Lost & Found

I Feel Crazy

Amy’s POV

   I eventually gave up on the letter. I figure I’ll get to it eventually. Besides, it’s not like it's going anywhere, right?

   A tentative knocking on the front door was a welcome distraction. Staring at a piece of paper isn't going to help me. I got up from my chair to answer. Through the window, I saw it was Lauren, but I saw no sign of Nate.

   "Hey, where's Nate?” I asked once I opened the door.

   Lauren shrugged. I thought we were going to have a repeat of earlier where I do all the talking, but she opened her mouth to answer.

   "He took a call and left,” she started, looking around casually. "He didn't say what it was about, but he was my ride, so…”

   She trailed off, shrugging at me again. It took me a second to connect the dots. I swear, she looks so familiar for some reason.

   "Well, do you have someone you can call?” I asked, realizing it was a stupid question. Most people don't usually get service out here.

   Lauren shook her head and I thought about what to do. Dad and Vanessa went out to town to pick some things up. I think Dad took his truck.

   "I could drive you,” I suggested. "If you want me to, I guess.”

   Lauren froze. We stood at the door silently for a minute that felt like an eternity. Even though it's usually quiet around here, it's weirder to have a silent conversation with a person. Especially when you have no idea what the other person is trying to say.

   "Yeah, sure,” Lauren said finally, chewing on her bottom lip.

   Next thing I knew, we were cruising in Vanessa's practically new Cadillac. When I suggested getting food, Lauren didn't object. In fact, she actually agreed. It was a little past one o'clock, so I knew the perfect place to go.

   Ten minutes after leaving the house, I parked outside of a local diner. I'm not sure of the name. My dad always just referred to as "The Diner”. Lauren followed me out of the car and through the front door, keeping half a step behind me the whole time.

   Right when we walked in and sat at the counter, a waitress came up to take drinks. We ordered and, while Lauren perused the menu, I looked for my best friend who has worked here ever since she got out of high school. I was beginning to think she wasn't working today when I saw her come out from the kitchen. I waved to get her attention.

   "Kath! Over here!”

Lauren's POV

   Amy took me to this homey little diner that didn't look too busy. It seemed like she had been here a lot. While I was deciding what to get off the menu, Amy began calling out to someone.

   "Kath!” she announced. "Over here!”

   A minute or two later, a tall woman came over to us, greeting Amy like they were best friends. She had short brown hair and a wide smile. A small tag near her collar read "Katherine”.

   "Hi, Amy!” she exclaimed. "You didn't tell me you were coming by.”

   "Well, I was driving Lauren home and thought we'd stop here first,” Amy explained.

   "Driving her home? Why?” Katherine asked, focus still on Amy. Amy paused and looked to me, asking for permission.

   "No reason,” I answered, returning to the menu. A sandwich sounds good right now.

   "Well, if I'm here, I may as well take your orders,” Katherine quipped, theatrically taking out a notepad and pen. Amy and I ordered, and Kath disappeared into the kitchen for a second before returning to talk to Amy.

   The two of them were a couple of chatterboxes. Even though most of the conversation was between the two of them, they didn't forget my existence entirely. They addressed me occasionally, but I would hardly get a sentence in before something else became the new topic. That was fine. I didn't feel like talking to two strangers anyway.

   Not a minute too soon, our food was in front of us. Amy had a stack of pancakes and I ended up getting a club sandwich. She dug into her meal eagerly. The bread looked soggy and the lettuce was wilted. Still, I took a bite, realizing it wasn't half as bad as it looked.

   Amy and Katherine continued talking about random things until Katherine turned to me.

   "You know, you kind of remind me of a character in a book I'm writing,” she observed, squinting her eyes at me. I tilted my head, curious.

   "Oh, yeah, Kath wants to be a writer,” Amy said between bites. "Right now, she's writing this story about six best friends who, um...”

   "It's still being developed,” Katherine interrupted. "There's already a character based on Amy and me because I like to use people I know as inspiration. The other four I thought I made up in my head, but you remind me almost exactly of one of them.”

   I wiped my mouth on a napkin. "Ha, that's funny. I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before in my life though.”

   "I don't know, you just seem so familiar,” she told me, reminding me of my very first conversation with Nate.

   I abruptly stopped eating, leaving half of my sandwich uneaten and the chips basically untouched. I pushed the plate away, putting my hands in my lap.

   "Can we go yet?” I asked Amy, feeling like a child. I smiled graciously at Katherine as she took the food back to the kitchen, awkwardly returning my smile.

   "Yeah, just give me a minute,” Amy replied, noticing my shutdown. Eventually, Amy dug out her wallet and left twenty dollars in cash on the counter, saying we could leave now.

   I felt almost bad about what just happened, but then realized that maybe Katherine had a point. In the car, I searched Cimorelli again on my phone and scrolled through the pictures, suddenly realizing that Kath was right. Dani had been right.

   The second we pulled up at my house, I thanked Amy and rushed to my room, closing the door behind me. I don't want to believe this. When did all of this get so weird? The more I told myself I was crazy, the more sense it all made. Taking deep breaths, I asked myself what Dani would do.

   Well, she would find some way to track me down and tell me, I thought. So that's what I did.