You're Not Alone

Chapter 8

{ A l l i s o n }

Austin and I were walking out of Tropical Smoothie when we notice Sam, Jake, and Abi leaving the Tower. Something didn't seem right though. They seemed frazzled. I glance over to Austin to see that he has a confused look plastered across his face.

"Austin?" I ask.

He quickly looks down to me, then looks back towards are friends.

"Where's Grace?" He whispers.

I didn't catch what he said at first because of how quiet he was being, but after processing it for a few seconds, I realized what he said. Grace was missing. She wasn't with the rest of them. I knew something was up, but I couldn't figure it out. How could I forget about Grace?

I bolt towards my friends without even thinking.

"ALLISON!" Austin screams, but I ignore him.

Once I catch up to my friends I begin to ask them where Grace was, but none of them were speaking.

I look at Abi who's eyes are watery, but no tears were falling. I walk over to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the boys. Austin eventually made his way over to us, but he stayed with Jake and Sam, surprisingly.

"Abi, please. What happened?" I plead.

She looks at me and that's when the tears begin to fall.

"I don't know." She answers, her voice hoarse.

She looks down, then to the clock tower.

"We were walking up the spiral stairs, then we heard a noise, but we didn't really think much of it. Jake and Sam begins to whisper to one another then we all agree to try again tomorrow. As we're walking down the stairs, that's when we noticed she was gone." She was crying even harder now, never once looking away from the tower.

I place my hand on her shoulder and look over to Austin and the rest of the boys. They were talking amongst themselves, but they no longer seemed frazzled. They were back to how the always are.

"Was that all?" I ask quietly.

I look at Abi and watch as she shakes her head, letting me know that there's more to the story.

She opens her mouth to continue, but nothing comes out. Instead, she falls to the ground, refusing to get up.

"Jake! Sam! Austin!" I scream each of their names, trying to get their attention.

All three of them come running, Jake quickly rushing over to Abi. He takes her hand in his and starts to whisper to her. What ever he was saying to her seemed to help calm her down.

While Jake was dealing with Abi, I decide to talk to Sam about the situation. I would probably get a better answer from him.

I grab Sams arm and bring him to the tree Austin and I were sitting under earlier. Austin following us.

"Can you tell us what happened?" I ask him, hoping he'll actually answer.

He looks at Austin, then me, then the tower... that's when he starts to get teary eyed, then he slowly shakes his head. He gets up and takes off running. But he's running towards the Tower.

I scream for Sam as loudly as I possibly could before I broke down in tears, Austin sitting right next to me. He had his left arm slung over my back and his right hand lightly stroking my hair. I look up to find Sam, when I see Jake chasing him, screaming Sams name, just like I was. Abi was still sitting on the ground where we left her, but she's no longer crying. She looks over to us, then slowly gets up and makes her way over to us.

The three of us quietly sit underneath the tree, watching as Jake launches himself onto Sam.

Austin immediately gets up and starts sprinting towards the two boys who are currently wrestling each other on the cold ground.

I watch as Austin pries the two away and as he attempts to calm Sam down. Jake slowly makes his way back to us, letting Austin handle Sam.

I was confused. I had no idea what was going on. All Austin and I did was go to Tropical smoothie. You could see the tower from inside. We were probably in there for a total of thirty minutes, maybe even less. We come out and everything is hectic. Grace is missing, Abi having a total breakdown, Sam taking off. Jake is the only one who hasn't been acting strange.

What happened in there? Do I want to know? What else does Abi know? Why did Sam take off like that? This isn't their normal behavior. Abi is tough, I've never seen her cry before, not even at her Dads funeral. I'm sure she did cry, but in private, where no one could see her. She likes to seem tough, she's the strong one when it comes to feelings. And Sam would never just take off, not without telling us anyways.

Maybe Grace was just messing with us?

I can't be here anymore, too many things are happening, too many horrible memories are starting to surface.

"Austin." I cry quietly.

"I'm right here, Allis."

I look at him with sad eyes as I threw myself onto his chest and started crying.

"Take me home. Please." I managed to say.

He helps me up and takes me back to my car. He opens the passenger door and helps me in before going over to the driver side. He was the last one to drive my car so he still had my keys. He puts the keys into the ignition and starts up my car.

"Allis, what about Grace?" He breaks the silence.

"She'll come around. I hope." I closed my eyes and silently prayed that she's just messing with up. What a sick and wicked joke it would be if she was. Was Abi and Sam on it too?

It wasn't long before Austin pulls into my driveway. He shuts off the car and helps me out, he takes me inside and tells me goodnight. He places my keys on my desk as he walks out my room and closes the door. I run over to my window and watch as he walks himself back home, which is only a few houses down. I silently thank God for giving me a friend like him before changing my clothes and laying down on my bed.

I would try to fall asleep, but I know I won't. The thoughts were getting too loud.

***
It's been forever since I updated! But I'm trying to make updating a habit.

- FriendlyCaterpillar