Half of Me Missing

5

"I'll be in my room," I told my parents. I grabbed my backpack on the way, running up the stairs. As I step inside, I set my stuff beside the doorway.

My bedroom isn't the neatest, but it was much cleaner than your average teenage girl's room. My blue bed sheets, still unmade from this morning with the pillows roughly tossed on top, and some clothes that were laying on my chair that stood in the corner. There were also a few shoes lined up by the air vent that was screwed into the cherry wood flooring.

I walk towards my vanity that contained my collection of various perfumes. Looking at the photos I taped on the edges of my mirror, I began removing my makeup from today with some wipes. Some of the pictures were of Lily and I, and some of them were with Aiden. I glanced at the image of when we first found Lani. I smiled at the memory, but it soon faltered as another picture caught my eye. It was one of Justin and I from last year at a party. His arms were around me, grinning from ear to ear. I was smiling, but you could tell that my body was stiff. I remember feeling nervous at that moment. I wasn't afraid of him, I actually wasn't afraid at all. I had butterflies in my stomach from his touch. His head on my shoulder with our faces nearly an inch away from each other.

I've thought numerous of times about tearing it up and throwing away that photo but I never seem to have the courage to do it. Instead, I take the image and tuck it away in one of my drawers.

Looking at the clock, seeing that it was getting late, I finished up some last minute homework and went to bed.

Above it, there was map posted on my wall. Silver push pins stuck out in places all over. Lily and I would add one up there in the city of where we'd want to travel. Of course New York City and Los Angeles were among the places we've pinned. But, one special city we always talk about is New Orleans. We talk about the nonchalant atmosphere, the beautiful music, and most importantly, the food. We think about going there one day. I'm not sure what I would do there, but as for Lily, I can imagine her doing amazing things there. With the help of being in drama club, she'd be able to use her talents like singing and acting for the locals there.

My thoughts continued to wander as I slowly drifted to sleep.

~

"Tell Lily I said hello," my mom tells me before I leave with a piece of toast in hand.

As I pulled out of my driveway, I thought about my biology test. I barely passed that class during my sophomore year, and now I'm taking AP biology this year. 'I must be crazy', I thought to myself.

By the time I got to Lily's house, I felt my palms sweat thinking about my final grade after yesterday's test.

Knocking on the door I expected Lily to answer, but instead a familiar brunette opened it.

"Oh, hey Aiden," I walked in giving him a side hug.

"Nice to see you again Dakota," he beamed. "Lily is just finishing upstairs, but she'll be down in a minute."

"Cool, thanks." I stepped away from the door, closer to the stairs. "I forgot to ask you yesterday, how long are you staying? It's Thanksgiving break for you right now, so probably not that long?"

"Well last time I checked, I'll be here for two weeks." I felt my shoulders drop slightly with disappointment. "Oh," I  replied and nodded.

"Hey," he stepped towards me, "A lot can happen in two weeks." He smirked.

"Sorry I took so long! I slept through my alarm!" Lily ran down the stairs while tying her hair up.

"Did I interrupt something?" She gave an innocent smile. "Nope, you ready?"

"Yeah, come on," she threw her backpack over her shoulder.

"See ya," I squeezed Aiden's shoulder and walked passed him. He smiled giving me a small wave.

"If Lani comes by, make sure to-" "I got it Lily, you guys need to go or else you'll be late! I don't think Dakota would mind, but you on the other hand-"

"You're right! Come on Dakota!" She exclaimed dragging me out the door.

As I drove down the street, my phone buzzed. "Hey can you check who that was?" I nodded towards the cup holder where my phone sat. Lily reaches for it and read aloud, "You've got two notifications, a text from Gabriella and," she looked up with a meager gasp, "an Amber Alert." My shoulders dropped, "Wow. Haven't gotten that alert since we were sophomores. I was hoping I'd never have to hear it again." "Yeah, I feel awful for the family."

Chatham, Virginia was a safe place, but knowing that someone from a few cities away being abducted, is quite a scary thought knowing it could've been you.

We stayed silent for the rest of the way to school until a few of my other friends called for me. "Come on," I told Lily and threw my backpack on before closing the car door. "You know I'm not good with socializing!"

"Who said you had to talk them?" She sighed in defeat, "No one."

Slinging an arm over her shoulders, "Let's go Lily," I laughed.

"Dakota! And Lily..." Gabriella called out with her twin sister Grace beside her.

"Hey guys," I smiled brightly at them. "Incoming," Lily whispered to me. She nodded over to Kaylee who was coming our way.

"Oh my god you guys, did you get the amber alert!" We all nodded, unsure of what to say. "Well," she continued. "That's horrible, but I'm so glad that it's not me or else I wouldn't have been able to go on my date with Justin tonight!" The whole group besides Lily and I squealed.

"I have no idea what I'm going to wear," "Maybe you can-" I instantly tuned them out as they discussed the date.

"Seriously? You think that's more important?" Lily finally spoke out. The girls looked at her with confusion in their eyes.

"For Pete's sake, a kid was abducted! And all you guys care about is what she should wear to impress Justin on their date. First world problems honey!" She exasperated.

"What's her problem?" Kaylee looked at me.

Ignoring her, I grabbed Lily's arm, "We should go." Leaving the group, she looked at me, "Why do you talk to them anyway? Why are you friends with them?"

"I don't know. I guess it's just the fear of feeling-" cutting me off, the bell rang. "Sorry, tell me later. I can't be late for class, perfect attendance right here!" She hurried to her first period as I laughed a bit.

"Feeling alone," I finished my sentence to myself and headed to my first class as well.

•••

"A best friend is someone who loves you when you forget to love yourself."

***Key phrase: "Feeling alone" ~ Remember that.

End of Chapter 5! Very small discussion with Dakota's group of friends, but more to come in the future! P.s. What do you think of Aiden huh? Anyway, make sure to vote, comment, and share this to others!

Let's get to know each other!

Q | Have you ever gotten an Amber Alert?

A | I got one at the middle of the night when I was sleeping. I woke up and the piercing sound it had freaked me out and I almost cried. They're kind of scary, and you just want to turn it off as soon as it alerts to make it stop. It's even worse knowing that someone had been kidnapped. :(