I was about one-hundred pages from finishing my favorite book when my cell phone rang. I barely concealed my groan before reaching forward and plucking my phone from my jeans’ pocket. The thought of talking to someone at the moment wasn’t all that pleasant—I was reading—but if I ignored the call, I'd just have to listen to the message and call back. That thought was even more unpleasant.
“Hello?” I muttered, bringing a hand through my un-brushed, dirty-blond hair.
“Hey,” a small, young voice replied. Tommy, my little brother. My eyebrows shot upward with surprise. What was Tommy still doing up? The eight-year-old was supposed to be in bed by eight o’clock. And, I realized when I spared a glance in my alarm clock’s direction, it was almost nine.
“Tommy, what are you doing up?” I demanded. “You’re going to get in trouble with Mom and Dad, little man.”
“Serenity hasn’t come home,” Tommy mumbled. “At first they were mad, but now they’re getting scared.”
I didn’t answer for a moment. Serenity hadn’t come home? My younger sister never stayed out later than she was supposed to. She, like me, was responsible. No one in our family really misbehaved, never stepped out of line so badly that we got grounded. So for Serenity to stay out this late on a school night without our parents’ permission…it was odd. “What time was she supposed to be home?” I asked.
“Seven.” Tommy let out a shaky sigh. I tensed. Was he crying? “Skylar, I’m scared,” he whimpered. “So is Angie.”
Angie, my thirteen-year-old sibling. My stomach tightened uncomfortably. If Angie was worried, then I should be, too. Angie never worried about anything. Anything. “Everything’s probably fine,” I replied comfortingly, though the pit in my stomach proved that I was lying. “She probably lost track of time, that’s all. What was she doing today?”
“Going over to Maddi’s,” Tommy answered, sniffling. “They have a test coming up.”
“So she and Maddi probably got distracted,” I reasoned, though I didn’t believe my words. Serenity wouldn’t have gotten distracted—not that distracted anyway. It wasn’t like her. “Everything will be okay, Tommy. I’m sure she’ll be home soon.”
“Mom called Maddi’s mom,” Tommy said softly. “She wasn’t there.”
I sat up completely now, my book falling beside me. Fear flitted through me, and I had to swallow before I could answer my brother. What was going on? Had something happened to Serenity? “Everything will be fine, Tommy.” I brought a hand through my hair. “Why don’t you and Angie go watch some Netflix for a while? Get your minds off of things.”
Tommy didn’t answer for a moment. “Okay.”
After a few more comforting words, I hung up his phone and stared blankly at the wall. Worry threatened to consume me. Serenity hadn’t come home. She wasn’t at the last place our family knew she located. She could have been anywhere. What if something terrible had happened to her?
My thoughts were cut off as Sean James, my roommate, opened the dorm’s door and stepped inside. Sean had a smile on his face, an expression that always fitted his facial features after he hung out with his girlfriend, Cassidy. The two roommates looked absolutely nothing alike, with Sean being tan and brunette and me being pale and blond; My eyes were a completely different shade of blue than Sean’s. A little, more baby-like blue. “Hey,” I greeted as Sean kicked off his shoes and fell back on his bed. “How was your date with Cass?”
“Great,” Sean replied. He glanced up, and his smile faltered when he saw my expression. “What’s going on?” he demanded, sitting up. “Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know,” I replied truthfully. “No one knows where my sister is, and she was supposed to be home by seven.”
Sean’s lips pursed. “Serenity or Angie?”
“Serenity.”
“Do you think maybe she’s just running late?” Sean asked, his eyebrows crinkling with thought as he tried to think of the most harmless explanation. “Got lost or something?”
“I don’t know.” I sighed and brought a hand through my hair. “Something about this just feels…wrong.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Sean muttered.
“Yeah,” I lied, “I’m sure she is, too.”
