FREE STORY WITH EXCLUSIVE CONTENT. This is *not* a Paid Story.
Eighteen-year-old hockey prodigy Elliot Wexler has three goals for senior year. One: somehow graduate with a 3.5 GPA. Two: hide his bipolar disorder from his peers. And three: make it in...
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ELLIOT IS IN A GOOD MOOD when he's done at that guy's place. He's even laughing at something I said when we get back to the house. There's a pair of shoes I've never seen before on the mat, and as soon as the door closes, Elizabeth's quivery voice calls from down the hall.
"El? Is that you? Get in here. Now, please."
Elliot and I exchange an uneasy glance before we go to the living room. Maddy, Charlotte's best friend, is bawling her eyes out on the living room couch. Her black hair falls in blades over her cheeks as she covers her eyes, and Elizabeth is beside her looking ten shades paler. Adam stands with his hands on his hips, his eyes dead on the floor. Ollie's on the rug holding Ana, and a sick feeling emerges within me.
Where is Charlotte?
"What's going on?" Elliot asks.
Elizabeth draws a breath. Her hands are shaking, but she holds them together to try to stop it. "Sit down, please. Both of you."
We take the loveseat. Elizabeth looks to be on the verge of tears, and I've never seen her lose face like this before.
"Mom?" Elliot asks. "Dad? What's going on?"
Elliot's dad lets out a long sigh through his nose. "You sister is missing, El. We can't find Charlotte."
Silence. My first thought is that she has run off to party. But something in the air feels more serious.
"I'm so sorry." Maddy sobs into her palms. "I didn't know what to do. She made me pinky promise not to tell. But I can't get a hold of her. I don't know where she went or who she's with. She said if I ratted on her again that she'd—" She lets out a cry. "She said she was never coming back and now she won't answer her cell!"
Elliot's brows pinch, and he sits up. "Was she off with some guy? Dave?"
"I think so," Maddy said.
"Who the hell is Dave?" Adam demands, his authoritative voice bouncing off the walls, and Elliot shrinks.
"I don't really know, Dad... I saw him on her phone... maybe her boyfriend?"
"I've never met him," Maddy says, "but he's way older than her, I don't know, I knew it was a bad idea but I just—" More sobs, but Maddy's words ring in my head.
Older than her.
Adam pulls up a chair and sits in front of Maddy, clasping his hands together. "We aren't mad at you, Maddy, but I need you to describe the vehicle she got in."
Maddy dabs her eyes with a tissue and takes a deep breath. "Um, right. It was like, green. And it was a car."
Adam blinks. "Good. You're doing great, Maddy. Was it a truck? SUV? Sedan? Did you happen to get the model?"
