Road in the Night

4

When the sun rises, and the twins start moving around, I make sure I say nothing. My throat is raw, and the words might come out. I wonder where Kate is now. Is she in a basement being starved, or is she being raped in some guys house? I shudder. I think of Michelle Knight, who was kidnapped, raped and kept in a basement for 11 years. That could be Kate now.

I get up finally and shower. The dirty water runs down the drain, but no matter how many times I scrub myself raw, I still feel dirty.

I put a lot of concealer on, but they won't cover up my under eyes. Giving up, I dress in my favorite sweater and jeans, even though it is warm out. I feel cold inside.

Mya honks and I walk outside.

"Hey. Why'd you leave early last night?" Mya asks applying another layer of lipstick. I shrug.

"I felt sick. Sorry." I choke out. It feels good to talk.

"Aw, it's ok Liya. You could have asked me for a ride home." She says, her words softening. Nothing is said for a while.

"I love you, Mya." I say. Mya smiles, and echo's me.

I feel a bit better when I exit the car. Spotting Chris, Mya and I go to greet him.

"Hey guys! I ate rancid cheerios this morning. It was so gross!" Chris says, flinging himself into an energetic story about cheerios. I find myself laughing.

Smiling, I head off too Science. It's not my fault, I tell myself. I tried to help Kate, there's nothing else I could do.

I sit down at my seat. Looking up, I see Kate's seat right in front of me. She sat there, breathed there, lived there, in that seat. Sighing, I glance back down at my notebook. Mr. Gentler starts taking roll.

"Mya Reckler?" He calls. I glance up.

"Here." I reply.

"Kate Ringley?" He calls. I breathe in. No answer. I can almost hear her sweet voice saying, Here. I almost choke.

"Not here." Mr. Gendler murmurs, making a mark on his attendance sheet. A whisper moves through the class. Alex, my seat partner says something to me.

"Huh?" I say.

"She's like, never absent. Kate's got to be like dying or something!" He says, biting the end of his pencil eraser. I shudder. Yeah, Kate's sure dying somewhere. Alex stares at me weirdly, and my heart picks up. Does he know?

"You wore that shirt yesterday." He says. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh, no I have two of the same shirt." I whisper.

Today I don't write any notes. I don't even hear Mr. Gendler speak. Kate is only on my mind. I think of how everyone adored her, how they were kind. I think about how happy she was when she won top student. And I think about her empty desk.

At lunch, I force myself to take a bite of my ham sandwich. Evan sits next to me.

"Hey, you good Liya? You're kind of quiet today." He says, poking my arm.

"Headache." I murmur. He nods, and his face lights up when Stephanie kisses him on the back of the head.

"Hey Evan, what's up Liya?" She says hugging me. I soak in her love. Would she still hug me if she knew what I knew?

"Well guys, I'm trying to decide what today's lunch is. Like, um a piece of couch, or coal?" Chris says, sticking his tongue out.

"I decided not to get the mystery meat today." Mya says, indicating too her salad as she sits next to me. I look at Chris's plate.

"Maybe it's meatloaf, or a hamburger patty. "Stephanie says. She makes a face like she ate a lemon.

"Looks, sort of like really burnt meatloaf too me." I say, laughing. Every day, our table will try to decide what the food is.

"It would help if they had a menu. Or like a sign, saying oh, today is soup. "Evan chuckles.

"Yeah, but this school is run by idiots on steroids." I say. I am always thankful for my sandwich. Chris takes a tiny bite, and spits it out.

"Tastes like burnt toast!" He exclaims. The table bursts out laughing. I take a nibble. Eww! I spit it out, scraping my tongue with my napkin.

"IT IS BURNT TOAST!" I screech. Our table is dying of laughter. Finally, we calm down, wheezing softly.

"Oh, hey guys? Did you hear that Kate is missing?" Chris says. I choke on my sandwich.