Don't You Remember

M E M O R I E S

"The most beautiful stories always start with wreckage" -Jack London
———————————————————————

N O V E M B E R

I woke up the next morning was a headache that seemed to be trying to break its way out of my skull, I spent most of the night laying in my bed snuggling the blanket Morgan had given me for my birthday years before. I'd always hated the blanket; it was rough and uncomfortable, it had stayed deep in my closest since she'd given it to me, but every day since she'd gone missing, I snuggled with it at night. 

I wasn't a particularly religious person, but at night I prayed. I prayed to whoever was listening to me to let my best friend come home to be safe, with her friends and family that loved her so much. 

My mom came in late into the night to give me a melatonin tablet so I could sleep, and before long, I was out like a light.  

I'd texted Lydia asking to talk, but she'd left me on delivered, then I texted Karley, but she said she needed space. I'd sat in bed for another hour, the occasional tear falling as I lay snuggled in the blanket. 

It wasn't until almost two PM that my headache had dulled enough that I could go downstairs. Everything seemed normal, my parents were in the kitchen talking, and my brother was sitting in the living room screaming the videogame he was playing as if it magically made him good at the game. 

But once the floorboard underneath me squealed, everything went silent- my brother stopped yelling and looked up at me with his big blue eyes. My parents looked at each other, then looked at me. My mom patted the stool beside her before looking back at my dad with a bewitching glare. 

I sat down next to her. "What's up?" 

"The sheriff called, honey..." 

"Did they find Morgan?" Hope laced my tone, and my heart began to race, oh maybe- just maybe they found her on the side of the road high as a kite, and she'd only been on a week-long bender. 

"No, November." She let out a sigh- obviously trying to figure out how to deliver some hard to swallow news. "The police have no idea where she could be, honey. Morgan's parents called earlier; the case has gone cold." 

The air in my lungs seemed to dissipate, and I started seeing spots, no, no, no. Morgan was alive! How could they just give up on her? On Morgan! 

"No," Was all I could muster out- I was in shock. 

"Honey, it's for the best-"

"How could you say that? This is Morgan, mom! The girl who has been my best friend since seventh grade! The girl you thought of as your daughter!" 

"You're right, I did. But the police can not continue to look for someone that is either dead or doesn't want to be found." 

"Whatever" I threw myself back and away from the table, mom and dad called after me, but all I could bring myself to hear was the ringing in my ears and the boiling of my blood. 

Treehouse

Before I could even realize what I was doing, I sent the text to the girls; it was the code word we had. It meant no matter what issues we had with each other at the time was forgotten, and the others came running. We didn't use it often, which is why I was texting; it was such a big thing. 

Oddly enough, the secret meeting location for treehouse wasn't a treehouse; it was a base we'd made in eighth grade in the forest. It was so no one could find us. 

By the time I pulled up to the secret hideout, which wasn't a secret because I could drive right up to it, Karly and Lydia had already built a fire and were sitting across from each other looking over the flames. 

"What is wrong, November?" Karley spoke first. 

"Do you guys know?"

"Know what?" Lydia snipped. 

"They're declaring Morgan's case cold."

"What?" Lydia and Karley said at the same time. 

"Can they do that?"

"They can, and they did." I looked down at my fingers, which were letting the material of my shirt wound itself around them and then unravel, a nervous tick of mine. 

"Morgan has to be alive, though." Karley seemed shocked and panicked.

"that's what I said, but as my mom put it so eloquently: They can't keep looking for someone who is dead, or doesn't want to be found." 

Lydia, who had been silent this entire time, looks up over the fire. "But we can."

"What are you talking about, Lyd?" Karley and I looked up at each other before back at Lydia. 

"My parents leave for a business trip tomorrow, go home, pack a bag, and come over tomorrow. And in the morning we'll leave. We're going to find Morgan." Lydia seemed so serious. Usually, you could tell when she was joking because there would be a quirk to her brow, or she'd be smirking, but now, she was utterly solemn. 

"Are you serious, Lyd?" 

"As the plague." She looked at us both before standing up. "If you both believe Morgan is alive then we can't let this case go cold. We have to find her. So who's with me, or am I doing this myself?"

Karley and I looked at each other before Karley uttered an almost incoherent. "I'm in."

Then they both looked at me. Morgan was alive, and I wanted to find her, but how the hell would we- a ragtag group of teenagers find our missing best friend. 

"How the hell are you guys expecting to find her, the police couldn't even find her!" 

"We know her better than the police, come on Nove. We owe it to her to at least try, don't we?" Karley's voice was frail. And when Lydia looked at me with pleading eyes, I knew I was a goner. 

"Ok, I'm in." They smiled looking at me. 

"Ok, pack your bags ladies, we leave tomorrow night."