Maybe Never

1 - 8 Hours After

         "Mona?" My step mom Emily walks into my room, interrupting my 'studying' for a math test. I'm actually watching Netflix and eating mint chocolate chip ice cream, but my teacher Mr. Lowe doesn't have to know that.

"Yes." I say, pulling my eyes away from the TV long enough to see that it's serious. "What?" I whisper.

"A boy is downstairs."

A boy? That makes me pause the show. I don't talk to any boys. Except...

"Is it Peter?"

She nods slowly. "Honey..."

Normally, I would tell her not to 'honey' me, that's she's not my real mom. This time, I walk past her and downstairs, into the kitchen.

My best friend's boyfriend's tan face is ashen, and the hand that's lifting a cup of water to his lips is shaking.

"Are you okay?" I ask after a few seconds. He jumps in his seat. "Hey...easy." I slowly make my way to the island where he's sitting.

"Clem is..." He pauses as he meets my eyes warily. "How long have you guys been friends?"

"Uh..." I furrow my brows as I try to count down the years as Peter analyzes my face. "About 5 years, I guess."

"Wow. She never told me that." Peter lets out a shaky breath. His eyes dart from me to the counter to back to me.

"Okay. That's great to know. Now what's going on, Peter?"

"She's missing."

.....

It takes me a few seconds—no, minutes—to form a coherent sentence.

"I just talked to her this morning. She's not missing." I shake my head. "Where's my phone?" I ask under my breath, feeling my pockets and finding them empty.

"I talked to her today, too, Mona." Peter lets out a sigh. He looks on the verge of tears, but I know that he's wrong. He has to be wrong. "Believe me, I talked to the police and everything. They're starting a search and press conference tomorrow."

"No." I shake my head. "I need to find my phone."

I leave him to follow me up the stairs. Mickey, my half-sister, pops her head out of her room.

"What's up?" She pops the p.

"Shut up." I say without thinking. I just really need to find my phone, so I can call Clem and she'll answer and I'll be able to rub it in Peter's face that he made a huge mistake. Nope, wrong Clementine. Not his. Not mine.

I get into my room and find my stupid phone on my blue dresser. I put in Clem's number since I've memorized it by heart and wait as it rings.

"Hey, this is Clem. Since you're listening to this, I'm probably too busy saving zoo animals from the cruelty of being in captivity. Or I'm at the mall. Don't leave a message unless you're a penguin needing to be saved from global warming." Her stupid voice message I helped her record two months ago is what fills my ears. I wait until it ends and leave her a message even though I'm not a dying penguin.

"Clementine. You have to hear this. Your crazy fucking boyfriend thinks you're missing. Can you believe that? Well, I'm gonna call you back. Answer this time, okay?"

It takes four more times for me to give up. "Okay, her phone is just dead."

"No." Peter shakes his head. He's sitting on my bed with his head in his hands. "Look, I know it's crazy. But I told the police I would take you to the station so they could question you. And that was, like, an hour ago. So can we go?"