From the moment Moet stepped foot into her bedroom, she knew that Dakota was already patiently lounging on her twin-sized bed with the pretty white covers. Sensing her younger sister’s distress, she asks, “What’s wrong?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Moet’s voice comes out heartbreakingly miserable due to the sobs that wracked her body as soon as she walked out of Ella’s bedroom, completely ignoring Leighton’s questions of concern.
Dakota didn’t play dumb this time. She knew exactly what Moet was talking about and didn’t hesitate to show it. By now, both girls’ faces were scrunched up in misery and tears flowed down both of their cheeks. Getting up, Dakota walks toward Moet and wraps her arms around her in a comforting hug. Stroking the younger girl’s hair, she tries her best to soothe her by rocking her back and forth as she murmured nonsense words. Finally, she answers, “I didn’t want you to worry, Mo.”
Hiccupping, Moet managed to push herself away from her sister’s embrace. “You know what? I’m sick of this! I’m sick of you hiding things like this from me! I’m sick of not even knowing where my own sister lives! I’m sick of it all!” She didn’t care if her parents could hear her. Let them. Maybe then they’d discover that their eldest daughter wasn’t dead and they’d send out the search parties again and her big sister could finally come home.
“God damn it, Moet! Don’t speak so loud! Mom and Dad are right next door.” Dakota tried shushing Moet but Moet was relentless.
“I don’t care anymore! I don’t fucking care if they can hear me or not, I just want you to stop keeping secrets from me!” Moet cried.
Pulling at her hair in frustration, Dakota turned around and yelled, “Don’t you think I would tell you if I could? I can’t Moet, not right now at least. It’s not the right time for that.” Moet just shakes her head in disbelief. She was so utterly confused and angry. What did she mean by she couldn’t tell her something as simple as where she lived? What did she mean by it’s not the right time?
Just as Moet opens her mouth to voice exactly that, Dakota beats her to the punch saying, “Look, I need you to do me a favor.”
“A favor?” Moet couldn’t believe it. Dakota just bypassed her question like it was nothing and now she wanted Moet to do a favor for her? “You must be insane to even think about asking me for a favor right now.”
Giving Moet one of her small, sad smiles, Dakota replies, “You don’t even know the half of it.”
“Moet?” The girls hear a voice from outside of the door. Immediately, Dakota grabs Moet’s shoulders, leans forward, and looks her in the eye. “Now, listen to me, this is really important, okay? I’m not gonna be back here to visit you for a while, but when I do come back, I promise you I will tell you everything. From the moment I ran away. But I’m gonna ask you to find something for me before that. You have to promise me that no matter what you do, you’ll try your best to find it, okay?”
“Moet, what are you doing in there?” They hear Mother call from outside.
Dakota frantically shakes her younger sister’s shoulders. “Okay? Promise me?” She had a panicked gleam in her eye. Caught up in the moment of the situation, Moet nods. “Thank you, Mo.” Dakota makes for the window as a knock sounds on Moet’s bedroom door. Just before she starts her descent, she runs back across the room and wraps her arms around Moet in a bone-crushing hug. “I love you, Mo. Remember that.” Pulling back to look at her younger sister one last time, she climbs out of the window and disappears right when Moet’s bedroom door opens forcefully.
“What’s going on here?” Mother’s sharp voice rings throughout the air.
Moet can’t speak. She doesn’t want to.
“I asked you a question, Moet. What was going on in here?”
Very quietly, Moet mumbles, “I have a headache.”
Confused, Mother furrows her brows and asks, “What?”
She can’t breathe. “I have a headache.” Her words sound so far away. Everything is starting to get blurry.
“What’s wrong?” Moet can faintly hear her father’s voice saying. Why was this room so small? Her heart is beating so hard.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“Moet, what’s wrong?”
Disembodied hands grip her shoulders.
“Honey, can you hear me?”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her eyes roll back.
“Call an ambulance!”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
And then… nothing.
She looks so small, Leighton observes when he walks into room 286 at the local hospital. No sooner than he sits down in the chair do Moet’s delicate eyelids flutter open. Surprise registers in her eyes and then a wide smile stretches across her lips.
“Leighton, what are you doing here?” She asks, seemingly happy about his unexpected visit.
What was he doing here?
The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he got with the obvious answer: he was worried for her. When Leighton noticed that Moet wasn’t at school, he assumed she was sick and left it alone. However, when she didn’t attend school for the next two days, he most certainly became concerned with her wellbeing. After a quick drop-by the Holmes house, Mr. Holmes informed him that she was at the hospital after an unfortunate incident three nights before. Without thinking, Leighton immediately climbed back into his car and drove to the local hospital. And now… here he was. Why did he care so much anyways? As much as he didn’t want to admit it to himself, if Charlotte was absent for a few days, he wouldn’t have taken the effort to drive to her house to put up with her parents and then drive all the way back to the hospital to see her even though he had a myriad of more important things to do back home.
“Well… I’m glad you’re here,” Moet smiles and takes Leighton’s hand into her own. He liked the feel of it. It sparked a warmth inside of him. Squeezing her hand assuredly, he makes himself comfortable in the plush hospital chair before acknowledging the giant metaphorical elephant in the room.
“So… why are you here?” Other than the slightly sickly pallor of her naturally pale skin, Moet looks normal. Leighton can’t see any wounds and her expression isn’t one of pain. She just looks tired.
The girl shrugs. “I’m not sure,” Moet speaks in her usual quiet voice. “I think I fainted. I haven’t been eating right the past few days…”
Leighton isn’t that surprised. She probably passed out from malnutrition or over exhaustion of her body. He wasn’t stupid; he’d noticed her anorexic tendencies when it came to food. However, he also knew that Moet was smart enough not to starve herself for the purpose of losing weight. “You’re not fat,” he blatantly states.
Moet looks at him for a moment and then gives him a small, sad smile. “I know.” She sighs and closes her eyes. Maybe he should leave her to rest. As he starts to get up, Moet’s hold on his hand tightens. “Please… stay,” she murmurs. How on earth could he possibly say no to those big hazel eyes pleading for him to stay? Settling back in his chair, he checks the time. Four thirty-two. It was still early.
So he stayed for a bit.
A bit being until nine o’clock at night, that is.
They liked talking to each other.
It made them happy.