The Way I Loved You-WTLGD2

Girl Scouts

-Bailey’s POV-

I laid down on the platform of the tree house closing my eyes, I didn’t know what time it was…late…that much I knew. I had no intention of heading home tonight, it was obvious that I was not wanted there. Nick would figure out where I was if he wanted to…clearly he didn’t and in light of the magazine article I’m fairly certain my parents didn’t want me there either. Why the hell did I leave the house without, at the very least, grabbing a jacket? Nights in New Jersey are flippin chilly. I looked around in an attempt to find something to keep me warm, I giggled to myself as I thought back on my Girl Scout training Mom had made me take when I was 7 because she had grown increasingly concerned about me spending all my waking hours with three stinkin’ boys.  At our wilderness camp out, aka camping out in our troop leader Mrs. Jackson’s backyard, we were taught the “proper way” to start a fire. Unfortunately, for me, it required matches, newspaper, and a pile of twigs to get it going.  Fuck me . . . How the hell does that, by any stretch of the imagination, qualify as wilderness training?  Other lessons from Girl Scouts included sewing, how to sell cookies to creepy fat men, and of course, singing dumb songs. So upon reflection, I have determined that Girl Scouts teaches you NOTHING to prepare you for getting stranded in the great outdoors. I basically learned more from Uncle Buck than I did from stupid Girl Scouts. Awesome…and now I have that dumb song stuck in my head…’Make new friends, but keep the old, One is silver, and the other’s gold’…what the fuck does that song even mean???

Back at the house – 4AM

(Joe) *watching Mom pace* Mom calm down. I’m sure she’s safe.

(Mom) Joseph, your sister left the house with no money, no means of contact and no coat. We are no closer to finding her than we were 8 hours ago. DO NOT tell me to calm down while my daughter is missing.

(Dad) Denise, we need to stay calm, no matter how much you yell at Joseph, the fact remains Bailey is still missing. We just need to keep thinking about places we can look. Bailey’s a smart girl, I’m sure she’s found some place to hang out until her emotions are in check.

(Mom) Have we checked everywhere she would go? What about the school or the mall or Livie’s?

(Joe) Miles and I covered every inch of the mall and school. We also went to Ronnie’s and Livie’s, she hadn’t been either place and they both promised to call if she showed up…the only other friend she has is Sam and since he is here…

(Mom) *Front door opens and she runs to answer it* Oh it’s just you.

(Kevin) *dismissing Mom’s comment* We came as soon as Joe called. Have you heard anything from her?

(Dad) No, we were just discussing places to search. Do you know anywhere she could be?

(Kevin) *shrugs* The Pavilion, school, the mall, Ronnie’s, or the park?

(Joe) No she’s not at any of those places.

(Kevin) *hesitant* Has... *clearing throat* Has anyone considered the possibility she’s at Jake’s house?

(Sam) *perks head up in anger* She better damn well not be at Jakes!

(Joe) Sam cool it; Bailey wouldn’t go there.

(Kevin) We at least need to go check it out. We need to cover all bases.

(Sam) I will kill him

(Dad) Alright, perhaps it’s not the best idea for Sam to check that location, Kevin why don’t you and Dani head over there…

(Kevin) right now? Dad, its 4 am.

(Dad) Apologize for the untimely intrusion but we cannot just sit by idly until a decent hour, perhaps Jake will have some suggestions on where we can look.

*Kevin nods before walking out, Dani directly in tow*

-Kevin’s POV-

The drive to Jake’s house was a quiet one as Dani sat in the passenger seat clutching my right hand as she stared out her window hoping she would catch sight of B. When we pulled into Jake’s driveway I gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement before hopping out of the car, jogging to the front door and ringing the doorbell. After a few moments the light flipped on illuminating the windows on the sides of the door. I heard some shuffling on the other side of the door and the clicking of locks before the door opened revealing a very tired and grumpy older man.

(Man) Son, do you know what time it is?

(Kevin) Yes Sir, I am very sorry for showing up at this hour but my sister Bailey is missing and…

(Man) Bailey?

(Kevin) Yes Sir, we just wanted to know if Jake had seen her at all tonight or if he might have any idea where she might be…

(Man) *holds up a finger to tell Kevin to hold on* JACOB…JACOB!

*door flings open at the top of the stairs and Jake stumbles out, clearly disheveled with sleep*

(Jake) are you yelling for me?

(Man) get down here

(Jake) *obediently walks down the stairs before seeing Kevin and stops mid step* what is he doing here?

(Man) have you seen Bailey tonight?

(Jake) no

(Man) don’t lie to me boy, this is serious, she is missing, have you seen her?

(Jake) Missing? What happened? How long has she been missing?

(Kevin) she took off just before 8pm…

(Jake) she hasn’t been here…I haven’t seen or talked to B since before the fundraiser when she told me I couldn’t be in her life anymore…not even as friends.

(Kevin) if you hear from her…

(Jake) I will let you know…

(Kevin) thank you, I appreciate that. Is there anywhere you can think of for us to look for her…we have pretty much exhausted every place we can think of…

(Jake) The only places I spent time with her was the mall parking lot or school. We never went anywhere else.

(Kevin) *sighs* We’ve been to both those places with no luck.

(Jake) Well if you need to find out where Bailey is, you just need to talk to Nick. He basically knows what she is doing or where she’s going before she does.

(Kevin) Thanks, please give us a call if you see or hear from B.

*Walking from the house, Kevin hugs Dani close before giving her a kiss on her forehead*

(Dani) well, he was no better at coming up with locations than we were.

(Kevin) he did make a valid point though...

(Dani) about what?

(Kevin) Nick…Jake is right, those two are freakishly linked, if anyone would know how to find her it would be him. The only problem is that a twin smack down is what caused her to run off in the first place, according to Joe, Nick has no interest in helping find her…I think he just needs a little persuasion.

(Dani) and how do you plan to persuade him exactly?

(Kevin) In a big brother fashion…with threats and brute force

(Dani) so do we plan on going back to your house and roughing him up now or…

(Kevin) *chuckles* I think we should maybe hit some of her usual places again, just to make sure she isn’t there, then we go home and rough him up *smiles*