Not in the Same Way

Fourteen

I wake up with a pounding headache in a room that isn't the guest room at Cal's.

I glance down, the T-shirt I'm wearing something I recognize as Sierra's. I slide from the bed, squinting my eyes as the harsh sunlight hits them.

I grab my phone and head downstairs, following the sound of chatter.

"There she is." Luke says and I wince while gesturing with my hand to tell him to keep it down as I take a seat on a stool at his kitchen island.

I put my head down at the counter and hear him chuckle before Sierra tells him to be nice.

"Darbs, you want some water?"

I nod with my head still down and mumble out, "some ibuprofen too."

I hear the clanking sounds of glasses and the water from the tap before her hand touches my back as she hands me the glass and pills.

I down the medication and water silently, feeling both Luke and Sierra's gazes on me.

"What?" I ask them, concerned by the nervous looks they are giving me.

"Cal's been blowing all the girls phones up."

"Why?" I say flatly.

"He's worried about you, Darby." Luke says softly and I meet his gaze.

"Well, I guess there's a first time for everything. Did I do anything too embarrassing last night?" I question, pointing my gaze towards Si.

She shakes her head and replies. "No, some flirting with randoms but nothing bad."

I nod.

"Guess I better go deal with him then. Thanks for last night, I needed it." I say standing and offering her a hug, waving to Luke as I grab my bag from the living room where it had been left and my keys from the hook before heading out to my car.

•

I pace through my house, dialing and redialing her phone number until the screen is blurry from a mixture of worry and anger.

Why the fuck won't she pick up the phone?

What if she's hurt? That thought alone is enough to terrify me.

I check in on Ava who's in the living room sprawled out on the floor surrounded by her toys and Duke who's watching her protectively.

She'd been mad when she left but she wasn't mad enough to go like...sleep with someone else, right?

Fuck.

The thought of her in bed with someone else makes me angry enough to see red.

I try her number again only to get her voicemail.

Okay, Cal. Think.

She was with the girls last night, surely they wouldn't let her do anything too stupid and one of them knows where she is.

I start with Sierra. Pressing the contact in my phone for her and waiting. Voicemail. FUCK.

I try KayKay and Crystal with the same result. It's after ten, why aren't they answering?

I punch in Luke's number, sheer relief washing over me as I hear his voice on the other end of the line.

"Luke! Have you seen Darby? She didn't come home last night and she had said she was going to text me when she was on the way back and I've got nothing from her an-"