Secretly Married (English)

Chapter 21

Kent opened Phoebe's bedroom door and found it as it was before. He opened her closet and found that it was missing a few pieces of clothing. He rushed out and found Manang Lourdes in the kitchen. The woman was crying.

"Manang, where's Phoebe?"

"She left, Kent. She took the old car."

"What? But she's scared of driving."

"I know." The old woman was still sobbing, but she was able to prepare a sandwich for Kent anyway. "Did she say where she's going?"

"No, she just said goodbye. She left early in the

morning. She woke me up, asking where the keys were."

"Why didn't you ask her where she was going?"

"I asked her, Kent, but she wouldn't say. She was crying so hard."

Now where was Phoebe going to go? He decided to skip class and go find her before it was too late.

Kent was still angry over what he'd seen, but if the kiss were true, then perhaps the first person Phoebe would think of rushing to would be Harley. He dialed his number and got an answer on the fourth ring.

"Hey, dude . . . I heard what happened . . . It's not Isabelle's—"

"Shut up, okay? I don't need your empty apology. Just tell Phoebe to come home."

"What?"

"You heard me. If Phoebe's with you, you better take her home."

"She'snothere,man..."

Kent dropped the call and then went straight to Jhone's house. He found the old car parked on the sidewalk near it. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he got out of the car.

"Jhone!" he called out.

Jhone looked out from her bedroom window but closed the curtains when she saw him there. Kent was afraid that she was indeed hiding Phoebe, so he started calling her phone instead. Jhone would not pick up because she was already at the main door.

"Jhone! Where's Phoebe? Please tell her to come out."

Jhone looked at him like he was crazy. "Phoebe's not here."

"But . . ." he pointed to the car parked on the sidewalk.

"Oh." Jhone was surprised to find the car there. "You don't know where Phoebe is?"

"I don't. Manang Lourdes said she left early."

Jhone scratched her head and started dialing on her cell phone. "Not in service. Oh my god, Kent. Where's Fibs?" She was starting to panic already. She dialed Phoebe's number again but got the same result.

"Hey now. Don't cry. Okay? We'll find her."

Phoebe called her Tita Linda, her mother's elder sister, as soon as she got on a bus.

"Yes, Tita. I'm going there."

"Is Kent coming with you?"

Tears started falling when she heard Kent's name. "No, Tita. I'm going there alone."

*later*