Living The Life Of A Teen

Chapter 6

I turned up the volume on my car radio. After the security couldn't find her anywhere near the hospital, and the building had been thoroughly checked, Mrs H and I made up a list of places of where Katy could go. There weren't really many places she could go; her wallet was left at her home, and in order to go anywhere, she needed money. That meant she'd have to go to her home first. I was expecting a call from Mrs H any minute  now. I - on the other hand - had gone back to mine to check if she was waiting for me there. Nope. No sign of her presence.

Next, I called all her closest friends. Stace. Rose. Meg. Jess. I even called some people from her college class. In reality, I should have known that only a few people were awake at 5am. The rest I could call again later. And anyone I had called had not been of much help. Some didn't even know who she was, for goodness sake.

C'mon, think Gemma, think: she's 17, anorexic, has just gotten out of a heartbreak and wants to be a model. If you look at her this way, we're really not that similar. Apart from the fact that we go to the same school and are in every lesson together. But the truth is, I'm her best friend, so I of all people should know what she's thinking. Except - well - we've grown distant over the past few weeks. I don't know how it happened, but it just did, you know? Like we just never had anything to talk about anymore, and things were kinda awkward between us. I literally had to rack my brain sometimes to find something to talk about. All I know it, something did happen, and it changed everything. 

I rested my head on the headrest as I drew my car to a traffic light. This was going to be so hard. Why on earth did she just run away? Why would a 17-year-old want to run away in the first place?

Beep! Beep!

I snapped open my eyes. Ahh great! - I had fallen asleep again. And at the wheel too. What on earth was wrong with my sleeping pattern? 

"Lady, MOVE! I have somewhere to be."

I looked sharply at the driver behind me. Sat in an old Volvo model, there was a balding man with massive glasses. Bastard. Sorry mate, but I don't think you should pick a fight with a hormonal teenager after she's just been woken up. It could get nasty. However, I sighed and drove on. I just couldn't be bothered to deal with this, even if it would have been fun. 

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. At the next red light, I checked the number. ARGH! Bloody private number again! I slipped my phone back and groaned:

I couldn't even remember where I was going. What was I even doing? Oh right, looking for my lost best friend. I couldn't be bothered to roam around the city, it's not New York where people who get lost are sitting in a romantic setting like the sandy beach, with their hair being blown delicately by the wind. No. This was not like that. Besides, I'm not her life partner; I can hardly go on a search led by my heart and find her at the airport just as she's about to enter the plane. 

After wandering around for half an hour, I decided to go to her house. I hadn't even gotten a call from Mrs H. Now I really was getting worried; what if there was something wrong, like another accident? What if she got lost and managed to end up with a stranger or paedophile? Oh dear, I really am being paranoid. But still, I can't help but worry.

As I drew up into the front yard, I remember a time when we were playing 'pass the ball' in the back yard. I think we were about 8 or 9. And we basically had to pass the ball in a different way each time it came to one of us, and we couldn't use something that had already been done. I know, I know, sounds quite boring, but hey, we were children. Anyways, one time when the ball came to Katy, she kicked the ball with the tip of her shoe and it went into the next door's garden. I remember we had just stared at each other: