Missing

Chapter 39

Before long, I hear my parents getting up and turning on the noisy coffee maker. Then I hear the annoying ripping of the velcro on my dad's laptop case. The garage door opens and I my mom yells something to my dad. After a few minutes, the car starts and the garage door closes. My phone rings. It's my mom calling me.

"What is it?" I grumble into the speaker.

"Emily, honey. We're going to be out late tonight." My mom states.

"How late?" My voice is suspicious.

"About eleven, eleven-thirty." There is a slight pause and I can hear my mom turning her attention to someone else and telling them to get more gas - my dad, "You know the drill. Go out but be back by ten-thirty."

"Yes. I got it." I answer with a sense of annoyance, this wouldn't be the first time I've had this conversation.

"We'll call you if we're going to be home any later. Love you."

"Love you too, mom."

Then I hang up. What my luck! My parents are going to be out the night when Eldon is taking me out on a date. Now I won't have to lie to them and tell them I'm going over to Chloe's.

I check the time on my phone. 9:46. When will Eldon tell me where we're going?

I give up on trying to crack Riley's inexplicable code and go downstairs to see if my mom made me breakfast.

Surely enough, there is a bowl of oatmeal sitting on the table. It's hot and I can see the steam rising out of it rapidly. I walk over to a drawer and pull out a spoon and then I pour myself a cup of coffee. Then I walk over to my breakfast and eat my breakfast.

I try to eat as slowly as possible because I know once I have nothing to do, waiting for Eldon to call me will be agony.

After twenty minutes of slowly slurping wet oats and hot coffee, I finally finish. I bring my empty dishes and put them in the sink. My hand reaches for the faucet handle and wash the dishes meticulously.

I spend another hour cleaning up the dishes ones my parents left, then the sink. Then I rearranging the kitchen so it is spotless. There isn't anything left for me to do. The living room and family rooms look flawless and the floor is so clean you can eat off of it.

I stalk up to my bedroom and close the door gentily. My bed needs to be made and I guess I can clean my closet. My bathroom can look nicer and I have a whole bunch of school assignments I can do - but I doubt I'll need to do them just yet.

I start with my bed and throw off all the blankets and pillows. I decide to change the sheets as well. I get fresh ones and put them on then I position the blankest back on percisely.

My bathroom is next. I pick up the wet towel I used last night and throw it into the hamper. Then I sweep the floors and clean the counters. I even make the effort to scrub the toilet and shower.

By now, I don't have anymore energy. I wait by my phone so I'll be ready when Eldon calls.

"Ugh. Please call me already." I groan, then I think about contacting him.

"What if I text you? That won't go up against the whole 'you said you'd call me first' rule, right?" I think aloud.

I turn on my phone then go into my contacts. I find Eldon then think about what I'm going to text him.

It takes ten minutes for me to make up the perfect text:

Hey. My parents are going to be out late tonight, can you tell me where we're going?

I regret it the moment I press send.

It gets boring, waiting for someone to call you like in every clichè movie. I think about rumaging through my closet to find what I can discard but my phone rings.

It's a text from Eldon:

D I L R O L R E

I text him back:

What does that mean?

A new message pops up:

Figure it out. Text me back when you do. Until then, I won't contact you. ;)

Before I can figure out what D I L R O L R E means, I can't contact Eldon?