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"I was so worried about you, JJ," Lauren, his best friend, exclaimed, her eyes glistening with tears. God, he hoped she wouldn't cry; he hated it when Lauren sobbed, snot dribbling out of her little nose, the edges of her mouth swooping downward like a hawk.
"Hey, hey, don't cry, Lauren," he reassured, leaning on the doorway and trying to conjure up some sympathy for his best friend. When he and Lauren met in grade school, he despised her and her perfect pony tail tied back with a perfect pink ribbon. All the girls seemed to crowd around her and all the boys seemed to love her—except for JJ. He couldn't see what was so wonderful about her pristine lacy socks or her crystal blue eyes. Maybe that was why they fit together so well like puzzle pieces: he lacked the adoration for her that everyone else had in abundance while she was an angel child, a girl, a feminine touch that JJ never experienced in his male-dominated household.
A single Lauren tear as blue as her cerulean irises slid down her cheek and JJ rolled his eyes. "Can you seriously not go a day without me?"
Lauren stuck out her tongue at him before gliding past him and into the front foyer. JJ shut the front door behind her and watched Lauren examine herself in the mirror that hung precariously on the wall. "Lauren, stop checking yourself out. It's weird."
"Shut the fuck up, J," Lauren snapped, her gaze nailed to the mirror. JJ rose his eyebrows even though he knew that she owned the mouth of a sailor sometimes. After the two became best friends, he soon learned that perfect Lauren wasn't so perfect after all.
He wasn't sure why she had to scrutinize her appearance in the mirror; her cinnamon hair was pulled back in an immaculate ponytail, not a spot of acne could be found on her face, her legs were tone and tan, her cheerleading outfit hugging her every curve flawlessly. JJ, however, wasn't fooled; in fact, he was probably the only kid at school who didn't bow down and worship her like a goddess.
"That weird pedophile boy tried to approach me today and you weren't there to scare him away from me. Usually all those crazy bastards stay away from me when you're around—even though I don't understand why, you're a legitimate toothpick—so I could've really used your fucking protection, gross-guy-be-gone." Lauren stopped inspecting herself in the mirror and instead placed her penetrating blue eyes on JJ who was immune to what he liked to call "The Lauren Effect."
"So you're saying you're using me? Wow, what a bitch move, Lauren."
Lauren rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."
"I know. You missed me."
"I actually did, you bastard." Lauren leaped on top of him and embraced him, her arms slowly choking the life out of him like a python.
"Okay, I can't breathe," JJ choked out, his face turning a strange, dangerous shade of purple.
Lauren finally released him and straightened her cheerleading uniform, a graceful, prideful expression fixed upon her face. "Well, I'm glad to know you're not ditching me. But you're clearly not sick, so what the hell, Hale?" She tenderly punched JJ in the shoulder before sauntering to the living room. The Hales' home resembled a second home to her as she'd spent most of her childhood playing and pretending with JJ within these walls. JJ sighed and followed her.
"I mean, I felt sick this morning so my mom let me stay home," JJ explained as he watched Lauren strut around the living room until she stopped by the large window gazing out into the backyard, the golden sunlight gently gracing her smooth face.
"Um, JJ, what the hell?" she repeated, pointing to something in the backyard. JJ could guess that she was gesturing to the rose bush, but his eyes trailed her finger's path nonetheless. Sure enough, there sat his rose bush at the end, swaying in the breeze, its leaves frolicking in the sunny day.
"It's a rose bush," JJ said before plopping himself on the couch.
"No duh," Lauren deadpanned, her forehead crinkling in bewilderment. "But why? I thought you were 'sick.'"
JJ shifted uncomfortably on the couch. He couldn't lie to Lauren no matter how hard he tried; she knew him too well. "If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell a soul."
Lauren smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You can't be serious, J. I'm the gossip queen." JJ gave Lauren a serious look and she became as solemn as a soldier. "Sorry. I won't tell anyone. You know I'm good at keeping your secrets." Lauren wasn't wrong. Once, when she and JJ were thirteen, JJ gushed over this girl their age and loved her from afar; only Lauren knew about his crush and she didn't tell anyone—not even her other more popular friends. He knew that she would never act as Judas Iscariot in their lives, and he really, truly, did trust her. Besides, he wasn't sure what to do next in his investigation of Lizzy's disappearance and Lauren, who could solve any riddle, might be the essential solution he needed.
JJ took a deep breath and retold his and Lizzy's story, reliving it and relishing in it as he did so. His heart ached and he understood it could only be alleviated when Lizzy was found. "So, yeah, I've been texting this girl for a while now, and now she's missing and so is my phone, and I can't help but think that the two are connected somehow. And her favorite flowers are roses and that's why I planted the rose bush back there." JJ paused and studied Lauren's blank expression. "Well? Do you think you can help me?"
Lauren's mouth was set in a grim line and, for the life of him, JJ couldn't decipher her thoughts. He finally relaxed when she began to speak, "Of course I'm going to help you. That's what best friends are for, aren't they?" When Lauren cracked a smile, JJ grinned back at her with relief.
"Thank god," he said, wrapping his arms around Lauren (albeit less tightly than the hug she previously gave him). They sat back on the sofa, their thighs gently touching each other, side-by-side, hers bare and his covered in gym shorts. Their eyes stared ahead, each consumed with their own thoughts. "What now?" he commented after many moments of silence.
Lauren sat straighter, an idea finally dawning upon her. "Grab your laptop, loser, and let's do this."
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A few minutes later, JJ and Lauren lounged in JJ's messy bedroom. He was staring at his computer's darkened screen as he waited for his best friend's instructions. Lauren was rapidly typing on her cell phone, her long legs stretched out on his bed. "What am I supposed to be doing?" he asked.
Lauren looked up, a mysterious glint emerging from her mascara-coated eyes. She hadn't told him her plan, and JJ grew rather anxious at her obscurity. "Look up Elizabeth Conner on Facebook. I'll search on Instagram."
JJ nodded and quickly signed into his Facebook account. Hundreds upon hundreds of names appeared and, as he began to scroll through the list, he became incredibly hopeless and teetered on the verge of giving up. "Lauren, there's too many of them."
"Keep searching, dammit. Find her picture. I know you can do this." Lauren didn't look up from her phone, her own thumb scrolling through the Instagram list that she discovered as she lay on his bed. Suddenly, she sat up, nearly scaring JJ half to death. "I found her account!" she shouted victoriously. "Except it's private," she grumbled, falling back onto JJ's bed in defeat.
JJ returned to his combing through of thousands of Elizabeth Conners.
"Anything yet?" Lauren called. JJ shook his head. Lauren clearly didn't enjoy sitting still as she soon got up and stood behind JJ to help him search. They had a couple of close calls, but nothing appeared to be the Elizabeth Conner that JJ knew—and loved.
Love. When JJ was a young child, he cringed at the thought of love. It was an abstract idea, one that he genuinely felt only for his family but never for a girl. He thought he loved Carson Hendricks, the girl he had a crush on when he was thirteen, but he soon realized he didn't when she tripped him in the hallway on the way to history. And Opal, Izzy, Jen—he thought he loved them but they all paled in comparison to Lizzy, the star, the sun, who shined upon him with the brightest, most beautiful light. She made everything brighter, happier, while all the other girls before her made him feel as though the world was dark and dim and drear. Was this love? He didn't know—but it sure felt like it.
"You know, now everything makes sense," Lauren commented, her hand resting on his shoulder. "The way you smiled at your phone sometimes at lunch. Whenever it buzzed, you had to respond—you literally dropped everything to respond. You're whipped, JJ. I figured you would've told me who the mystery girl was eventually and now I know—Elizabeth. Of course it had to be a fucking prim and proper Elizabeth." She laughed and shook her head.
"Hey, she's not as prim and proper as her real name sounds. Everyone calls her Lizzy," JJ defended crossly. Wait—Lizzy. Lauren seemed to retrieve the same message as her hand tightened on JJ's shoulder.
"Try that," she said simply, but JJ's fingers were already flying across the keyboard. Lizzy Conner. Sure enough, her Facebook account popped up in the first ten names. JJ and Lauren cheered and high-fived each other. "Okay, okay, now go look at her friends' list."
JJ's smile soon faded into a scowl. "Why the fuck are we doing that? I don't care about her friends."
"Chill, it's not like we're going to come across any of her boyfriends or anything."
"She told me she didn't have a boyfriend," JJ replied uncertainly.
"I'm just messing with you, idiot." Lauren playfully shoved him although JJ wasn't expecting it and almost tipped out of his desk chair.
"Then why are we looking at her friends' list if not to remind me that I'm just some random guy she randomly started texting?"
"Because, asshole," Lauren began, her nose turning upward proudly, "we're going to find one of her best friends and talk to them about Eliza—" JJ shot her an annoyed look. "—Lizzy and her disappearance and figure out everything about her and if her friends know anything that we don't."
JJ raised an eyebrow. "That's your genius plan?"
"Do you have a better one?" Lauren challenged, her blue eyes narrowing at JJ.
"No, I guess not."
"Then click on her fucking friends' list, you lazy dumbass," Lauren commanded him when JJ just sat there, gazing at the screen as though his mind were somewhere else, somewhere far away and distant—somewhere with Lizzy.
He snapped out of his trance, blinking a couple times, before selecting her friends' list. "Who should we message first?"
"Try that Nathan guy," Lauren said, eyeing the boy with curly hair who appeared to be a model by his professional profile picture.
"You just want me to message him because he's cute."
"Partly. But also because we want to save Lizzy, don't we?"
"Fine," JJ grumbled and together they set to work, messaging every single person on Lizzy's friends' list.
JJ and Lauren scrolled through Lizzy's friends' responses but they all seemed to be more of acquaintances than genuine friends. JJ was on the verge of giving up until three names dropped inside of his head like bombs. Lizzy had talked about them in her texts—how they were her best friends. How she always felt as though she were stuck in the middle between them. How had he forgotten them? They could be his link to Lizzy, an important step in the direction of finding her. He wasn't sure if they knew about him, but he definitely knew a lot about them.
"Lauren. Did we message a Mateo, Teagan, or Reece?" he asked Lauren, attempting to stay calm.
Lauren's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the screen. "Yeah. They just haven't replied yet."
"Keep an eye on those three," JJ instructed, unable to mask his excitement. "Lizzy talked about them with me."
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A/N:
Ahh, another chapter!! It's so nice not having to worry about updates when I literally have all these chapters in stock and ready to go! :) Now you've met Lauren--I honestly adore Lauren and her confidence! What do you think about her? I love diving more into JJ's life and it gives you a glimpse at what he was like on the other side of the cell phone. More importantly: do you guys have any guesses about what happened to Lizzy? I don't want to spoil anything, but I love to hear your thoughts! Vote and comment if you enjoyed and I hope you had fun reading <3
- Payton