A Girl Named Pidge

1

"You're never going to believe what's parked across the street at the gas station." Alec huffed as he charged into the singular café in Erwin, Georgia, his camera in hand, his eyes wild and excited.

"Lemme guess," Adam began in his thick southern accent, "a nice car. Probably a Camaro."

Alec slid into the booth across from Adam, bumping into Percy, who emitted a low grunt before returning to scrolling through iFunny. "No, not a Camaro. A Mustang. An old one." Turning his camera back on, he quickly swiped through his pictures, settling on a shot of a girl with short, choppy brown hair exiting a glossy black '70 Chevy Mustang. "Dude-"

Percy and Adam groaned at the same time, rolling their eyes. "You think it's Pidge, don't you?" Percy snapped, definitely agitated with the return of this conversation. He sipped his coffee, setting his phone face down on the table. "It's just a coincidence, probably. I don't think she'd ever come back to Erwin."

"I don't think she'd come back to the south, honestly." Adam added, sipping his Dr. Pepper and staring solemnly at Alec. "And even if she did, no one would know."

"Yeah, six years is a long time. Most of the people we went to school with already forgot about her."

Pursing his lips, Alec shot both of his friends a glare. "They forgot about a missing person?"

"Alec, you're an alright guy, but I'm getting tired of saying this," Adam started, slowly but forcefully setting his drink down, "she didn't go 'missing.' She left. Voluntarily. As sketchy as it was, she still chose to leave." After a long pause he added, "And knowing Pidge, she had a good reason. It sucked, it still kinda sucks, but she's probably happy now."

"Also? Everyone thinks it's weird that you're still obsessed with figuring out where she went." Percy commented snidely, quickly glancing at Adam, who was hiding a smile. "Especially since you-"

"-broke up with her like six months beforehand. Yeah, I know." Alec's tone took on a bitter note. He knew his friends were right - it was weird to be worried about the whereabouts and well-being of your ex, especially after all this time. "We're still friends, though." He added, more to convince himself than the others that his concern was valid.

"Okay, but when was the last time you heard from her?" Percy held back a laugh. Sure, he missed Pidge like hell, too, but Alec's borderline obsession with her location was both frustrating and amusing to him. Although sometimes he blamed Alec for her leaving, he understood that she was likely never coming home, and he accepted that. Pidge did as Pidge does, and if this was what she wanted to do with her life, then so be it. As long as his friends were happy with what they were doing, it wasn't his concern.

Quietly, Alec mumbled, "About two years ago."

And it was true. The last anyone had heard from her was two years prior, when she had sent a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge to Alec and only Alec. Pidge, like Alec, had a passion for photography, and she'd occasionally send him pictures she'd taken after she'd left through an email. The last one he'd received was in December of 2015, and after that? Nothing.

Adam bit back a laugh. "Well that's more than..." He suddenly dropped off, his dark brown eyes widening to saucer size. "Uh, Alec?" His gaze was glued to the doorway. "I think you might've been right."

Alec and Percy turned around to follow Adam's line of sight, both of them gasping a little.

The woman from Alec's picture had entered the café and slunk over to the counter, not making eye contact with any patrons, just staring blankly through thick white frames at the barista as she ordered. She fiddled with her worn green military jacket, two sizes too big, and shifted anxiously in place, her dirty black boots tapping lightly against the ground.

Almost as if she could feel the three boys staring at her, she untucked a section of short and unruly brown waves from behind her ear and let them fall towards her face.

"If that's Pidge, she's lost a lot of weight." Percy said quietly, still staring.

"And cut her hair all off. Again." Alec murmured, intently studying her through his wire rimmed frames. Sensing confusion he added, "Last I'd heard it was getting long."

They continued to stare as she received her drink and paid the barista in cash, leaving what looked to be an absurdly large tip in the tip jar before scurrying out and into the crisp fall air once more.

Alec jumped up from his seat, making like he intended to follow her, when Percy grabbed his arm. "What the hell are you doing?" His voice was sharp and confused.

"What if that's Pidge?"

"What if it's not?" Adam hissed. "And she's almost to her car," he jerked his chin towards the window, "she won't give you a chance to talk."

Rather than say another word, Alec darted out of the café and sprinted across the parking lot, fueled by the hope that it was Pidge.

Hearing his rapid footfalls, she casted a look over her shoulder, and her dark blue, nearly black eyes filled with recognition from behind her glasses. Pressing her lips into a firm pink line, she whipped her head back around and attempted to pretend she didn't hear him as her pace quickened.

Alec stopped as Percy and Adam left the café watching the parking lot somewhat nervously.

"Pidge!" Alec hollered, grinning. "Pidge!"

She stopped, her shoulders bunching up around her ears, as if the sound of the name hurt her. Relaxing her tense muscles and taking a deep breath, she contemplated looking back. Rather than do that, though, she just stood there.

Alec started running again as she slowly rotated, her expression flat and cold. As he got closer he slowed to a walk, arms outstretched for a hug. "I knew it was you!"

She took a step back, keeping her arms crossed. "Hey, Alec." She said quietly, an anxious undertone tainting her words.

Sensing her discomfort, he lowered his arms as his excitement became concern. "What's, uh...what's wrong?"

Pidge stared down at the ground, unable to meet Alec's eyes. Her voice was icy and strained. "I thought you wouldn't live here anymore." Her voice great quieter. "I was hoping I wouldn't see you here."

"Uh...ouch." Deflated, Alec stepped back, carefully analyzing her. She had lost a significant amount of weight, and her once round cheeks were almost hollow looking. She now had budding laugh lines, though, which hinted that she'd spent the last four years of her having been gone smiling a great deal. Her hands and face were still tanned from her adventures, and her clothes - white T-shirt, black jeans with the knees blown out, trademark green military jacket - were dirty in a clean dirt sort of way.

"It's nothing personal," she scrambled, eying her ex carefully, "I just uh, I wasn't exactly banking on seeing anyone I knew."

Pidge, too, was giving Alec a once-over. He hadn't changed much at all. Same wiry brown hair, same detached, selfish grey eyes, same horn-rimmed glasses. Everything about him was the same. She'd figured he'd be as much - people that come from Erwin don't change.

From a distance, Percy and Adam were still watching, unsure as to whether or not they should approach and join the conversation. It was clear that Pidge was very unhappy with this development. Her full lips were pressed into a thin pink line and she was rapidly tapping her toes against the ground, her arms crossed. When she did speak, her jaw was taut, her mannerisms suggesting her tone was clipped and strained.

As they kept chattering, Percy noticed that Pidge seemed to grow more and more frustrated and anxious. She'd shift in place and take miniscule steps back, slowly but surely inching her way back to her car, evidently hoping Alec would notice her desperation to leave again.

Alec isn't the brightest, so he did not.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Adam muttered, an eyebrow raised as he slowly pulled his gaze from the two.

Percy's expression had turned to something faded and sad. He lifted his snapback off his head and ran a hand through his coarse blue curls. "Dunno, but uh, looks like she's leaving."

Pidge handed Alec a single piece of paper from a small notepad in her jacket pocket before scurrying off into her car, sighing a deep breath of relief, thankful to be out of that situation - at least for the time being.