Flickering Shadows

Disappeared (Chapter 5)

DISAPPEARED

I WAS FAR too nervous to speak to Dylan right away-plus, there was no doubt in my mind that he was being swarmed by girls-so I thought that I would visit Shelley.  I walked past the nurse's station, and then knocked on her door. "Shelley?" I said in a singsong voice. I knocked again. "You there?" There was no reply. 

           I peeked inside the rec room and the computer lab.  I searched the bathroom and the showers. Shelley was nowhere to be seen.

           I started wandering the halls, looking into every room, but I could find no Shelley.  How was she out of her bed anyway? With a broken leg and all, how was she walking around? Finally, after lapping the hospital at least five times, I went into the big glass therapy office.  Facing the receptionist-Jenn, as I had learned her name as-was the last thing I wanted to do right now, but it had to be done.  "Good afternoon, Jenn." I strode up to her with as much confidence as I could fake. "Do you know if Shelley DuBose is in here now?"

           Jenn didn't even look down at her appointment book. "Nope, she's not here."

           "Do you know where she is?"

           "Yep."

           I sighed irritably. "Can you tell me where she is?"

           Jenn glanced around the office and lowered her voice. "I can, if you promise not to tell anyone that I told you." I nodded vigorously. "She's at another hospital for a while."

           My eyes widened. "What? Why?" I shrieked.

           She shushed me, and went on. "The doctors want to keep this as quiet as possible so you really shouldn't know why..." she debated with herself about telling me or not. "...but I will tell you anyway. She's your friend and all. Turns out your friend has a bit of a drug problem-a big drug problem."

           I was about to ask what drug Shelley was on and how on earth she got it, but Jenn read my mind and answered it for me. "The chick had a small suitcase full of OxyContin and heroin! I have no idea how she got that in; she probably charmed them into not checking that particular bag.  Anyway, she took a little more than she usually did last night, and mixed it with some heroin. She majorly overdosed, and is at the University of Colorado Hospital now until further notice." The was Jenn talked amazed me. Her mouth moved at a hundred miles an hour and her hands had a mind of their own, explaining her story even further. She should consider a career as a professional gossiper.

           I was in shock. Shelley, a druggie; I would never have guessed that. "Will she make it?"

           Jenn laughed. "Nobody knows.  Last I heard it doesn't look so good though."

           I gave her an I-don't-think-this-is-very-funny glare. "Did they find her stash, though?"

           "A small suitcase of drugs is hard to miss. They also found some sharps-needles and safety pins-stuck into the sides of that suitcase, which she's presumably been using to hurt herself." She took a pen from her desk and melodramatically pretended to gouge it across her wrists.

           "Never judge a book by its cover..." I muttered. Who would ever guess that Shelley, sweet, happy, beautiful Shelley, was a cutting, drug addict?

           "Indeed. I am very surprised that you didn't already know though. Didn't you see the commotion in her room on Saturday night?"

           I thought about it, and I hadn't. I had managed to fall asleep last night, and didn't hear anything. "Nope."

           "Interesting." Jenn nodded, and she turned back to her work.  I took this as my cue to leave. What a lovely conversation that had been.  Now the question remained: Do I wait for Shelley to get back, or should I go approach Dylan now?

           I walked down the hall and vowed that I would talk to Dylan if he wasn't surrounded by girls. I would make my move. At that precise moment, I slammed into something big and hard, making me stumble, and finally fall over.  I looked up to see that it was none other than Dylan Armstrong...and Amanda.

           I blushed furiously and hurriedly tried to get off the floor.  To my surprise, he held out his hand and I cautiously took it. Dylan pulled me off the ground and back on my feet with ease. I rushed to get the words out, and my stuttering made it nearly impossible to understand. "I-I'm so sorry! I-I w-wasn't looking where I was g-going a-and-"

           He cut me off and said coolly, "Hey, it's cool."

           Amanda was furious that I had interrupted whatever they had been doing before I clumsily crashed into them, but she didn't let it show in her voice. In her eyes, though, was murder. The phrase 'if looks could kill' suddenly ran through my mind, and I shuddered at the thought. Amanda spoke in a tone that was forcibly calm, "Dylan, this is Lucy." She spit out my name with venom.

           Dylan didn't seem to notice; he looked at me with me curious, dark blue eyes.  "Lucy." He repeated in a whisper.  I nearly died, which I'm sure Amanda would not have minded.  I loved the way he said my name.

           "H-hi, um, Dylan." I stammered again; I cursed myself mentally for being such a nervous freak. Why couldn't I be cool and calm like him?

           He chuckled, and continued to stare at me. His gaze made me nervous, like he was listening to my thoughts, yet I loved it, because no one ever paid me much attention. Amanda hated not being the center of attention for even just a few seconds, and she soon stole my spotlight.  "Dilly," She even had a nickname for him already. "Let's go." Amanda whined, pulling him by the arm.

           Dylan seemed unwilling, but he soon allowed himself to be pulled away. "Catch you later." He called to me, before he was pulled around the corner. Amanda shot me one last poisonous glare before she, too, disappeared.

           "Bye!" I yelled after him, a second too late.

           I sighed in ecstasy-I think I'm in love.