Missing

Chapter 22

"What are you doing here?" I ask Amanda.

"I came here with you..." She answers.

"No, why are you behind her house and who were you talking to?" I race over to her as fast as I can to see who the other half of the conversation is.

"I wasn't talking to anyone, I saw one of my friends and I said hi." Amanda is hiding something.

"Okay then. Um." I hesitate.

"Let's get back to school, I have history next period and I have to study for my test." Amanda feels just as uncomfortable as I do.

"Yeah." I say, failing to seem strong. We walk back to the bus and ride quietly to school.
~~~~~
It's the end of the day and I've made it through without anyone commenting on Richelle's freak out or the fact that I have bandages all over me. I bet the rumors have been spread so I'm ready for anything anyone throws at me.

As I exit the school, ready to call my mom to pick me up, someone taps my shoulder. I turn around to see who this may be.

"What do you think she knows?" It's Amanda.

"What do you mean?" I respond not even knowing what she is implying.

"What does Richelle know? At first I just thought she was a briliant hacker but I don't know anymore." Amanda's voice drifts off as she ends her sentence.

"That's a nice theory." I'm not in the mood to engage into conversation, especially not about this whole missing catastrophe.

"You're not listening." Amanda accuses.

"And you're not wrong." I pull out my
phone, "I am going to go home and you can solve this murder mystery if you want." I say without even thinking about the words that are coming from my mouth.

"Murder? I thought it was just kidnapping." Amanda seems stunned and her eyes are bulging out at me.

"You didn't know?" I realize the only reason I know is because Richelle told me.

"No. How did you know?" My partner asks in a very nervous voice.

"My former comrade told-" My voice trails off.

"Omigosh!" Amanda's jaw drops and I feel my stomache flip.

"It's..." I can't finish my sentence.

We stand there for a moment just staring at each other, mouths ajar.

"Wait, let's be rational." Amanda says, calming down.

"Yeah, before we turn in a seventh grader, we should-" Amanda finishes my sentence for me.

"Get proof she's stabbing other people."

"Yeah." I wince at Amanda's choice of words.

"How do we do that?" I ask, hoping Amanda can come up with better plans than what is going off in my mind right now.

"Well," The rest of the sentence is just her opening her mouth and realizing whatever she's thinking of is a bad idea so she closes it. In the end, no sounds are ever projected through Amanda.

"Hey Emily!" Someone calls my name. It's a fimiliar voice.

"Eldon?" I turn around.

"What are you doing?" He asks.

I turn to Amanda and she just shrugs at me.

"Oh nothing, why?" I don't want him to get involved.

"I wanted to ask you if you want to come retrieve your car. I don't know if it's still out there but you can check." He suggests.

I don't know what to say but Amanda saves it.