3
3 days later
ETHAN
JADE RESIDENCE
It was super strange knocking on the Jade's doors again, but it felt too good. It reminded me of everything before her kidnapping.
River had opened the door, inviting me in with a smile.
"Hi, Ethan." He greeted me.
"Hey buddy... is Spencer in her room?" I pointed upstairs.
He nodded, motioning me to go to her.
I hopped up the stairs, my heavy footsteps sounding as I walked to her closed door.
My knuckles rose and tapped on her door 4 times.
"Come in." She called out.
Oh how good it felt to hear her voice. My hand twisted the knob and unlatched the door, allowing myself in.
"Hey." Spencer sat criss cross on her bed, pajama shorts on her hips and an almost tight-fitting short sleeve shirt covering her torso.
"Hi, how are you?" I questioned, closing her door behind me.
"I don't know... feels kinda strange being home.. on an actual bed." Her hand patted the bed, signifying me to sit.
I took her offer, propping myself down in front of her.
"How was therapy?" It was her first visit yesterday at her therapist. She was ordered to see her twice a week.
"It wasn't fun having to bring everything up again. To re-live it... she says I have PTSD, I don't doubt it... Her name is Audrey, she's very sweet."
"I can't imagine what you went through, Spence... I want to ask you if you're okay but I know the answer."
"Yeah it's all surreal. After I um- I thought I was for sure dead... I don't really wanna get into it but- but it's like I never want to leave this room ever again." She blinked, her voice shaking a bit.
"You don't have to talk about it to me if you're not comfortable, alright? I wouldn't make you do that." My hands reached out, taking hers in them.
She gave me a small, half-smile, her hands gripping mine.
"What happened when I was gone?" She questioned.
My brows raised and I blew air out of my mouth.
"Well uh, what do you- what do you want to know?" I knew what she wanted to know, well, I thought I knew. I wanted to make sure she wanted to hear what I thought before I started talking.
"Everything... how were you?"
"Truthfully... I was a mess. When your parents told me you never came home I freaked out. After a few days of you being gone, I immediately made a missing person flyer and sent it in to the news. I did everything a 17 year old distraught boy could do... Grayson and I searched for months with the search group, but then people started to give up... i- I didn't want to give up, but I was losing hope." I confessed.
"I tried to keep in my mind that I was going to find you.. but it had been 6 months and there were no clues. I had nowhere else to look." As I spoke, her grip on my hands grew a bit tighter, her facial expression falling.
"I was holding onto this false hope, so was Grayson, river, and your parents. We were the only ones who wanted to keep looking... but then they closed the case. They stopped the search and rumor spread around that you were-... you were dead. That's what everyone believed." I mumbled, watching her as she began to shift a little.
"Needless to say, you were always the talk in school. Everywhere I go I'm asked if I'm the guy who was best friends with the Spencer Jade. Your other friends at school stopped talking about you, the town had moved on... but now you're the talk of the town again." Now that she's back, no one really believed it.
