The Girl They Couldn't Find

Chapter 27

Maya's POV

Crap.

I feel like utter, complete crap.

Lucas pulls my hair away, as I retch out a mountain of gunk into a makeshift hole in the grass. I lean back against the ageing tree and bury my face in to my hands. An invisible being pounds against the walls of my broken stomach, and I clench my teeth.

"Do you ever regret it?" I ask, and Lucas gives me a strange look.
"No, we were an awkward couple anyway."
"Hop-alongs aren't very good at kissing," I smirk, and he grunts.

"Go get your girl cowboy," I whisper.

Letting go was easy. Accepting it was hard.

Lucas walked over to Zay and Farkle, and my heart yearned for Charlie.
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"Okay," Lucas starts, slamming his hand on the wheel as we reclined in Farkle's van. "What can we easily figure out about this message?"

I squirm in my seat, and roll my eyes. "It's the lyrics from Adele's 'Hello.' Yes, the lyrics are in the wrong order, but she's obviously sending us a message. She's saying to go to California."

"California's not exactly the next subdivision. Where in California?" Zay asks, turning around while he scoffs an energy bar in shotgun.

They say that time's supposed to heal ya
But I ain't done much healing.

"Riley's demons came when she was fifteen. That year, Maya and Lucas started dating. The year before, Riley locked her feelings away for the sake of her friend. She's saying that after all these years, time has done nothing to repair her broken pieces," Farkle added wisely.

"She's underlined 'time.' And also, hold wooly sign?"
"Maybe she left a message with Judy the Sheep?"
"Great idea Buckety-Boing Boing."

Lucas slapped his head and slumped into the driver's seat. Unexpectedly, Zay tapped Lucas on the shoulder, mentioned a certain library, and Lucas started the car.

Ten minutes later, we all watched as Zay searched through Wikipedia on a library computer.

"Zay, if I wanted to see people on computers, I would be watching the 'Steve Jobs,' documentary," I commented sarcastically.

He finally stops at a certain page about a clock.

"Jessop's Clock, San Diego. I think she wants us to go there after we 'hold wooly sign.'"

"Zay, how are we going to do this. It will take at least a day and a half to drive from Austin to San Diego."

Farkle grinned, and pulled out a jet black credit card. You know, the type that only rich people use.
Farkle quickly used the search engine to travel to the airport website and sighed.

"Good news: we can get a flight in two hours. Bad news: the flight is headed to Los Angeles. Someone will take the van there, and then we can travel to San Diego, after two days of sightseeing. Good plan?"

"Good plan," I smile, before leaping out of the car to puke.
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Riley's POV

Holy fudge, I just saw Angelina Jolie across the street.

I wonder if I'll see Emma Watson? Then again, I think she lives in New York. I dunno.

The birds sing sweetly, and cut through the sky. People bustle through the crowded streets, and I find this park bench extremely comfortable.

They are gone.

With the discretion of a secret agent, I sneak through a maze of rubbish bins, and hide inside the mail van.

I had to go to San Diego.
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Maya's POV

I plug my headphones in as the plane settles out of taxi mode.

For the next hour, I laugh at the pleasure that is 'Ted.'

The next hour, I spend hunched over the toilet seat.

"Maya are you okay?" Lucas queries, as I stagger into my seat.

"What do you think Mr. Perfect?" I hiss, as I stuff dried saltanas into my mouth.

"You know, it's kind of hard to believe that you really aren't pregnant."

"The test was negative."

"Don't you know it's always safer to use three?"

"Lucas, you're a man, you know nothing about pregnancy. I think I'd know if I was pregnant."

Forty-five minutes later, we scurry out of the terminal and I nearly fall over from shock.

"Maya?"

"Charlie?"