she would never see Siobhan again.