Going Nowhere Fast

22. What

When I was a kid, I was taught that bad guys are the ones who hurt a lot of people out of nothing but greed and evil. I thought they were the ones who jails were built for. Prison systems were nothing but a plot to enslave people for petty crimes and take away their rights as human beings. The bad guys were the ones who got paid.

Billie didn't belong in prison and neither did I. I read my statement to the police. I wasn't in trouble because I didn't break any laws really. Yet, the put an ankle bracelet on me. They told me that I was a flight risk and that they couldn't afford to have me disappear until they found Billie.

I started to wonder if I were to ever see him again. It was just yesterday morning when he kissed me sweetly on my cheek while saying goodbye. I was starting to imagine him somewhere better. What if he were somewhere where he was happy? That thought, though sad, seemed unlikely. He seemed most happy with me. He wouldn't have just given that up. At least, I hoped he wouldn't. I didn't really know him that well. I just knew a lot of stuff about him.

I started feeling really bad. We were in the car going home from the police station. They told me they wouldn't arrest him or put him in jail. They just wanted to talk to him and make sure the stories lined up.

My parents told me that the school looked back at the security footage. Apparently, given the magnitude of our case, they took the incident very seriously and suspended Ryan for a week. They did some vast detective work and saw a small clip of him caught in the entrance camera and saw the giant coffee stain on Ryan's shirt and his wet hair matched with what I, the victim in the first place, had told them what happened.

My parents said it was okay for me to have Clara come over. There was a sea of reporters outside our house but our gated front yard kept them far away from the front entrance where Clara stood, waiting. She knew the combination to get through our gate.

We made our way through the sea of people on our street and parked in our drive which was also gated in. They were practically banging the car windows. I got out the car, ignoring all of the shouts coming from the reporters and gave Clara a huge hug. I was so happy to see her.

"I didn't talk to them, don't worry," she said with a smile.

"I never did." I responded, giving her another hug.

We walked inside together followed by my Dad who immediately slammed the door without making any comment to anyone.

We ran up to my room together. My mom was hiding in the basement with my sisters. She didn't want them to see all of the reporters.

I slammed the door to my room in a huff.

"I don't know where he is!" I cried out.

"Do you think he's okay?"

"No!" I said. I had tears streaming down my face.

"Scarlet," she looked at me with a worried look on her face, "What happened?"

"He was supposed to be there when I called, but he wasn't," I whimpered.

"The hotel room?" she asked.

"Yeah, he told me he'd be there. He wouldn't lie to me like that." I said, frantically.

"Did something happen between you guys?" she asked sounding surprised.

"Truth?"

"Truth," She demanded with the most serious look on her face.

"Last time I saw him, we had just established that we liked each other. We cuddled and he kissed me on the cheek. That's all that actually happened between us but with him being gone, it feels like my heart has just been completely ripped out." There were more tears coming down my cheeks.