June 7th
"Hi, I was wondering if Madeline could come over to go swimming?" Erica asked, phoning Madeline's house.
"Sorry, she isn't home. Maybe another time?" Erica heard tension and a lot of fear in Maddie's mom's voice.
"Where is she?" she asked, scared.
Madeline's mom took a deep breath. "We don't know," she said with a shaky voice.
"She ran away?!" Erica was shocked. Madeline talked about running away and living in the forest all the time, but she would never actually do it. Or did Erica not know here friend as well as she thought?
"I'd prefer not to talk about it."
"Okay," said Erica, disappointed. "Good luck finding her."
She meant it sincerely. Erica wasn't one of those average teenagers who was sarcastic about everything. She was a thirteen year old girl with the mind of a scientist. And she was very, very, kind.
Which was why she was so freaking scared about Madeline.