¡Ay! Esta imagen no sigue nuestras pautas de contenido. Para continuar la publicación, intente quitarla o subir otra.
.
Landon wasn't at school the next day. Nor was he there Thursday. Nor, from what Nina could conclude upon arriving to school that morning, Friday.
It was, in short, an odd week for Nina because of the fact that she was so aware of Landon Peters' absence, and how much it was bothering her because she was aware.
But anyone, Nina rationalized to herself, would've been laced up with frustration if they lived on Landon's street and was inevitably faced with thoughts of him every time they saw his house. And based on Nina's observations over the past few days, at how dark and still Landon's house was, she could conclude that neither Landon nor his family was home.
Maybe they'd left for a spontaneous family vacation or a family emergency, but for the first time in, well, ever, Nina was keeping full tabs on anything Landon-related. She checked his driveway before and after school, she peered at every face she passed in the school halls, looked at his group of friends during lunch, eyed his empty AP Lit seat, but Landon still never showed up.
In the back of her head, Nina knew it was creepy - she was practically stalking Landon without him being around - but of all the times she needed to talk to him...
"It's ridiculous!" Nina burst out, shoving the exit doors open after school that Friday.
Valarie stepped out after her and nodded sympathetically. "But he'll be back next week."
"Where could he have even gone to skip school for three days?" Nina demanded.
"He went downstate to visit family," Valarie said, as if it was common sense. "Something to do with his uncle's-" She looked at Nina. "Don't tell me you didn't know."
"No!" Nina turned abruptly to her. "Why- how'd- How did you figure that out? And why didn't you tell me?"
"I asked his friends unlike you, miss 'I'll stare at them across the room and do nothing'," Valarie said, waving her hands dramatically. "You and confrontation... Based on how Landon-obsessed you've been over the week, I thought you figured it out some other way."
Nina pressed her lips together, enough where she felt the blood flow cut off. She turned back forward and trekked across the parking lot.
"You know what bothers me?" Nina finally said. "Why would he give me flowers and then leave the next day like that? Even if he never overheard us, what was he thinking, give a girl flowers and then up and go the next day?"
"Maybe it was a last minute thi-"
"It doesn't even matter if I'm allergic to pollen, you shouldn't do that to any girl! A-and why couldn't he have checked to see if I was allergic before actually buying me flowers? And how did he even know it was my birthday?" Nina exclaimed, but even she knew her rants were petty.
