the Blaine incident: the taking

Chapter 3 - The happening

"I wonder now how tough you have to be to get big things done."

-Walter Isaacson

Weeks pass. Blaine and Finley growing closer and closer, pushing me further away from her than I was before I knew her.

One night, I was getting ready for bed, brushing, washing, moisturizing, changing. I turned on an episode of The Buddy System and turned the lights off. I'm sure I had been asleep for 2 hours, and I hear a knock at the door. Groan. "...who is it?"

"We need your help, Mona. Get your ass up." Nico whisper-shouted at me, my room was directly across from Georgie's.

"What the hell is going on?" I hear him run back down the hall, no answer. God damn it, Nico. What could possibly be going on at 1:00am? Rising from my bed, I slip on my sneakers and grab hoodie just in case they make me go outside. I start down the hall, the fluorescent lights and concrete floors making my head spin. Georgie is making her rounds, telling Kelly and Kimber to slow their roll on the weed tonight, the world isn't ending tomorrow after all. I hear them say "you never know" giggling and shutting the door in her face. She turns around and notices me, "what are you staring at?" I have a witty remark, but choose to save my words (and my night.) Making it closer the end of the hall, the lights start making me more and more dizzy. I see Nico.

"Nico! What the hell is going on?"

"Hurry!" He runs into the lounge, and I run after him — tripping on my shoelace. I'm stunned upon making it into the lounge. There sits Blaine. Without Fin. Crying. Without Fin. Being comforted by our friends. Without Finley.

"Where...where is she?" I stutter. Blaine gives me this look, tears streaming down her face.

"I said...where the hell is she?" Blaine goes into hysterics. Saying she doesn't understand what happened. More excuses. I stop hearing her. I stop hearing everyone. They're all crying. They're all looking to me for guidance.

She's gone.

Me and her... against the world.

I feel every sense leaving my body, at this point everyone could probably feel my skin vibrating. Nico and Moira lead me to a seat. "I need a minute," I whisper. Rising once more from my seat, I quickly fall to my knees and cry. I cry until the sun comes up, my friends take my phone and email my professors saying, "I'm sorry Mr./Mrs. So-and-so, I will not be attending class today, I am very very ill and will likely be in the hospital this week. Sincerely, Ramona Temmer." One by one my friends leave me to go to their classes. Blaine and I sit. At one point, a boy from 506, Kian bring us lunch. Two turkey sandwiches, two bags of Lays, and two waters. The food sat there all day, so did we. 7:32pm rolls around, friends start shuffling back in. We all sit and stare. I keep expected Finely to come back from her Shakespeare lecture, but the time never comes. Every minute passes, but none of them matter. Nico looks at me, grabs his laptop and plays an episode from The Buddy System for me. Finally, I grab a sandwich and hand it to Blaine and grab the other one for myself. We eat and watch until the sun comes up once again.

"Mona, I don't know if you want to hear this..." I cut Moira off pretty quickly.

"I don't want to hear anything. But say it." I whisper.

"Well, I have a plan to get her back." Everyone in the room looks at her, and I snap, "What the fuck does that mean? "Get her back"? She's fucking gone, Moira. There is no getting someone back after they've been taken. 'Tis the way of the fucking world. Jesus Christ. Stop it with your I-can-fix-the-goddamn-system bullshit." I start crying, harder than before. Moira shuts up pretty quickly. I know she'll speak up again, but for now I don't have to think. I'm staring down at my sneakers and tug at my sweatshirt, I can't stop thinking. What if we can get her back? What if we've all been wrong this whole time? My mom once told me of the day my grandmother got taken, they never even thought to get her back. Their lives carried on while my grandmother was pulled out of her world. She was taken at 34 after having 3 kids, at least she got to live that life. Finely probably won't get to live this life. My grandma was just walking home from the grocery store, my mom found milk and her moms purse laying right outside the front gate. She told me she just grabbed her stuff and made herself a bowl of cereal. At 7 years-old my mom just didn't understand, when her mom never came back she just thought it's what happened to women at a certain age. No one knows why certain women get taken.

"Wh—" I pause because my voice cracked, "What do you think it was about her that made them take her?"

"Jesus, Ramona, you know it's not ever someone's fault when they get taken. It just fucking happens." Nico declares, using a tone I've not yet heard from him.

"That's not what I mean. I mean, how can I get taken?" The group stares at me. A resounding no and multiple friends brought to tears told me this was an idea worth looking in to. "Mo?" I turned to Moira who was staying pretty quiet for once.

"That was my idea, you prick." I smiled for the first time in 48 hours.