buddy; grayson d.

twenty-four

{song for chapter - 24 Floors by The Maine}

this song may be triggering, so please i advise you to not listen to this song if you think it could potentially affect you in a negative way. 

kennedy

one of the hardest things i've had to deal with in my life was my dad's disappearance. my dad went missing nine years ago. out of the blue. leaving my family so scared and confused. no leads to where he was or what happened. he was lost, and losing him is what brought zach and i so close together. zach and i still believed he was out there somewhere and was doing okay, but my mom convinced herself the opposite. that's how we met jade, who's dad was the lead detective on my dad's case. all we had left of my dad was footage of him buying a sandwich from a gas station. 

so when zach looked me in my eyes and told me how hurt he was that he had now lost his sister and his father, my heart broke. i knew he was hurt that i went behind his back with grayson. he had tried so hard to protect me for so long. who was i to take away his best friend? he doesn't trust me anymore and i don't know how to fix it. 

but it caught me off guard when i woke up the next morning and zach was standing in the living room with my mom and a police officer. he looked like he had just gotten there so it seemed like i didn't miss much. i had been ignoring my dad's disappearance for some time now. not that i forgot about it, my life was just finally catching up to me. 

"kennedy, please come sit." my mom said as she saw me appear from the staircase. her demeanor seemed quiet, but i couldn't tell if it was a good or bad quiet. i sat down on the couch, and surprisingly, zach sat down next to me. "this officer has some information regarding your father."

"well, what is it?" i asked, and looked over to zach who seemed just as curious as i was. the police officer untucked his hands from his pockets and crouched down onto the ledge next to our fireplace. the police officer had dark black hair, his greys sticking out and green eyes, he was tanned and wore glasses and had a tattoo on his forearm. 

"I'm deputy Lars," he says as he extends his hand towards zach and i. "this morning we arrested a man who claims to have had connections to your father, and he is now the prime suspect in your father's case. this man disclosed information that our officers are investigating right now, which resulted in finding a body.." he trails off as he looks at us, "so i'm here to collect a DNA sample to take precautionary measures." 

"you think our dad is dead?" zach exclaims as he scoots further into the couch. i knew exactly what he was feeling right now. i felt it too. it's that uncomfortable sense of not knowing and hopelessness. zach and i would call the police station every six weeks looking for updates on our dad's case. 

"sweetie, it's okay." my mom pipes up as she reaches over and touches zach's arm, he takes his hand to hers as he looks at the officer pleadingly. "this is the man i've been meeting with a lot recently."

"we just need to make sure that we have our ducks in a row." the officer says after clearing his throat. "if we do in fact find your father, we're going to need a way to identify him." he explains, "this man in custody is believed to be a serial predator, so it's important we build the strongest case against him as we can." the room stays silent for a couple moments as zach and i process what he is saying. my mom seems to have already known. which makes this worse. after nine years, i was hoping to get my dad back, but not in a casket. 

"give me the swab." i say to the officer. it takes him a while to get situated and he has me wash my mouth out as well. all that was running through my mind was that i hoped my DNA would test negative. but at the same time, it would be relieving to know what had happened to my dad. if the body was my dad's, i wanted the man who did it to rot in prison, and it all started with what i could offer. zach did the same and soon the officer was gone. 

"mom, why was that so easy for you?" zach asks, breaking the silence that fell over us.

"i've been keeping in touch with the police," she responds,"and i wanted to review everything before you guys had to find out." she leans forward so her elbows are on her knees,"you guys may not think so, but i never gave up on finding your father. i just hope that it's a false alarm." she looks up at us, and for the first time in what seemed years, she was crying. my mom was always distant when it came to talking about our father, and as we both got older, she got farther and farther away. "i don't know what i hope actually, i just want you both to know how much i love you guys, and your father." i look over to zach, who was already looking at me, and even if he was mad at me in the moment he still got up and hugged me. my mom walked over to the two of us and we all shared a hug, knowing that the worst was ahead of us. and we all cried together. something we hadn't done in so long, not since dad went missing. i missed him. we all did. we broke from our hug, with sniffles filling the whole room. my mom walked into the kitchen to start breakfast, leaving zach and i alone. 

"i'm sorry zach." i say as i wipe my nose, referring to what happened with grayson.

he smiles, "you're still my little sis." 

PLOT TWIST haha i swear i've only mentioned once in this book that they "lost" their dad.

pls let's get 10 votes and 10 comments :) pretty pretty pleaseeeeeeeee