Chasing Courtney

Chapter Ten

Lauren and I locked ourselves in our room. We spent the whole day devising a plan to find Courtney. We read the note that "Courtney" had left what felt like a million times. Each time, the memory became clearer and more embarrassing then ever before. I had explained to Lauren what the note had meant, but left out a lot of the details.

"So you are positive that you were in Paris when this happened?" Lauren asked me.

"For the fourteenth time, I'm positive." I said, a hint of irritation in my voice.

"You counted?" Lauren asked.

"That's not the point!" I snapped. I took a deep breath. "Sorry. Just, I can't believe this is happening." Ever since I read the first note, my head had been swarming with questions. Is this really Courtney? Where is she? Can she see me? 

"It's cool. Being cooped up all day isn't exactly very fun."

"No kidding." I muttered.

"So, just a quick question. How are you planning on telling your dad that you are going to go to Paris, France to 'find' Courtney?" Lauren asked, adding air-quotes around find. She was also suspicious if the writer of these notes were really Courtney.

"A note is probably the only way we won't be denied."

"Dear Dad, I'm flying off to Paris to look for Courtney cuz she sent me a weird note telling me where she is. Don't cancel any credit cards and make sure we can have Alana at our expense. I won't get run over! Love, Alexis." Lauren snorted. "That's  going to go over well."

I sighed and realized how right she was. I would have to sound kind of nonchalant, as if no danger or harm would come to me. At that point in my life, the biggest adventure I had ever encountered was a safari through Africa. I had no clue what I was signing up for, and neither did Lauren. That was the scariest part. I walk over to my backpack and fish out a notebook and a pen. 

"I'll start drafting a note."

"A note to who?" a small voice asked.

Lauren and I jumped. I hit my head on the top bunk and the voice giggled with a high-pitch. I twirl around to see who it is. Ariana.

"Ari, you scared the poop outta me!" Lauren said, putting a hand to her heart.

"Sorry, it was an accident."

"No pun intended." I muttered so only I could hear. I could imagine Courtney smirking at my lame attempt of a joke.

"So who are you writing a note to?" Ariana asked, tilting her head. Her red ringlets reflected the lights, making it hard to look at her.

"We are writing to, the, the..." Lauren stammered. She looked at me as if to say "HELP!"

"The tooth fairy!" I blurted out. Ariana's eyes brightened. She was so excited to lose her first tooth so the Tooth Fairy could visit her. Bennett tried to tell her that the Tooth Fairy wasn't real, which resulted in an argument with Sloane.

"Yup, we are writing to the Tooth Fairy so she'll give you more money when she comes." Lauren said. Then she looks around, as if she was about to say something extremely confidential. "And maybe even a new American Girl doll." Note to self: In PS, tell Dad to give Ariana a new American Girl doll when the tooth fairy comes.

Ariana gasped. She ran up to us and hugged our legs. "You guys are the best ever!"

"We know." Lauren responded, grinning.  

"Benny and I are gonna walk around Boston Common. Do you wanna come?" Ariana asked.

"No thanks, Ari. We have to read for homework." I told her, making an overexaggerated pouty face.

"Oh, okay. Well I'll see you at dindin!" Arianna skipped out of the room. I could tell she was dissapointed, but we needed to finalize our plan for Courtney.

"She. Is. Adorable." Lauren squealed. Lauren joked that she were to kidnap Ariana so she could have a little sister. For the six years I've known Lauren, her biggest wish was a little brother or sister. She had an older brother, Liam. He's now a sophomore at Stanford. I had the biggest crush on Liam when I was in third grade and he still makes fun of me about it.

"Enough about her adorableness. We need to focus on Court!" I reminded her.

Lauren groaned. I could tell she was working as hard as she could not to insult Courtney. She knew how much this meant to me, so she was doing it. "Fine. So we should probably start writing the note."

"Right." I said, getting started. After about an hour of editing, we finally got a note we thought would work:

Dear Dad, Sloane, Bennett and Ariana,

Don't panic. We haven't been taken too. Neither have your credit cards, Dad. We think we know where Courtney is. For the next six months or so, please make sure Alana can be used whenever we need her and that you cancel no credit cards. We love you so much! Wish us luck!

Love, Alexis and Lauren.

"Tonight, we leave at midnight." I reminded Lauren as we were getting ready to "go to bed". 

"Are you ready?" Lauren asked, with an exhilirating glint in her eye.

"Totally." And with that, I turned out the lights. Tonight is the night our lives would change. For better or worse, I was ready for anything our mission was going to throw at us.

Bring it on.

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Author's Note: hi everyone!! sorry it took so long 2 update but i hope it was worth the wait!! i had been planning what i wanted 2 happen nxt i promise its good!!! so plz comment, like mayb even....fan? love, love, love, cmractingstar