Out Of Bounds

15| Same Cause

OWEN'S P.O.V

I kicked the soccer ball against the cedar coloured wall in my room. I was agitated ever since I left Stella with the friend that betrayed her. I went to visit her at Bayview during lunch today. Kick. My reasoning as to why I was there was stupid, 'I need to ask you a life-changing question.' Kick. Plus I sounded like a stalker. Google maps my ass. Kick. 

I kicked the soccer ball too hard the last time and hit my shin, I yelped and crouched over, grabbing my left leg. I'm so stupid, but I'm more of an idiot for not telling Stella that I used to go Bayview. It was simple information I was holding back. It made me feel guilty because she revealed a lot of her vulnerable secrets, emotions and memories. She made it clear that she doesn't trust anyone easily. 

I'm already fucking things up.

I sighed and threw the wretched soccer ball at my opened closet door. All I wanted to do was talk to Stella, but she wasn't answering my 'hey' text. If I send another text, it will sound desperate. I already looked desperate when I decided to bring her to the lake yesterday.

I turned on my phone and dialled her number that I recently memorized out of boredom, or is it because of something else? It went straight to voicemail. My gut is telling me that she's with Shawn. I constantly kept telling myself that she's busy catching up on the homework I caused her to miss because of our trip to the lake.

The doorbell rang, but it was immediately opened by Natalia when I heard her loud voice from upstairs asking "why are you here?"

"Hey little D, where's your brother?" A masculine voice said. I stood up from my unmade bed and stood at the doorway of my room that was right beside the stairs going down.

"Nicknames are reserved for people I like, and last time I checked, I still don't like you."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms against my chest as I leaned against the doorway. It was most likely another Trevor-Natalia banter.

"I recall that you did once." 

But the voice was too deep to sound like Trevor. It was familiar, but it wasn't Trevor.

"You know why I dated you, Shawn. It was to annoy my brother, now shoo."

As soon as I heard that Shawn was at the door looking for me, I went downstairs, both their gazes automatically fixated on me. "There you are, your best friend is here," Natalia rolled her eyes and sashayed towards the kitchen.

"I miss you too!" Shawn called, smirking.

"Leave my sister alone. What do you want?"I approached him. I was slightly a few inches taller than him.

"It's Stella. Rebecca called me because she needs help looking for her. She told me to add you to the search party since you and Stella are apparently close now."

"I don't have time for this shit Vega," I grabbed the side of the door, ready to close it but his foot interfered. 

"Do you think I'm joking? I'm not, you and I both know I have too much pride to ask you for help. Rebecca thinks you could help us look for Stella, so I had to ask you. She might be in danger, who knows."

The worried look in his eyes hinted that Shawn was telling the truth. "I'm driving," I said, slipping on my Nike sandals. It was hard to drive in these, but I didn't have time to tie shoelaces, Stella's in danger.

•••

There was no sign of her on the west side of her house. We went through all the main roads and the possible routes she could have taken. I circled back and tried to search for her on the opposite side, with Shawn in the passenger seat. He reluctantly informed me that Stella's mom was at home making phone calls while Rebecca was driving on her own.

"Can you drive faster?" Shawn complained, he was staring outside, searching the lamp-lit streets. 

"You might miss something," I stopped at the red light. Every minute we spent without her is killing me. I saw her this afternoon, she looked fine. If that's the last time I ever see her, I wouldn't know what I'd do. Something happened between my departure and her soccer practice. She talked to Rebecca at lunch. It might be her fault. 

The light went green, simultaneously, Shawn's phone rang. He answered it, putting it on speaker.

"Shawn this is Stella's mother, the police called me a few minutes ago."

My heart was thumping. This was the news I didn't want to hear. I saw her less than twenty-four hours ago, and I let her slip through my fingers.

"What did they say?" Shawn asked. We shared a concerned look. 

"They found my car parked on the side of Laurel Street, in front of the Cathedral. They towed it away, but she wasn't in the vehicle. They think she's around the area."

"Okay thank you, Mrs. Abbott. I'll keep you updated if we find anything new," Shawn said. He rubbed his hands on his chin until there was a faint red mark.

I made a U-turn and turned at the next left to get to Laurel Street. I thought of the places she could have gone to, what was near this street? She couldn't have walked that far. There was the Cathedral, the supermarket which is closed by now, an array of different clothing stores and a bunch of fast food places. Judging by what I know about her, she isn't the type of person to be found in those crowded places when she's sad. 

She would go to a remote area, where she could find serenity, a place where she could think. Stella likes to blend in yet if we were in a crowded room she would be the first one my eyes would lay on.

The lake was near here, that could be one option. There were also houses, but she doesn't know anyone around this area. Plus, Rebecca is already in the process of visiting the houses she could have gone to.

The lake was the best option, and the fastest way to get there was through Highlands Park. "I'm going to look for her near the lake," I said. The wooden sign that read 'Highlands Park' in big bold orange letters was roughly fifty meters from us.

"I don't think she's there."

"Okay well I do, we'll look for her there and if you can think of anything else after we'll go there next. We can't argue about this. We need to go." I parked in the empty parking lot.

We silently walked on the hiking trail path, with him in the lead. I was looking left and right; there was nothing but trees. I didn't know how long this trail was; this could be a waste of time if we find out that she isn't there.

Suddenly, Shawn disappeared in front of me. He didn't even notice or seem to care that I wasn't behind him anymore. I would do the same. I thought Shawn and I would never see eye to eye again, until this incident. We haven't spoken since ninth grade. There was too much damage done between us. We will never be the close friends we once were. 

a/n Second chapter in Owen's P.O.V, not really sure if I'm good at the whole 'male p.o.v' thing, leave feedback in the comments because I was thinking of writing the third book and final book in this series in dual p.o.v. Anyways, the next chapter will return to Stella's p.ov. Don't forget to comment, vote, follow and share this story!