Destined

Fifty One

I woke up to the sound of banging on my door and someone shouting my name. I groaned, irritated. How could it already be morning? The banging continued and I felt, and heard, Vince groan beside me too.

"Go open the door," he mumbled.

I opened my eyes to look at him. He was currently half asleep beside me, his arm thrown over my waist, face buried in my shoulder, looking so peaceful, I could have sketched him.

"You do it," I said.
He sighed, "Unless you want whoever's at the door to see me naked, I suggest you do it,"

I rolled my eyes and shifted away from him, getting off the bed. I looked around and grabbed his shirt, pulling it over my head before going towards the consistent banging.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," I said unlocking the door to Talia.
"Tyler's missing," she said.
"What?"
"I can't find him, he's not answering his phone, he's just gone, I'm scared, what if something happened to him?" She asked.

I closed the door behind me so Vince could have the privacy to get dressed.

"When was the last time you saw him?" I asked.
"Yesterday, after class, we planned to meet for dinner at the diner but he never showed," she said.
"Have you asked his friends?"
"Yes, they all haven't seen him,"
"Okay, relax, maybe his battery died or something,"
"Jonah went to the police, we have to wait forty eight hours for it to be an official missing case report. But there's a search for his car,"
"Hey, calm down, everything's going to be fine. Tyler is fine, and by the end of the day, he'll be back, with a very good explanation,"
Talia nodded, "Yeah, you're right, I should just go to class, keep busy, thanks Krissy," she said and went to her room.

When I returned to my room, Vince was pulling on his shoes.

"I knew you'd make me late," he muttered. "Can I have my shirt?"

He stood, half dressed, staring at me like he expected me to run off with his shirt. I smiled and pulled the shirt off handing it to him. He watched me intently as I grabbed my robe and draped it on.

"Tease," he said and pulled on his shirt. "Is Talia okay?"
"Yeah, Tyler disappeared on her and she got worried,"
"Disappeared?"
"We'll know more later. I'm hoping he just got caught up somewhere,"
"Okay, I'll see you later," he pulled me to him and kissed me briefly.
"Good luck with your PR," I called out as he left.

Then I went to shower and get dressed for school.

Have you ever been on a roller coaster? You know how when you're in that lengthy line waiting your turn, you hear the screams of the people already on it. You think to yourself, they sound scared. Or maybe you're the one that's scared so every little noise puts you on edge. So why stay in the line? Why get on the ride? Nothing's going to happen, you'll be fine, face your fears, you repeat these mantras in your head, over and over, like a lifeline. That's what I did that Tuesday morning.

I was walking out of my History Of Culture class when I saw Jonah. I don't know why the need to speak to him hit me then. Why suddenly, I had to know if he'd really raped Celine. Because like I said, the Jonah I knew, the party animal, was still a sweetheart. He was the guy that gave me a ride home one time in high school when I missed the bus, the same guy that gave me a piggy back ride to the nurse's office when I scraped my knee during field practice. The guy that stood up to a bully for me.

That day, he was the Jonah I was afraid of approaching but chose to because I had to know the truth. So I stayed on the line.

"Hey Jonah," I said falling into step with him as he walked to the parking lot.
"K-bear, hey," he smiled at me.
"Hi, where are you heading?"
"Up town, got some errands to run,"
"Want some company?"
"Sure, don't you have a class?"
I shrugged, "Not really feeling it,"
He laughed, "Okay Sanders, let's go, then you can tell me all about where you and your teach disappeared to Saturday night,"
I rolled my eyes as I got into his car, "Not a chance," I answered and he laughed.