Vanish: Sasha

-»13, Evade

Dad pulled up outside school like he promised. "Please don't get into anymore trouble." I grabbed my bag from the back seat and opened my door. "Love you!" He yelled before I closed the door and made my way across the parking lot to the steps of school.

When I open the doors, a warm feeling runs through me almost like I miss being here. Not really. My eyes scan the walls of the hallway at the pieces of paper posted everywhere. I picked one up and read over it. It was a missing persons poster for Addison. Seems like the school is doing more work than the police.

"You should try not blocking the entrance." Patrick strolled over to me and tugged on my elbow but I stayed frozen for a moment before moving. Who put these posters up? Patrick? "Ashley put the posters up in hopes that someone knew anything about Addison's disappearance." He explained like he read my mind.

"Nice to know they're doing something. I'm not much help at the moment thanks to dad." We started walking down the hall in the direction of my locker.

"What happened?"

"I'm currently on house arrest because I decided that I'd take the investigation into my own hands. Dads not really happy with me at the moment and vice versa." I grabbed my books and shut my locker to face Patrick. "I'll be fine once this warehouse investigation finishes. Have you found anything?"

"Nope. From what I know Addison hasn't contacted anyone since her departure and left nothing behind as an indication of where she went." Slight guilt bubbled in my stomach.

"Are her parents ok since the break in?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen either of them since I was there with you. Hopefully they are handling all of this well." We looked around us at the staring eyes. "Some rumours have been spreading... Really stupid rumours..."

"What rumours?" Some girls walking past mentioned my name as they glanced at me. Patrick seemed hesitant to tell me as he rubbed the back of his neck and avoided making eye contact.

"Some people are saying you forced her to leave because of some blow out that a bunch of drunk people believe they saw at Jacobs party before she left. Then there are the really crazy ones like you kidnapping and murdering her. They're all bullshit." The good guy is sometimes portrayed as the bad one, this was to be expected. "Some are even saying that you and Xavier had some plan to kill her for cash."

"Let them talk. Something else will happen in about a week that they will stick their noses into; Let them have their fun." The bell rung and Patrick and I headed our separate ways to different English classes. I saw Xavier in the corner of my eye enter the school with a scowl on his face. I wonder what's pissing him off.

I walked into my classroom and took my usual seat near the window. The same guy I saw Xavier talking to a couple of days ago got into a car and drove off into the streets of RiverHill.

Interesting.

Xavier sat across the room from me and placed his head on the desk, probably hoping to fall asleep. He looked up again and caught my eyes, looking very stressed. You and me both buddy. The teacher walked in and class quickly took off with something about quoting poetry.

Mrs. Joseph was a great teacher and friend. She helped me through my mothers death because she had experienced the same thing with her dad. When she looked at me, there was a sadness buried deep in her eyes, Like she knew how I felt.