A- Villain

Chapter 13 - Climb the tower

When I finish making the playlist, I realize it's time for me to go get Emily. Honestly, my palms are sweaty and I've got knots forming in my stomach. Get yourself together, Beck, it's not that big of a deal.

If it wasn't that big of a deal you wouldn't be pacing back and forth right now.

With a dramatic sigh, I yank my bag off of the bed and head out the door. So I'm a tad nervous, but I'm sure this weekend will go great.

Right?

My drive over to Emily's dorm is a piece of cake compared to the drive to come later. Thanksgiving traffic is going to be a pain in the butt - it always is. I suppose having Emily by my side might relieve some of the stress from driving.

I take the elevator to get up to the third floor of the residence hall, because I'm too tired from last night to even think about climbing three flights of steep stairs.

As I round the corner, I pray that Emily answers the door so I don't have to see Jessie. I'm not prepared to make a snappy remark if she says something quick witted. It's too early for that.

I knock on the door, and it swings open almost immediately. When Jessie opens the door, I want to scowl. But I can't. She looks like she's stayed up all night worrying over something. Her brown eyes look bloodshot, like she's been crying all night. Noah didn't say anything about them having a fight, so why does she look so upset?

She looks over my shoulder, "Is Emily with you?"

Wait, those are her first words to me?

I squint at her, "I'm here to pick her up. Why would Emily be with me?"

When Jessie's hand comes up to cover her mouth, I feel my stomach twist into a thousand knots. She slowly lowers her hand down to her chin so she can speak, but at this point her words are shaky.

"Emily didn't come back to the dorm last night. I thought she was out with you and maybe crashed at your apartment." Jessie doesn't meet my eyes until she's finished her sentence. When she looks up at me, I see her eyes begging me to say that I know where she is - that she was with me. But that is not the case.

I shake my head, feeling numb all of a sudden. "I don't know... I'm sorry, Jessie, I don't know."

Jessie reaches up and grabs a clump of her spring-like curls into her fist. She opens the door wider so I can enter the dorm, and I immediately start asking questions. "When was the last time you saw her?"

She starts to pace the floor, biting her thumbnail in deep thought. "She told me she was going to study yesterday afternoon." Suddenly Jessie freezes in place.

"What's wrong?" I ask, wondering if she figured out where Emily is.

Jessie pinches the bridge of her nose as she closes her eyes. "Emily always studies in the dorm. She never goes somewhere else to study."

I bite down on my lower lip, trying to figure out what Jessie is getting at. My arms cross over my chest, "What're you implying, Jessie?"

Jessie throws her hands up, yelling at me, "I don't know, Beck! Maybe she went to meet someone and now she's not back? What does that tell you?"

I know what she's saying now. "You think she was kidnapped?" I whisper.

A single tear slips down Jessie's face. I've never seen Jessie cry... ever. "I don't want to think that, but that's what I keep coming back to. I have no idea where she was or if she was with someone. But my brain keeps resorting to the worst-case scenario."