Captured

Chapter 1

Amira studied the halls carefully, not wanting to forget a single detail. Today was the last day of high school, and she didn't want to forget all the wonderful memories she had had here. She snapped a photo of the empty corridor just before the dismissal bell rang and everyone raced out of class. She smiled and sighed, both relieved and sad.

"Hey!" said Rylee, smoothly looping her arm through hers. "Are you free this weekend? I wanna celebrate the end of college preparations with a bang, what do you say we go to a party? Ouuu or maybe even host our own!" she added excitedly. 

"Sure, that'd be nice." Amira replied, still lost in thought. "Aren't you going to miss this place?" The other students kept their distance from the two girls, flowing around them and out the doors. 

"Not one bit," Rylee answered with a smile. 

They shared a brief moment of laughter before heading outside and going to their different buses. Rylee bid her farewell and got on her bus, but not before she kissed Amira goodbye. She blushed. Although they had already been dating for two years, it felt as if their relationship was just beginning for Amira. 

She walked further down the row of buses and stopped at the doors of the fifth bus in line. Rylee's was the first, she was always the first. She remembered her first day of freshman year, how she had just moved into town that summer and didn't know anyone yet. Rylee was the first person to talk to her. They became instant friends and grew even closer during her sophomore year. And at the end of it, she was the first to confess her feelings. Amira was so happy that day, she practically jumped into her arms and burst into tears. She looked back on that day fondly, June 24th 2018. She smiled to herself again as the bus drove away from the school.

***

The navy blue sequined dress complimented her slim figure beautifully. She had curled her chestnut brown hair loosely, and this time, remembered to put her contacts in. She admired herself in the mirror, eyeing herself up and down, analysing and looking for any flaws in her appearance. Something still wasn't right... She tucked a dangling piece of hair behind her ear. Better, she thought. She checked her phone again, still no text. It was nearing 8:30 when she heard a car pull up in the driveway and a familiar buzzing pattern vibrated from her phone, which she had thrown on her bed. She grabbed it as well as her purse, rushing out the front door and locking it shut behind her. 

Once seated on the passenger side, she asked as cheerily as she could, "What took you so long?" but a note of irritation slid into her words, she could only hope Rylee didn't notice...

"Sorry," she said, "folks got back early from their trip to Hawaii." She looked down into her lap, and Amira felt bad. 

"Oh, Lee I'm so sorry..." What else could she say? Rylee's parents were about as homophobic as they come. There was no point in asking how it went, she already knew. She was probably wearing her heart shaped rainbow earrings and her favourite hoodie that read 'I'm a bisexu-whale' on the front with a cute blue whale in the middle. She always wore it while getting ready, doing makeup, and deciding on how to style her hair, though it was usually up in a messy bun.

"Hey, we can stay parked in my driveway all night, but I have a feeling you need to let loose. Turns out, we still have a party to get to, my love." Amira nudged her with her elbow. "And if it so happens you're too drunk to drive, you can crash at my place." She smiled. Rylee lifted her head and turned to face Amira, giving her a hug. For how long it lasted, she didn't know. But what she did know, was how good it felt to be able to comfort her girlfriend.

 When they finally pulled away from each other, Rylee wiped her tears on her bare wrist and spoke, "They took Timothy..." She shook her head and let out a sad giggle. 

"We'll get him back," Amira assured. "And if not, I can lend you Gigi." Gigi was Amira's pink, purple, and blue stuffed whale plush that her younger sister had won for her at a carnival, earlier during the year. She sniffled again. 

"No it's fine. They would probably take her too." Amira reached for her hand and kissed it softly, gently rubbing her thumb back and forth. 

"Well they can't take me away from you, and that's a promise." This provoked a smile to form on Rylee's lips, and Amira kissed them. "Alright, no more sad thoughts. It's time to get this show on the road!" She put the car in reverse and started cautiously backing out of the driveway. 

"So where is this party anyway?"

 "Andrew's place. His parents are the ones throwing it for him, or so he claims. I'm pretty sure he invited the whole school to go as well, so you can expect it to be a rather eventful night," she beamed.

 "Guess we'll just have to see for ourselves when we get there,".