Coincidences

Act LVII

Last night, I woke up all of the sudden for no apparent reason. My dream wasn't the problem; in fact, I was enjoying it, until I sat up and forgot about it. I managed to fall back to sleep, but, before that, I glimpsed over to Zoey's room, right exactly at the time when a lamp there was lit. It was around two o three o'clock, so I wonder what she could be doing at that hour, but, as I said, I fell asleep.

Then, I woke up once again, just that, this time, it was morning. A new day, a fresh start. No school today, although it's been, like, a week, since the school year started. Oh, well. Today's important.

Today's the day I'll take Zoey out on a real date.

When I grabbed the cash and got dressed, tidied up, and had a few spoonfuls of Frosties cereal, I made my way immediately to her porch, knocked on the door and waited patiently for someone to answer. Just in case, at least, every once in a while, I checked if she may be trying to avoid me by leaving through a different exit, because, for fifteen minutes, no one opened the door. Not even a holler saying they're busy or something.

I fetched my phone for my pocket and called her through the phone. I didn't hear a ringtone inside, but it was ringing. It means that, either she left it on silent mode, vibrate mode, or, the worst possible scenario, not home. Did she leave last night? Was that the reason why the lamp was on? I should have been more alert at the time, but now is not a reason to give up.

I left and scrambled down the steps to the beach. I still have her house in my sights, so, if she thinks she's good to go, I'll see for myself. I have Dad's binoculars with me. I may have not mentioned it, but these babies cover a huge radius. Meanwhile, I marched my way north, towards the pier.

A reasonably long amount of time later, I find myself on the wooden boards of the pier, with the binoculars on one hand and some Lays on the other. I haven't seen the slightest disturbance around my neighborhood, and this area is clear, so where is she? I must have called like four time in this hour alone. It still rang, fortunately, but the fact bothers me nonetheless.

I tossed my trash to the bin, and my feet took me to Gusto's. Normally, the two of us would hang out in here, and, sometimes, she comes here alone, but Mr. Ravinetti claimed to have never seen her today. I repaid his help by purchasing some ice cream on the go, the usual flavor, but, while I ate the melting treat for the second day in a row, I still felt dissatisfied.

I checked her house one more time, but there wasn't any change at all. The place seemed so serene, like it was absolutely empty, and no one's home. It was half past ten already.

Where can she possibly be? There was no way I was giving up. There must be a way.

I speed dialled Johhny's landline and a voice message sung through the speaker. It was quite creative, actually. It went, "If you're hearing this, it's probably because I can't or don't want to speak with anyone right now. I don't give a―beep." Perfect usage of the tone. I tried again with his mobile, but same thing. He wasn't picking up. After that, I tried her mom's phone, but it seems I have no luck. Ok, so that's that.

I thought of a mental map and pinpointed the possible places where she can be at. The school? No, why go there on a free day? The mall? Not sure about that. It opens at 10, and I was vigilant with her house, I think. The town hall, the station, the northern part of the coast. Nothing. There's no reason for her to be there. The Rimsons residence? If anything, she'd be avoiding that. Where is she?!

My hands were coated with cream, and they were making them all sticky. I wiped them with a napkin I got from earlier from the shop, and threw it to the trash can. The same one from several minutes back. I've been going in circles. It'd be better, if I checked the Hudson's house again. Until...

Rocky appeared right in front of me.