Moving On

Chapter 11 - "Puzzle Pieces"

"We can't!" She shouts. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologizes after realizing her tone, "Iah, if only you saw him that night. He was hurt. I...I dont want him to think that everyone gave up on him. He needs someone to be there for him." She is now crying.

As much as I want to say that she is being too emotional on this, I wunderstand where she's coming from. I'd probably feel the same way if I was in her position.

"Carly," Amy breaks her sobbing, "knowing Seb, he loves you and Kristen so much. I'm sure he'll call you soon."

And as if Amy is a psychic or that this whole thing is staged, Carly's phone rings.

"He-hello..." Her eyes widen and she stands up from the bed, "Seb," she whispers. Instantly she fiddles with her phone putting it on speaker phone for us to hear their conversation.

"Listen to me Carly," his voice is calm and convincing unlike the one we just heard. We move closer to Carly ever so quietly. "I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry about me and please...dont bother looking for me."

"But, but Seb-"

"Carly listen....I need you to trust me. I'll be back...soon but for now, tell everyone else to stop looking for me."

"Seb do me a favour and stay safe please. Make sure you come back here in one piece...and breathing, if that's possible," Carly replies.

We hear him chuckle from the other end. "Count on that. Look I have to go...please stop Carly and take care of yourself and Kristen."

We look at each other after hanging up. "I guess we'll stop," my best friend concludes.

* * * * *

Several weeks have passed by after Carly called off our hunt. It's early November now and we, we are on the road to state championships. The past few days have been crazy: practice pretty much everyday, meeting with university coaches and scouts, and not to mention the amount of school work we need to stay on top of. The first semester is about to end so it's really important that we stay on track with school.

"In a week we could be in San Diego," Carly says as she stares at my bedroom ceiling.

"Yeah," I sigh. "I can't believe this is our last chance to get that stupid trophy and medal." I smile

"That stupid trophy we've been crying about since freshman year....Iah," she calls after a moment of  silence, "where are you going after high school?"

I flop myself on my bed beside her. "I don't know." I've been dreading the day I have to pick a university to go to. Not that I have so many choices to choose from but there are so much things I need to consider. It's not just volleyball, there is academics and of course, I don't want to go somewhere far.

"I thought Oregon is a sure deal?" She questions shifting her gaze to the side of my head.

"It's my first option for sure but I am also considering other schools. I don't know...I still have time to decide. You?"

"USC maybe...not sure either."

Momentarily my bedroom door opens and Ian rushes in with his laptop.

"Ian knock!" I scold him. I hate it when he walks in without knocking and so does he when I do it to him.

"Oh sorry," he apologizes while trying to catch his breath. "You have to see this," he kneels down beside my bed and sets his laptop in front of us. Carly and I look at each other. It better not be one of those scary videos. Before he plays whatever this video is about, Carly's phone rings.