Jeen didn't know how long she'd been walking in the pouring rain. It felt like hours. She tried not to think of what trouble she would be in when she got home.
When she reached her neighborhood the exhaustion finally caught up with her. She walked up to her house, knowing it would be locked when she tried to open it. She reached for the doorknob, and to her surprise it opened. Isabella, her mother, always locked the house before bed. Jeen walked in, closing the door quietly behind her. She looked around, expecting to see her mother somewhere in the house, waiting for her. She was nowhere to be found. She looked over to her mother's bedroom door, expecting it be open - but it was closed.
She sat on the couch as quietly as she could and began to unlace the black slinkers from her feet. She took them both off with a tug, pulling her damp socks off next. Leaving the shoes on the carpet, she tiptoed to the stairs.
Once she was in her room she yanked her wet jacket off and threw it on the floor, but feeling too exhausted she collapsed into bed instead of changing out of her wet jeans and long sleeved shirt. Before her thoughts could reflect on the long day she had, her eyelids became heavy and she fell into a long and deep sleep.
When Jeen woke up she could tell it was late in the morning by how bright her room was.
A moment later she lifted her head from the pillow with a frown on her face. Reluctantly she forced herself out of bed and over to her door. She walked down the stairs. She looked around the empty and quiet house.
"Mom?"
No answer. She walked to her bedroom door and knocked. Still no answer. She pushed the door open, not sure what to expect.
What she saw was her mom's usually tidy bedroom, the bed made, her work notes and sketches neatly piled on a desk, her clothing perfectly folded in the closet. The curtains were drawn back and the windows open. The only thing missing was Isabella herself.
Jeen stood in the doorway with her eyebrows knit together. She walked in, going to the desk in the corner where her mother always placed her silver framed glasses.
They were nowhere to be found.
She walked out of the room, and as she passed the living room she noticed someone had put the photo on the foot table face up again. Ignoring the picture she ran up the stairs and opened Roman's door and waltzed into his room.
He was still asleep when she began to shake him awake. He turned and looked at her with a tired and annoyed expression.
His sandy blonde hair was uncombed, and across his cheeks were a few blemishes and fading freckles.
"What're you doing?" He asked.
"Do remember when Mom came home last night?" She said, standing up straight now that Roman was awake. He rolled back over.
"I dunno."
Jeen inhaled deeply in exasperation.
"When? Did she come home at all?" She asked, not hiding the urgency in her voice anymore. Isabella was the most organized and responsible person she knew. She wouldn't just disappear without telling anyone first.
Roman rolled back over and looked at her with a slightly more awake face.
"Why?" He asked.
"I don't know where she is. She's not in her room, or anywhere in the house." Jeen said as calmly as she could.
The look of annoyance faded from Roman's face.
"I heard her come home last night, it was late, but I'm sure it was her." He said as he sat up.
"How late?"
"I dunno. One or two in the morning maybe?"
Jeen sighed.
"That wasn't Mom. That was me." She said as she subconsciously pinched the bridge of her nose.
Roman raised his eyebrow.
"Bosma had us running around some market. She's convinced Ms. Duong is a weapon smuggler."
"Woah, waoh. What?" Roman said, looking at her with a confused face.
Jeen rubbed her forehead, trying to ease her rising headache.
"It's hard to explain. She didn't want me to tell anyone about it, but long story short, we got back to the orphanage late, and I didn't realize I was broke, so I had to walk home In the rain. Which is probably why I look like I have a cold, and I think I'm ready to call Enforcement if Bosma won't."
Roman just gave her a weirder look.
"So, basically, Bosma's gotten involved in something that may be illegal, and Mom's probably gonna kill you for it?"
Jeen nodded reluctantly.
"Yeah."
"Sounds like fun." He said, sighing as he dragged himself out of bed.
Jeen gave him and exasperated look.
"I'm gonna call her." She said after a moment, pulling her connector out of her pocket.
"And risk your own death?" Roman said with a full mouth.
"Yeah." Jeen sighed.
"Connect, Isabella Maxine Starc." She ordered into the connector.
"Please wait a moment." The device said robotically.
Jeen groaned in frustration a while later.
"She's not answering." She said, flopping down on the couch with a connector clutched tightly in her hand.
Roman crossed his arms.
Jeen sighed irritably and she threw her connector across the couch, running her hands through her hair. Her hazel eyes flicked to the framed photograph she always found overly perfect. Looking away from the picture she turned to the clock on the wall.
"It's past nine thirty already. I need to go to school before it gets any later." She sighed, standing from the couch and up to her room to get changed.
Jeen quickly put on a pair of orange pants and aqua draped shirt, swinging her canvas bag over her shoulder. She quickly tied her dark auburn hair up, the color complimenting the tan across her slender cheeks and round nose. She jogged down the stairs, running to the couch to grab her connector. Roman stood in the kitchen eating as she waved goodbye.
"Call me if you hear anything from Mom." She said as she stepped out the door.
"Okay." She heard Roman mumbled as she closed the door.
The moment she stepped into the school the day became a blur. She walked past her schoolmates, watching the scratched and peeling hallway floor. She took a deep breath, her eyes searching for Bosma.
The walls were made of tan clay, the floor of gray and white tiles that were perpetually dirty, and the windows were uniquely shaped and without glass.
The bell rang and she hurried to get to her class, finding Bosma would have to wait.
She tried to pay attention as Mr. Richards talked about conservation, or as Ms. Nanako lectured the class in the fascinating art of mathematics. Her thoughts were consistent in distracting her. At the moment she was wondering how school was already half over and she hadn't seen Bosma once.
"Jeen, because you seem so enthralled, why don't you explain to the class what I just said?"
Jeen's head popped up from where she'd been leaning against her desk.
"I-I'm sorry, what?" She said, feeling embarrassed that she had been so zoned out that she missed half of what Mr. Nakajima had discussed.
The class was too bored to laugh, so instead they just looked back at her with blank expressions.
"I said, could you please explain what I just told the class." The stern literature teacher repeated.
Jeen wet her lips, trying to remember what the teacher was just talking about.
"Um, well, er-" She wanted to slap herself for such a bad start.
Jeen walked down the hallway feeling more grateful than usual for her lunch break. She stopped at the wooden shelves where her things were kept in between classes and pulled out her canvas bag. Grabbing her connector she walked out the exit to the school yard, stepping onto a stone pathway. Clouds blocked the sun yet the air was still stifling.
She sat down on the only bench that wasn't already occupied by students. She took deep breath as she flipped open the connector in her hand.
"Connect, Isabella Starc." Her nervous voice said.
"Please wait a moment."
She stared intently at the silver connector, waiting for her mother's face to appear any second.
"I'm sorry, the person you are trying to reach does not have any connection. Please try again."
Jeen's heart stopped beating for a moment.
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