𝚣𝚊𝚌𝚑'𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠
𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑, 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚘𝚗𝚎
I pull up to Annalise and Aiden's house only to see Aiden's car in the driveway, no sign of Astrid. We all had plans to hang out today. It was the first day of summer and since the girls are leaving for their New York trip on Monday, we thought it best to spend it together.
I park my car in the street, letting it beep so that I would know it was locked. I make my way up to the door, typing in the code on the lock: 4576. I don't know what it meant or stood for, but instead of giving me a key, this is what the twins decided on.
I shut the door behind me, "Aiden! Annalise!" I called up the stairs. I could hear Aiden's Xbox and his screams of annoyance coming from his bedroom. When they don't answer me I roll my eyes and head upstairs. I reach Aiden's room with ease, flopping down on his bed.
That's when I noticed that Ryan was nowhere to be found, "Where's Ryan?"
"I don't know, I'm not his keeper." He huffs.
I sigh, "Well then, where are the girls."
He points at me matter-of-factly, "I'm not their keeper either, but aren't you Annalise's?" I grunt at that and shake my head. I don't keep tabs on her at all times, she's her own person. "Kidding, though I don't know where they are." He shrugs and continues playing his game, call of duty two, black ops
"Should we try calling them, or Ryan for that matter?" I suggest.
Once again, Aiden just shrugs.
I decided to give it time. I sit back and watch Aiden's game for at least twenty minutes with no sign of Ryan, Annalise, Daphne, or Summer. I then take matters into my own hands, pulling out my phone and texting Ryan, '𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮?'
It doesn't take long for him to answer, '𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?' I choked on air before bursting out laughing.
The volume of my laughter seems to throw Aiden off his game because he was sniped, losing the match. "Zach, what the fuck?" He blurts out as he turns to me, setting his controller down on the floor beside him.
I can hardly contain myself, but I try to keep quiet. "R-Ryan! He's been waiting downstairs for us to show up this whole time!" Upon hearing my words Aiden's face turns red before he bursts out laughing, joining me.
I take a few hearty breaths and check Ryan's social media to see a post on his story captioned, '𝐀𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐀𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧.' I quickly show him and it only makes him laugh harder. I managed to calm down first with a great idea in tow, "Let's prank him. We never get the chance to do that stuff anymore.
Aiden nods his head vigorously before turning off his tv, "Yes!" He pumps the air with his fist. "What kind of prank should we do this time?" He rubs his hands together mischievously.
I think about it for a second, "Let's tell him we're waiting for him at my house instead of yours and we can get in his backseat and scare the ever-loving daylights out of him when he goes to leave." Ryan will be quick about it too, trying to make it seem like he didn't mess up at all.
Aiden rolls his eyes, "That is so childish Zach," he pauses for what seems like a dramatic effect. "I love it," he gives me a high-five before pointing to the window. "We can climb down using the trellis outside the game room window." I follow him towards it.
He went down first, and I followed. I looked below me towards Aiden, "I like how above and beyond we're going for this. We have commitment," it felt good to do something simple for once.
Aiden nods, "Felt that," it's a short climb down to the ground. The second his feet touched it he was sprinting, I did the same. I try the door and it pulls open, "Of course Ryan left his car unlocked." I comment as we climb into the middle row, ducking down low.
He made it so easy, almost too easy.
Aiden glances at me, "Ready?" I nod, confirming that the plan is a go. He hits the call button and it rings twice before Ryan picks up, we speak first. "Hey, Ryan. Where are you? Zach said something about my house?" Aiden says with a confused tone.
Ryan pauses, "Your house? I don't know what he's talking about." He laughs nervously, "I'm almost to Zach's house now, see you soon!" He quickly hangs up as if he was stuck in traffic or some other lame excuse.
I wheeze in between laughs as Aiden and I fistbump in victory, "Oh, oh here he comes," I point before we duck down even lower. Ryan climbs into the car quickly, cursing.
I glance and Aiden and he nods. I hold up my hand and count to three. On three we jump up screaming and grab Ryan resulting in him screaming like a twelve-year-old girl. "What the actual fucking hell, guys?" He yells when he realizes that it's just us.
We're rolling around on his seats in a fit of laughter, "S-Sorry, but we g-gotcha!" Aiden wheezes out in between each laugh.
Ryan crosses his arms over his chest, "Yeah yeah, so funny." He looks a bit pissy, but he's just mad because we got him better than he'll be able to get us.
I wipe a laughing-induced tear from my eye, "Where are the girls? They're missing this!" Ryan is honestly comedy gold sometimes, I wonder how he hasn't gone viral on some sort of social media app yet.
Aiden stops for a second, "You know, I have no idea. I haven't seen her in a while. But when she left she was wearing a very formal looking dress."
Ryan looks confused, "Wait, they're not here? Daphne said she was with Annalise. I assumed that Summer was with them as well. Where are they?" He chimes in.
We all look at each other in confusion before Aiden pipes up, "Well they're not here. But I did see Annalise leave in a formal-looking dress a while ago."
A formal-looking dress?
Ryan and I shared the same insane look as we stared back at Aiden, "Why is she wearing fancy clothing? Where did she go? Where are all of them?"
Aiden just looked blank, "You know Aiden, your girlfriend is missing too." I pointed out.
His face got all red, "She's not my girlfriend!" He climbed out of the car, red-faced as he headed back inside the house. I rolled my eyes, thank you, Aiden. That was so unbelievably comforting and endearing.
𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚓𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 :)
𝙸 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕. 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕.
𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘, 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 '𝚊 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕'𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚢' 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚞𝚢'𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚉𝚊𝚌𝚑'𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠. 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚕
𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚌𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚍𝚜??? 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜
𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘, 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 "𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚈𝚘𝚞" 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝! 𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚡𝚘𝚡𝚘 𝚜𝚢𝚍