maddie sturniolo: the triplets younger sister♡

76 - gone?

(several hours later, 2:54pm LA time, maddie)
"nick, why don't you get up off your lazy ass and go get the ice cream out the refrigerator yourself if you want it so bad." chris said to nick, who had been nonstop complaining the whole lunch about how badly he wanted to eat some ice cream.
nick sprung up. "you know what, chris? i will." and then he headed to the fridge. me and matt exchanged amused looks as we continued to eat our spaghetti bolognaise that chris had made.
"if it's the reese's flavour please can you get me some, nick?" i asked.
"yeah, sure."
i smiled.
"why are y'all even having ice cream? we're literally going to dairy queen after this" matt chirped in, finishing his spaghetti.
nick turned around from the fridge and shot matt a menacing look. "because we can eat how much ice cream we FUCKING WANT, you grinch."
beep beep
i switched on my phone, to see an incoming call from an unknown number.
hell no.
i declined the call and switched my phone back off, going back to eating and enjoying spending quality time with my brothers.
beep beep beep
omg what the fuck could they want?? who even is it??
i didn't recognise the number, so i declined again.
one more call and i'm blocking them.
beep
"UGH!!" i groaned, whipping my phone out in frustration.
"woah, calm down, miss popular. who wants your attention so bad?" chris teased.
"i'm not popular, some weirdo wont stop calling me." i quickly uttered, clicking onto the persons contact details, getting ready to click block.
"lemme see the number. maybe i'll know who it is." matt suggested, but i froze. and something caught my eye on my screen.
a message.

(unknown)

Maddie, please respond, this is urgent!!
It's Macy's mom. She's gone.

(macy's moms POV)
please pick up. please pick up.
nope, declined again.
shit. i'm a horrible mother.. i've been so caught up in the hospital looking after one child that i completely forgot about the other. and now she's gone.
where could she be??
i mean i know that she has been non stop mentioning about how she wants to go back to boston real bad.. but how would she have gotten there by herself?? knowing macy, i don't think she would have been THAT desperate to get on a 6 hour train just to go back to boston.
or would she?
i don't know.. she won't answer my calls.. she won't answer her fathers calls.. so my last resort is pretty much maddie. and she won't answer my calls either.
i have to message her. maybe that way she won't be freaked out and think i'm a crazy stalker.
here goes nothing.

(unknown)

Maddie, please respond, this is urgent!!
It's Macy's mom. She's gone.

(maddie's POV)
my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.
gone? what the fuck do you mean?
"maddie?" matt repeated, waiting for me to show him the phone number. i snapped out of it, looking at him briefly then back at my phone.
"no, you wont know who it is. it's fine, i've just realised it's.. uh.. it's just a girl from my school in boston.. asking if i'm ok." i awkwardly lied, putting on a fake smile, but inside, my stomach was turning and i didn't have a good feeling. "i'm just gonna go to the bathroom."
i quickly stood up and left the table, heading up to nicks bathroom. i immediately locked the door and sat on the sink counter, my hands shaking as i replied to macy's mom.

gone?? what do you mean she's gone??
how do you know?? where is she??

Maddie, I'm not sure. And that's why I messaged you.. I would've thought you might know. Has she messaged you recently?

no, she hasn't messaged me in days actually, i've been worried about her, but what do you mean by gone?? like missing??

I'm not sure, but I'm very worried.
I had to pop out of the hospital and quickly drive home to get a few of Stephens stuffed animals from his bedroom, and Macy wasn't home. Neither were half of her clothes and all her makeup.. literally everything from her bedroom was gone. I stayed at home for half an hour.. thinking maybe she's just gone on a walk or something.. but Macy never just disappears like this. And I think she's gone and done something very stupid. She's turned her location off as well.
Can we talk over call?

ok, yeah

i started the call, nervously waiting for her to pick up, as my leg bounced up and down. the ringing stopped.
"maddie? are you there?" she asked, sounding very panicked. i could hear the fear in her voice, and macy's mom was usually super confident, so this made me even more worried about my best friend.
"y-yeah.. hi.." i trembled, literally shaking.
"look, i only wanted to call you, not to scare you, but because you're her best friend. i feel like you would be able to get hold of her. please just try and message her.. ask her to message me and tell her she's safe. just anything you can do." she quickly muttered, very quietly, as if she would break down in tears any moment.
"but like.. what do you mean she's like.. gone??"
"what i mean, maddie, is that she's not in the house.. half her stuff are gone... and i don't know where the fuck she has gotten to.. and i'm-"
"but how can she just be gone?? she can't be gone" i interrupted, my eyes filling with tears, but i managed to hold it together.
there was a silence on the other end of the line, before a large exhale.
"i wish i had the answers, maddie." she sighed, trying to sound strong, but her facade wasn't working. "i'm gonna call the police and see what they can do. but please promise you'll try and get hold of her."
i nodded rapidly, forgetting she can't see me.
"ok.. i-i will." i whispered. "bye, samantha. stay safe."
"and you, maddie. and please, let me know if my baby girl is okay."

i slowly got off the counter, and looked at myself in the mirror. a single tear spilled down my cheek as the reality of the situation begun to creep in. i was so worried about poor macy.
what if she had gone missing? or even worse.. what if she's been kidnapped??
i didn't want to be thinking about these possible scenarios. i tried as best as i could to imagine her being okay.. maybe she's just turned her phone off and gone on a long walk around her town.. but to be honest, macy hates long walks and shit like that.. so that was highly unlikely. but it was what i had to convince myself was happening right now so that i didn't completely lose my shit.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!
"maddie, what's taking so long?? we're about to leave for dairy queen" nick exclaimed from outside the bathroom, snapping me out of my depressive mood.
i quickly wiped my tears with my sleeve, and flushed the toilet to not seem suspicious.
"coming!!"
i quickly rinsed my face with some cold water, took some deep breaths, then left the bathroom. nick stared at me in concern.
"are you alright?" he asked.
i nodded, smiling. "yeah, yeah. i'm fine. let's go get some ice cream."