Where is Louise Bauman? + Original, Book 1 ✔

6

"Don't tell me that I'm wrong,
I've walked that road before."

When Charlie got home from school her mother was still at work, considering she'd left early and her mother usually worked late unless it was weekends - except for the exception of what happened with Louise. She walked inside and practically slammed the door shut due to still being angry with how the assembly went and her conversation with Trystan, Jade, and Ren, She stomped down the hallway and into her bedroom, slamming the door shut for that, too.

If she were being honest, she had higher hopes for Ren. For someone who hated it when people got bullied and respected everyone, she thought that Ren would feel the same way that she did about Louise. She thought he'd try just as hard as she did. Sure, part of her wanting to know what happened to the girl was purely because she was curious as to what happened, but most of it was guilt.

She was overflowing with guilt for never sticking up for the teenage girl all of those years of high school and middle school when she got bullied, or never befriending her - or even just pairing up with her on purpose for a school project. It made Charlie feel sick to her stomach as if she could legitimately puke because one of her classmates was possibly dead, and in her last moments, she died thinking everyone in the town of Walden, Kansas hated her because Charlie cared more about her reputation than showing someone they mattered.

Standing in the middle of her bedroom, Charlie ran a hand through her messy blonde hair. She didn't even know where to start, or what to do. She thought it'd be much simpler. She didn't think she'd actually have to go through it all alone, she thought she'd at least have Ren with her on this, and she didn't think it'd be this frustrating. Deciding to shower first to get the sweat and salty tears off of her, she figured that would help sort her frustrating thoughts at least slightly.

About thirty minutes later, Charlie was out of the shower. She felt refreshed, and although she wasn't as refreshed or as organized as she wanted to be, it was better than she'd felt before. Her mother still wasn't home, and as much as the girl hated being alone Charlie knew she probably needed at least a little bit of time by herself so she didn't snap at her mother the way she had at the others earlier that day.

She sat on her bed, the silence killing her but helping her sort through her thoughts. It was bothering her not knowing where to start, as there seemed to be nowhere to begin. But like she was even talking about earlier, there's always somewhere to start. Looking over at her neatly organized bookshelf, she smiled as she saw the most recent yearbook to come out for the school year.

Of course, it might not have made sense to start there for most people. But she was observant. She'd seen who talked to Louise before Louise went missing. She knew who was Louise's so-called 'friends' and who talked to the girl the most. She knew things, and looking through the yearbook would help her know who to talk to first.

Beginning to flip through the pages of the tiny yearbook, Charlie found nothing. It was a long shot to find anything in the yearbook in the first place, but she knew she'd have to find something. Anything. There had to be something in there, even if it was the tiniest bit of something.

Finally, when she got to the page that had multiple random photos on it, she smiled as she saw not only a photo of Louise and Nadia Joseph, but also a photo with Nadia, Louise, and Eliza Bines. The girl stood up, walked over, and grabbed a sticky note before sticking it in the yearbook and slamming the book shut. That was enough to get information out of two people at least, even if it wasn't a lot. That was more than the police could say, to say the least. Shows the effort they put in.

The next day, Charlie rode the bus to Walden High School, avoiding Ren at all costs. She was still upset at him since their talk yesterday, along with Jade and Trystan. She saw them together when she got inside the school, and as Ren tried to approach her she just walked away, not even bothering to go to her locker as she knew that was just a chance for the three to corner her.