Vanished || l.h. au

fifteen

Beth.

"I'm glad you decided to show up." I smiled as I saw Luke appear behind me in the mirror. I refocused my gaze to the cap I was adjusting on my head. I was in the public bathroom they had in the auditorium the graduation was being held in, but strangely no other girls were in here. Guess they haven't found it yet.

Luke gave me a slight smile, walking forward until he was able to wrap his arms around my waist.
"I'm not here for me, Beth. I'm here for you. This is a big moment and I want to be here to see it, regardless of whether I'm alive or stuck in the in between." He explained, resting his chin on my shoulder. I tilted my head, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth before looking back at the mirror, giving myself a vote of self confidence before I walked back out there. Why did this gown have to be green?

"Well I'm still glad you're here." I told him, turning around in his arms as I wrapped mine around his neck. "Are you going to go invisible or just hide somewhere where you can still see?" I asked. Seems like a joke but I meant it in all seriousness.

"I'm only allowing myself to be visible to you remember? Besides I want a front row seat, even if it means sitting in Michael's lap." He joked, making a smile form on my face. I could feel the bundle of nerves inside of me beginning to calm down the longer I stayed in Luke's embrace, but I needed to go before I missed the purpose of this all. I reached up, giving Luke a quick kiss before running out the bathroom door and figuring out where the hell I was supposed to be lining up at.

It was midsummer now and I was already losing track of my days. I walked up to the calendar that hung on one of the cream colored walls in my room, looking for today's date.

July 16.
A month since graduation.

2 months since Luke's disappearance. And I'm still no further in solving his case than I was a month ago.

I sighed, plopping back onto my bed letting my thoughts take me away. I was doing absolutely nothing with my summer. I've been trying to figure out how to solve Luke's case on my own, but honestly I had no idea where to start and the longer I took, the longer Luke was stuck in the in between and the possibility of him coming back was slipping further and further.

I had to act now.

However, the world had different plans for me because the minute I decided to get up from my bed, Luke appeared in my room.

"Guess what?" He exclaimed, a huge grin spread across his face. I knew why he was so happy but I decided messing with him couldn't hurt.

"What?" I asked, smiling at him as I shared his excitement.

"Do you know what today is?" He asked, plopping on the bed next to me.

I looked over at the calendar on my wall that I had been previously looking at.

"July 16th." I answered innocently. He scooted closer to me and began nudging me.

"And what's so special about today? Specifically 18 years ago?" He hinted even further.

I made a thinking face and pulled out my phone, typing in "July 16, 1996" into Google.
I clutched my hand tightly to Luke's arm as the search result appeared.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed, looking at him with a surprised face.
"Yes?" He pressed further as he sat up, probably hoping I figured out it was his birthday by now.

"It's Keaton Stromberg's 18th birthday today! I didn't know you shared my infatuation for the hottie. I have to go tweet him." I rambled obnoxiously.