Freak Show (Carnival Series book 1)

Chapter 11

I woke up to a hand shaking my arm lightly. "Andraya, wake up. Someone's here to see you." I turn over and find my sister standing beside me, her eyes wide with excitement. I groan and roll over onto my pillow. I stretch and sit up. I don't see Trevor anywhere. He must not have come back. I get out of bed and go see what my sister was talking about. She was standing at the railing, looking out the window at the street. I didn't see anything, so I went to the door andd opened it. The last person I was expecting to be at my door was standing in front of me. Jc Caylen. 

I slam the door shut and run up to my room to get dressed. I pull out a red floral patterned tank top and a white cardigan. Then I just throw on some dark skinny jeans and throw my hair into a high, messy bun. I never took of my makeup from yesterday, and it still looked good, so I left it. I run back downstairs, and Jc was still waiting at the door. 

"H-hi." I say nervously. He smiles. 

"Hi, are you Andraya?" He asks me. I nod. Then his smile fades, and I begin to worry. "Trevor didn't come home this morning, and they're really worried. Is he here?" I shake my head.

"No, he left yesterday. He didn't stay the night. Do you have any idea as to where he is?" I ask him, my throat getting tight with fear. I put on my white converse and go outside. Jc turns and looks at the street. 

"I have no idea where he might be. I don't hang out with him as much as the other boys do, so I don't really know where he goes a lot of the time. His parents ent me here, to try and find him. I was hoping maybe he just slept in too long." I look at my watch. 11:30? Wow, for someone who went to bed before eight,  I sure did sleep in. I over at Jc, and I notice his eyes glistening. He was worried about Trevor. It's my fault he ran away. 

"I'm sorry. It's my fault he's missing. I'll help find him," Jc turns to look at me. "I'm sorry." I whisper. My throat felt like i had just dry swallowed a big pill. 

"How is it your fault? It was his choice to...run away." Jc stumbled over his words, not willing to call it what it is. I shook my head and look away from him. 

"He kissed me, and I-I told him I didn't want to date him. It's my fault." Tears were falling down my cheeks, without my permissioin. Jc took one hand and swiped them away. 

"Don't worry. We'll find him. Would you like to help us?" I nod. Jc takes my hand and leads me to his car. 

"Wait, I need to tell my family I'm leaving." I run back inside and grab a pen and paper. I write them a note, saying that I'm going to look for Trevor. I run back outside, Jc waiting for me in his car. As I walked up, Jc opened the car door. I sat down in the leather seat. As I was buckling up, Jc started to drive away. I stared out the window and watched the houses go by. Children were outside, playing with toys, or playing in a sprinkler. We stopped outside a large home. The house looked like a modernized castle. 

"Where are we?" I asked Jc. 

"This," he starts. "Is Trevor's home. We have to tell his parents he wasn't at your house." I gulp. I am not prepared to do this. Jc starts getting out of the car and I do the same, only much slower. Jc comes around and opens the door for me. 

"Thank you." I say to him. He nods and leads me towards the home. With every step, my heart rate increases. What if they hate me, because I'm the reason their son ran away? What if they sue my family for not properly watching him while he was with us? The list of possibilities was endless. Jc knocked on the door. I held my breath, hoping for the best. A small woman, probably in her lat 40's, comes up to the door. She was smiling, but when she noticed Trevor was not with us, her smile faded. 

"Hi, Jc. Who's this? she asks, pointing to me. 

"This is Andraya. Trevor was supposed to spend the night at her house. He apparently didn't stay the night." Jc explains.

"I thought he was going home. But I guess not." I say to the woman, who I'm assuming is Trevor's mother. I look down at my shoes,  not wanting to see what was going to happen next. 

"Do you blame yourself, Andraya?" she asks me. I look up at her, confused by her question. She was clearly upset, but not at me. 

"Yes," I say to her. 

"Why?"

"Because I made him upset, and he ran off. It's my fault, I take full responsibilty." She shook her head. 

"It's not your fault. He chose to do this, not you." I nod. Jc had said that to me. Trevor's mother rested her hand on my shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Andraya. Don't" She pulled me into an awkward hug. I hugged her back lightly, but she was squeezing me. I felt her shaking, probably crying. She pulled away from me, her mascara running down her face. She motioned for Jc and I to come in. 

This is actually going slightly better than I thought.