Life at the High

Welcome to Dinner

After school Miko decided to make some food to take over to the Wilson's so they didn't have to worry about cooking. It was also a good way to find out more about what was going on. Travis didn't text back much more so she still had so many questions.

She rung the doorbell to the Wilson's home and stood back holding the bag with plates of candied yams, macaroni and cheese and corn bread. She primped herself by looking in the reflection of the windows that sat on either side of the Wilson's front door.

"Hey honey. Thanks for coming over." Michelle moved back so that Miko could walk in.

"Thanks. I made some food so ya'll wouldn't have to worry about cooking."

"You didn't have to go through the trouble, but I appreciate it." Michelle took the food from her and placed it on the island in their kitchen. "How are your folks doing by the way?"

"Their good. They always ask about how you are holding up. They want to say something but don't know what to really say."

"It's okay. No one ever really does. Can't blame 'em for that." Michelle opened a cabinet to grab plates and slammed it so hard the glass on the cabinet cracked.

Even with Janelle being gone, Miko had never even heard of Michelle doing something like that. She looked around hoping Travis would appear and know what to do. She wasn't sure if the reaction was because of her parents not calling to check in or just because of what happened with Janelle.

"Mrs. Wilson." Miko's voice sounded so small. She was afraid to make whatever her friends mom was feeling any worse. "What do you need me to do?"

Michelle braced herself by gripping the edge of the counter. She saw the mug that Janelle made for her in a pottery class when she was a kid. She'd seen it a few times since her daughter disappeared but this time it struck her hard. The pain of her child afraid, cold, hungry and unable to come home made her ill. She let out a scream and cried as she reached for the mug that was crafted with love from her child that was not at all artistic.

"Mom." Travis ran into the kitchen and hugged her. "It's okay. I've got you. We will find her. It's not over yet mama. I promise you."

Miko was heart broken for them. She wished she knew what happened after Janelle ran off. She couldn't figure out how that would help the police find her and she knew she was horrible for still withholding any piece of information. With that thought tears chased one another down her face with fury. Travis looked up at her and his pain was obvious. She walked over to Travis and Michelle and hugged them both. "You're not alone. Neither of you. I'll help you find her. I'll always be here for this family."

After a few minutes that felt like days, Michelle ended their family hug and wiped the tears away from all of them. "Thank you for that."

Miko nodded and Travis tried to regain his normal composure. It made him feel weird to be vulnerable, but this time he felt cleansed of everything he'd been holding in.

"Travis, Miko brought food over so we didn't have to worry about cooking. Set the table. Your father just left out so it'll just be for the 3 of us." She turned to Miko. "There is a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge. Bring it to the table for me."

"Yes ma'am." Miko grabbed the pitcher and walked into the grand dining room.

Their dining room had a mural which depicted great people in African American history. It had Madame CJ Walker, Barack Obama and at the end a picture of Janelle and Travis. She never really paid attention to it before that day. It begged the question; how will they be great? And as she looked at the painting of Janelle it begged a new question; will she have the chance to find out?

"Sorry about my text earlier. I jumped to conclusions." Travis whispered.

"Why didn't you ever say something else? You had me freaked the fuck out."

"I know. I'm sorry.

"So you heard about Sarone too?"

"Yeah. Apparently he wasn't a suspect. The police just heard that he mentioned her needing help before and thought he would know something that could help them figure out her mental state."

"They don't think she hurt herself do they?" Miko couldn't fathom what Sarone would have possibly known about Janelle that she didn't.

"I thought that at first but it turns out they just think it was typical high school girl stuff."

"I have my theories too." Michelle joining the conversation startled Miko and Travis. "Sarone was worried about how my daughter was dealing with being not being heterosexual and that she needed help because of what happens to so many kids these days."

"Yeah but ya'll are supportive. Why would that be an issue?

"Those were just the ramblings of a child trying to help. I think they need to find her boyfriend. He may know more about it."

"What?" Miko nearly shouted.

"You mean you didn't know? You?" Travis was in disbelief.

"No I didn't know." Miko couldn't believe any of what they were saying. Janelle told her everything. They were just speaking non-sense. That was the only logical explanation in her opinion. "Janelle told me everything." She made sure to enunciate each word. "She didn't have a thought I didn't know about. That's how close we-" She stopped herself because she didn't know whether to say 'were' or 'are'.

"Friends keep things from one another though honey. It happens, especially young girls." Michelle brought the rest of the food to the table and sat down to pray before they ate.

Michelle enjoyed the mostly quiet dinner. Every so often someone would comment on how great the food was or some trivial thing on television, but they all stayed pretty quite overall. She momentarily wondered if she could trust Miko. She would ordinarily find it hard to believe that one teen didn't know about a secret another one had. But something about Miko's reaction told her that she was just as clueless as she claimed. Besides, she had known Miko for years and could tell when she was lying.

Travis felt helpless. He couldn't figure out how to fix any of it. His dad, Frank was an engineer and was always fixing and improving things. Travis felt an intense need to do that so that he could make the family whole again. He also wasn't sure if things between he and Miko were in need of fixing up or not. It felt wrong to flirt with her when his sister was missing, but in an odd way he felt closer to his sister because Miko knew her. He also hadn't noticed how much she'd changed over the years. He tried hard not to stare at her during dinner, especially with his mother there. He didn't want her to notice. She did.

Miko decided talking to Charity would be the best way to begin figuring out who Janelle might have been dating. Charity wasn't close to her anymore, but she was popular and knew all of the gossip in school before anyone else did. She wondered if Joey was the guy since she was upset when she saw the two of them together. That would have been hard to understand because Janelle knew about Miko and Joey being interested in one another. She had held enough back from the family, and wanted to bring them everything she knew, but first she had to find out who the secret boyfriend was.