*Meggie’s POV**
I wiped the remainders of my tears off my face and gently shifted a now sleeping Gina off my shoulder and stood up, wincing at the soreness of my muscles from sitting in one position for too long. I looked at my watch and saw that it was already almost 6 o’clock. I sat on the small table in my little kitchen and just stared at the wall, my brain still not fully comprehending what had happened. I wanted to cry but it seemed like I had run out of tears. I felt empty, hollow, like nothing would ever be right ever again. I was startled out of my daze by someone pounding loudly on my door. I hung my head, hoping that whoever it was would just go away and leave me alone.
“Open up Meggie we know you’re in there,” a voice called, slightly muffled by the door. Oh no, why them? I know they’re my friends but they’re bound to notice that something’s wrong considering I look like h***.
“C’mon Meggie, please let us in.”
I groaned inwardly, why’d he come? He’s not even my friend.
“Go away I don’t want to talk to any of you!” I yelled back through the door.
“Please Meggie?”
“NO!”
I heard a bunch of whispering through the door and then silence. I sighed in relief and started back toward where Gina was laying on the floor. Just then I heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning in a lock. I mentally cursed myself for telling Mikaela where I hid my spare key. I headed to the window, knocking everything off the kitchen table in the process, intent on escaping even if it means going down the fire escape. I couldn’t let them find out that Jess was missing- I just couldn’t. I quickly grabbed the note and charm before prying open the window and giving one last sad look at the crib where Jess was last seen and a sleeping Gina on the ground next to it. I slid out onto the stairs and quietly closed the window behind me, disappearing from sight just as I heard the door slam open. I snuck a look through the window- Mikaela was gently waking Gina up, Ryan was watching her while scanning the room for any signs of me, Max was in the doorway seeming to be in shock, and Justin just stood there looking distraught with his head down and his hands covering his face. I felt a sudden urge to go back in through the window and comfort him-tell him that I was okay, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t jeopardize one of my friend’s lives or Jess’s, so I turned and started climbing down the rickety old stairs that swayed in the faintest breeze. I hopped down onto the street, grateful to finally be off the stairs and set off down the road, going somewhere I promised myself I would never go again.
~6 months later~
**Justin’s POV**
It’s been six months. Six whole months since we let Meggie slip away from us, and I haven’t stopped blaming myself since. I still remember that day as though it was yesterday…
~Flashback~
We were left at the police station, looking in astonishment at Meggie. Mikaela was softly crying while Max looked furious for some reason.
“Should we go after her?” Ryan asked, breaking the silence that filled the air.
“No, give her some time to herself. We should get some food in the meantime then bring her some later.” Mikaela said, speaking up for the first time in 10 minutes, vainly trying to wipe the tears from her face. I nodded in agreement. We all took our cars to the nearest diner, which happened to be the one that Meggie worked in. It seemed that they were short on staff so it took almost an hour and a half for us to get food. It didn’t really matter since none of us were really hungry.
“Should we go check on her now?” I asked, just wanting to see how she was.
“I think we should try and figure out where they went after Meggie’s shift ended,” Max said.
