missing | gilinsky

11

"When are you going back to New York?" I ask, frantically. I have no time to think about any of this, I feel like time is going by so fast. 

"In two days," Jack says, staring me down. I feel intimidated by him, almost as if he was trying to force me to say yes. 

I shake my head, swallowing hard. Fuck what am I supposed to do? Is he being serious? "Jack, I don't know."

"You want to come, I know you do," he tells me, walking closer to me. My hands lay still on either side of me but Jack picks them up, taking them in his own. My heart is working overtime as I try to come to terms with how serious this request is. 

"Jack, I'll miss prom - I'll miss graduation," I explain.

"When are those things?" He's staring at our hands like they're the most interesting things in the world.

"Prom is May 20th and graduation is May 22nd." 

"What's today? May 5th?"

"Yeah."

"That's in what, fifteen to seventeen days? Do you really want to waste seventeen days not looking for your brother because you don't want to miss a stupid dance and a stupid graduation?" Jack wrinkles his nose. It makes him look stupid. I snatch my hands way from his. 

"Graduation isn't stupid, Jack, it's important to me."

"More important than your own brother?" 

I want to smack him. I want to smack him but I don't because I know he's right. He takes my silence as an answer, sitting down next to me on the bed. We sit like that for a few minutes. 

"I'll have to convince my mom," I tell him. "She's not going to want me to go."

"If it's to find her son then I'm sure she'll agree to it," Jack assures me. 

"How long would we stay?" I ask, still not completely understanding how to react to this. 

"As long as it takes to find Jack."

I shake my head. Does he know how long this could take? Who would I be staying with? Him? Can I really even trust him? He's obviously keeping things from me but he's also telling me things that I've been trying to figure out since Jack first went missing.

I've never been anywhere outside of Omaha, I won't know what to do with myself. Saying yes to this would force me to step out of my comfort zone big time. I've never stepped out of my comfort zone for anyone, not even Sammy or Hannah. 

"Listen, I know being with me for that long isn't really something you want to do, but if I go back to New York alone I don't know how that'd be helping you. Me coming here would've been a complete waste if I leave without you by my side." 

I take a deep breath. Letting Jack's words convince me that going with him wouldn't just be the best for me, but the best for my family. "You promise I won't regret this?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"You guys can't be serious." Mom laughs. "No way."

"With all due respect, Jennifer, we're as serious as a heart attack," Jack says, standing his ground. I already want to tell Mom that we were joking.

"You want to take my daughter to New York to find my missing son?" Mom has a look of disgust on her face. "I would be without both of my children?"

"Jennifer, hear me out, I will be doing everything in my power to look after Nadia. I would never let anything bad happen to her I promise you that," Jack boasts. I'm actually amazed at how confident he sounds saying all of this. Does he really feel that way? I hope so. I would never forgive myself if I left my Mom alone with nobody to look after her.

"Guys, I don't know. Shouldn't we just notify the police?" 

"Mom, no way," I disagree. "It took them twenty days to even think about filing a missing person report. We can handle this on our own."

"But you'll miss so much school." I can tell Mom is thinking hard about what to do. It gives me hope that we can talk her into saying yes. 

"Mom, I've only been absent one time this year and you can graduate as long as you haven't been absent more than twenty times, I won't go over that limit." 

"But won't your grades suffer? What about finals? Your job!"

"I don't have any finals, I took my last one back in January - as of grades, if we let the school know that I will be missing the rest of the year the grades I have now won't change." The more questions Mom asks, the more excited I am to give answers that will make it impossible for her to say no. "As of my job at the pool, I can get off for the rest of the summer no problem. Sam can take my place, he's there everyday anyway."

Mom brings her left hand up to close to her face. She stares down at her wedding ring. It's been three months since Dad passed and she still hasn't taken it off. I don't blame her. I walk over to her and place my hand in hers. She has tears in her eyes. I want to cry but I don't. 

"Everything's going to be fine," I tell her. "I'll find Jack and I'll bring him home." I wipe a few stray tears from her cheeks and give her a bright smile. 

"You'll be safe?" 

"Safer than safe," Jack adds.

Mom looks from me to Jack and nods. "I trust you both, you can go as long as you keep in touch."

"I love you," I tell her, wrapping her up in a hug. She hugs me back for a few seconds then lets go. 

"I love you too, now go pack," she says, standing up from the stool she had been sitting on. 

I turn around and look at Jack, he has his head tilted to the right and a big grin on his face. "You ready?" He asks. 

"I was born ready."

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so shit is finally going down lmao I know you've been patient and waiting for chapters that included more than just Nadia going to school and going to lunch and going to the pool. hopefully you enjoyed this chapter even though I felt like it was kind of rushed even though it took me forever to write it. 

It's hard coming up with the right stuff to say in these sort of chapters bc I always feel like I'm repeating myself. anwaaaay if you guys have any questions or suggestions don't be afraid to comment and don't forget to vote if you'd like!

-gilinskyshigh