"It's like I'm running away from me,
it's like I've taken the puzzle in me
and left it scrambled for all to see."
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When Arden Danvers' parents split when she was eight years old, she moved away with her dad from her...
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"I realized where I went wrong, that I'm scared I'll never be someone. Just empty heart and empty home."
Memoirs of Another Runaway - Shelby Merry
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XXVI. \\ CHANGES //
Without wasting time, Arden left from Stinger's new hideout and headed straight to Hailey's. With Rowan heading to the school and Elisia checking out the lead on Zoe, she tried to hurry and find Hailey, who hopefully was just ditching school and was okay.
But when Arden got to Hailey's house and knocked on the door, there was no answer. Frowning, she looked around the outside of her house. Hailey's car was there, but her mom's wasn't. Where were they? Could Hailey be inside and just wasn't answering the door?
Arden walked around the side of the house where Hailey's veranda was on the second floor. Sighing, she walked over to the lattice paneling and got a good grip, climbing up the paneling until she was able to hoist herself up onto Hailey's veranda, like she had done a few times before.
Arden walked up to the door and tried the handle, which surprisingly, was left unlocked. She pushed the door open, quickly making her way inside and closing the door behind her.
"Hailey?" She called out.
But her room was empty, with no signs that she had been there recently. Swallowing, Arden walked around her room, looking over the things on her dressers and nightstands, trying to find any clue as to where she might be.
Arden walked over to her vanity and stopped when she looked up at the mirror. There were a bunch of pictures clipped to the side, ones of her and her mom, her and Nicki, Sean, and at the top, there was a picture of her, Rowan, Elisia and Arden.
Smiling sadly, Arden reached up and unclipped the picture, looking down at it as she remembered the day this was taken. The four of them had gone out for ice cream at one of the local spots, about a month after Nicki's party. Despite the video of the zoo that was sent to them still on their minds, that day was one of the best days Arden had ever had with them.
She sighed as she looked up from the picture, looking around the empty room, "Where are you, Hailey?"
@ @ @
Arden didn't spend much more time at Hailey's, not wanting to get caught snooping around her place by her mom. As she left and began walking down the street, Rowan had sent a text to her and Elisia, telling them to meet her at the ditch.
