The Lost Castaway

Chapter 23 (Adrian)

It's been months since Alexa went missing. School is starting again and it's so weird not having her around. I can't focus on anything but her right now. And school is getting in the way of that.

"Dude you look like sh*t." Tanner greeted. "Good morning to you to." I said back. "Tanner give him a break." Natalie scolded. "All jokes aside Adrian, have you seen yourself? You got to start taking care of yourself again dude." Tanner said concerned. "What's the point?" I said. It was true, all I care about is finding Alexa. My looks don't matter anymore.

"Have you eaten today?" Natalie asks me as we walk to class. "Uhh... I don't know." I honestly don't remember. My mind has been flying a lot and I don't realize the things I'm actually doing. "Here eat it quick." Nat hands me a sandwich. "Thanks." I finished the sandwich right in time as the bell rang.

I checked the clock. Only 8 more hours before I can get out of here. I miss Alexa, we just started something new. It was like it was a summer fling. But Alexa is more than that. My whole world revolves around her even when she isn't around. I've always knew that I would fall for her. How could I not? We grew up together. We were meant to be best friends and more.

"Adrian!" Ms Fitz caught me off guard. "Yes Ms?" I focused on her. "Are you with the class or else where?" She raised a brow at me. "I'm sorry Ms won't happen again." She continued on with her lecture. "Psst." Natalie passed me a note. "I love you and all. But you got to put your life together. I know you miss her and she's all you can think about but you have other responsibilities here. Alexa wouldn't want you to begin flunking now. I know she wouldn't want you getting sick either. You better change something here. Please help yourself."

I look at Nat and her attention was on the board. She was blunt but it was all true... I need to get my act together. This was my chance to have time off thinking about her. It was good for me. "It's good for me" I whispered to myself.

At our next class we were early. We sat in our usual seats. With an empty seat between Nat and I. Not thinking about her is so hard. But for the first time this year I understood my lessons. I wasn't going to cram my homework with Nat trying to teach me everything. A guy walked into the classroom and took a seat between Nat and I.

"That seat is taken." I said firmly. "It's been empty the whole year. I figured I'd move up from the back." "But it's taken! Okay? Get off." "Adrian relax. It's just a seat." Nat tried to clam me down. "I won't relax. That's her seat ok? And no one takes it!" I shouted. The whole classroom was silent. I knew they all thought I was crazy. "Ok geez I'm sorry man." He began to walk away but Nat stopped him. "Here take my seat I'll sit beside my raging cousin here. Don't worry about it." He thanked her and we all took our seats again.

"Nat for the past two years Lexa's been sitting there..." I whispered. "I know, at the beginning it was hard as well but Adrian we can't just leave an open seat. If someone wants to sit then it's their right to." She turned away from me and I began to tune out the lesson. I wasn't in the mood for this dump anymore. The Bell ran and I was the first off my seat.

"Adrian! Can I see you for a minute." Ms Spears called our. "Yes Ms..." I said in a monotone. "Look young man. I know you are having a hard time dealing with Alexa's disappearance. The faculty is concerned about you performance here in school. But we are more concerned of your well being. The guidance counselor is free during lunch to meet with you. Please try it. It might help ease the pain." With that she turned around and left. I walked out of the classroom and Natalie was there waiting for me.

"What did she say?" She asked. "She told me to go see the guidance counselor." "Are you going to? Ms Grace is nice to talk to. I went to her at the beginning of the year and it helped." Nat encouraged. "Nat what if we never find Alexa anymore? What will we do then? We don't even know if she's..." I stopped myself. "Adrian don't say that. Alexa is strong. We'll find her, we'll take her back home. Everything will be the way it used to be. It has too..." Natalie became quiet. I looked at her and tears were silently running down her face.

"Ssshhh... Everything will be fine right? You said it yourself, she strong." I hugged her until her tears stopped flowing. Natalie nodded and we continued to class. We were late but when Mr Rodriguez saw our faces he knew we dealt with something.

Lunch came and I was still contemplation on seeing Ms Grace. "Are you planning on getting anything to eat? Or just watching us?" Tanner asked. "I'll get something." I got a burger and sat back down. I took a bite and finished it fast. "I'll see you guys in class." I've decided I'll try talking to Ms Grace. If it'll help, me it's worth a shot.

I knocked on her door waiting for someone to answer. "Come in." I opened it and sat in front of her. "Good afternoon Adrian. How can I help you today?" "I don't know..." I told her. "Maybe you can start by telling me why you decided to see me." "Natalie told me how much it helped her talking to you... it's been so hard..." I started slowly. "What's been bothering you Adrian."

"I feel like... It was my fault. I didn't save her. I could've saved her..." I could've saved her. I could've saved her... it kept echoing in my head. "Until today, I'm letting her down. Natalie's been on top of thing trying to find her. I've been moping around. I'm always out of it." I took a breath. "I always want to help out more, fix myself. Be okay again. But it's so hard..." tears were starting to form in my eyes. "I'm sorry I can't continue this today. I have to go." And I ran out of their straight to the car. I didn't feel like going back to class so instead I drove to a coffee shop to wait for Nat to finish class.

~

It's the next day and I wasn't in the mood to get out of bed at all. "Come on Adrian we're going to be late. And I don't want to drive myself. Get up!" Natalie's been tugging on my legs the whole morning. I'm currently holding onto a pillow and the side of my bed struggling against her. "Nat I'm tired... I was up all night. I couldn't sleep so leave me alone." I turned away from her and tried going back to sleep.

"It's alright Nat. I'll take you to school on my way to work. I'll deal with him later." Mom said. "Thanks Aunt Carol. If I had known earlier I could've rode with my parents." Finally I was alone. Everything was quiet again. Now it's time to go back to bed.

*ring* *ring* *ring* *ring* I wasn't even asleep for long when my phone began ringing. "Hello?" I answered. "Adrian! Pete called. There's a lead to where Alexa was last seen! He told me to meet him during lunch in the coffee shop near school." Natalie screamed through the phone. "That's Great!!! I meet you at school in a bit." I jumped out of bed and straight to the bathroom. I took a shower in lightning speed. I put some clothes on grabbed a bagel and I was out of the house in no time.

I didn't want to be in school but if it meant news on Alexa I would go any day. Like yesterday teacher were talking to me, they were concerned about my well being. I assured them that I'm alright. And I would try to keep my attention on the lesson better. I couldn't wait until lunch.

Finally lunch rolled by. Nat and I ran out the school doors, into the car, out the school ground and on the way to the coffee shop. I was beyond eager to hear Pete's news. We haven't heard from him in a few weeks now.

"Well good day to the two of you." Pete greeted when we sat in front of him. "What's the news Pete?" I asked. "Is it good news?" Natalie followed. "It's a good start for good news. In a beach a few kilometers away, three months ago a girl was found unconscious on the shore. Apparently a family rescued her and brought her to the hospital. Unfortunately they don't have the families name. But they have the hospital the girl was brought to." He explained.

"So Alexa is alive?" I said hopeful. "It's not a guarantee who the girl is yet. But with luck on our side Alexa is the girl. Don't keep your hopes up just yet. I'll investigate further and let you know right away." Pete stood up ready to leave. "I better go now, I have more work to do. Enjoy the rest of your day." He said.

"We almost found her..." Nat smiled at me. "I have a gut feeling it's her. And I know she's alive." I told her. The two of us ordered some food to go before going back to school. The rest of the day I was in a pretty good mood. I actually learned something new today.

A few days later Pete called he found the family's contact details. He said he would let us know when the call back, and update us from there. Just a few more days and hopefully this nightmare will end.

~

It's almost the end for this story. I'll be posting the last two chapters soon. And maybe an epilogue. I hope you enjoyed reading Alexa and Maddie's life stories as much as I enjoyed writing. 😍