VIRAGO

elusive

elusive (adj.) - difficult to find, catch, or achieve

Dana kept looking around, trying to keep an eye out for Samantha throughout the time of the game. She said hello to students as they walked by and mainly hung out in the staff tent that was set up behind the endzone. She mingled with her colleagues and drank coffee and ate the catered donuts from a bakery in town, however, Ms. Reed was in the back of her mind. After noticing the cut on her arm, she started keeping an eye on her, but she noticed a bruise on her face earlier the previous week that she kept hidden by makeup, and it worried her.

She left the school soon after the game was over, glad the Pirates were able to win their homecoming game in front of their biggest crowd of the season, and after that, they would have two more away games for the season before their season was done. She lived just up the road in Port Hope, which was a small town just north of Harbor Beach. Her home was on the northern side of town, and she lived alone with her two cats. It got lonely at times, but she was always grading papers and keeping up with her lesson plans, so she kept busy.

She pulled into her driveway and killed the engine, grabbing her purse out of the passenger seat and heading inside. She unlocked the door then locked it behind it, deadbolting it and sighing as she made her way into her kitchen. She turned on the light and found Macavity and Jellylorem meowing, ready for their dinner. She named them after Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, a book of poems by T.S. Elliot, but she also knew the names from the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical adaptation of the book, very well-known as Cats. She loved the original book of poems, but she was also a broadway junky, and it fit perfectly for their personalities.

She poured food into their bowls and went and sat down at her kitchen table, pulling Samantha's small leather bound book out of her purse. The leather was slightly worn, and it looked well loved. Dana saw her writing in it at any free point throughout class, and based on the work she had submitted for grades in the last month, she knew whatever was in this book was beautifully written.

She listened to the dial tone of her phone, hoping Gwen would pick up the phone. It took a few rings, but eventually there was a small click and her best friend and school guidance counselor picked up on the other end.

"Hey Dana what's up?" She answered with a small yawn.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" She asked.

"No, no. I was just getting ready for bed. How was the game?" She responded.

"It was good, we won like forty-something to twenty-something. Speaking of, you know the new student? Samantha Reed?" She told her.

"Uh yeah, she's a very nice girl. What's up? Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. We had talked after her game, and she was supposed to come back for the game and never came back. She took a hard tackle during the game and I wanted to make sure she was alright. You wouldn't happen to have her phone number in a file somewhere?" Dana explained, giving Gwen a white lie. She heard her get up out of bed, and although she felt bad, she knew she had to try and get a hold of Samantha.

"Let me go to my office." She said.

"Who is that?" She heard Gwen's husband ask in the background.

"It's Dana." She answered, and she heard Julius say hello.

"Tell him I say hi." She chuckled.

"She says hi." Gwen chuckle. "Okay, let me pull up her file." She said, and she could hear her clicking around.

"I really appreciate it honey." Dana said.

"It's no problem. Okay, here it is. I've got two phone numbers on file, you want both of them?" She asked her.