Royal's Way

Chapter 3

I awoke to the sound of my mother's footsteps down the hall.

The room was cold. It was raining again.
I felt a strange disconnection with the world around me that morning. I listened to the thunder, the rain. But it felt way distant.

"Levi!"
I sighed. I probably was supposed to be awake. I was the complete opposite.
My mom opened the door, her expression falling when she spotted me still in bed. "I thought you were awake." I hugged my pillow. "Sorry, mom. I just don't feel good today." My mom's expression immediately turned soft. "It was probably that party. There's probably a million sick kids there." She was about to leave, but she stopped. "You didn't drink last night, did you?" I groaned, rolling my eyes. "No, mom." "Okay, okay. Sorry." She leaned against the doorway. "I'm paranoid. I didn't think you would." She cocked her head in the direction of the hall. "A girl is here for you."

My heart lifted. "Rachel?" "No," she replied, my heart immediately sinking. "The girl from down the neighborhood. I think her name is Miriam?"
I had a mix of feelings when I heard that. We didn't say a word when we headed home; she must've been worried. "Oh." "You want me to tell her to come later?" "No, no. I'll be there in a second."

I threw on some random jeans, not bothering with changing my shirt. She wouldn't notice I slept in it, anyway.

I approached the front door, taking the knob and pulling the door open.

Miriam's eyes darted from the ground to me, a small smile appearing on her face. "Hey."
I rose a brow. "Hey." "I was just... coming over to make sure you were okay." Her eyes darted for a moment. "We don't have to talk about what happened in the truck."

I shrugged, shuddering a bit at the thought of last night's events. "Yeah, I'm good. Ian's fine, too. We were just... a little shaken up." "Quinn's truck is fine," Miriam continued, "She didn't even know. I just drove it back to the party, got her in, and we drove to her house, then I went home. It's like nothing ever happened." I sighed quietly of relief. That was one of my concerns; that Quinn would find out and murder us. "That's good. Maybe we can pretend none of it happened."

Her expression briefly darkened, but when the thought satisfied her, she smiled. "None of what happened?"
I smiled back. But I knew I wasn't going to forget what happened.

She reached into her pocket, taking out her phone. "Do you wanna exchange numbers?"
Her attempt to lighten the mood did make me feel a little warmer. I smiled, nodded, and said, "Sure. Let me get my phone."

I turned and jogged up the stairs. Ian was still asleep in the room beside mine.

I entered my room, taking my phone off the nightstand.
As if on cue, it began ringing. A hope for it to be Rachel rose in my mind.

But instead, I got the closest thing to it: her mother, Debora.

I rose a brow, lifting the phone to my ear. "H-Hello?" Nice stammer, idiot.

"Hi, Levi. Did Rachel sleep over at your place last night?"

My heart dropped. "No. Why? Didn't she come home?" "No." A worried tone rose in her voice. "I called her three times. No answer."

I scowled, feeling the same worry she did. "I'll try calling her." "Thank you, Levi," she whimpered, before I hung up.

I stood silent for a moment, the phone hovering by my ear. Regret immediately filled my stomach; why didn't I make Rachel ride with us?

I exited my room and headed down stairs. Miriam immediately had a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong?"
I stopped in front of her, swallowing heavily. "Uh... I-I just got a call from Rachel's mom." I bit my lip. "Rachel never went home last night."
Miriam's expression was blank for a moment, frozen with her phone in her hand. She finally scowled. "I never saw her."