Shattered Appearances ✓

t w e l v e: This Place is as Disgusting as Giselle's Dirty Socks

Before I forget the beautiful character drawing above is from the amazing SparXx. Seriously I am so grateful for the amazing drawing that she made. If you happen to like Science Fiction I strongly recommend you read her book "Dark Until Dawn." It's amazing.

Now let's get on with the chapter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's always the calm before the storm where it's sunny and you have no idea what will happen next. Surprisingly everything that happened so far was the calm, and when my father said those three words, the first droplets of rain started to fall.

Literally.

"What do you mean she's gone?" I choked out. It started drizzling a few seconds later and that's when I realized that it was supposed to rain today. Knowing her, she probably forgot to bring an umbrella or any protective clothing.

"She's been gone since this morning. I thought she was out with her friends so I called them but none saw her. Stephanie's not answering her phone either."

That's the reason why she didn't respond to my text. Either the phone was off or she didn't want people to know where she was.

"Should we call the police?" Monica said as she clutched her hair for reassurance.

"No," Giselle started, "She's probably went AWOL again. She always does this. I suggest waiting until tomorrow. If she doesn't come back home, then call the police."

All of us looked at her in surprise. We didn't expect her to say anything.

"What?" Giselle defended, "I'm eleven, not dumb. Calling the police would be a waste of time. She's just having another temper tantrum."

"Giselle! What the hell is wrong with you? You shouldn't be acting so cold." My dad yelled at her which caused her eyes to well up with tears.

"Don't yell at her Richard. She's just trying to help out." Monica said to my dad in a stern voice before taking Giselle's hand and leading her to her room. They passed by me on the stairs and I moved a bit to let them through.

It was just me and my dad. He looked at the door blankly for a few moments, wondering what he should do. I watched his expression changed from worriness to confusion.

"Is Giselle right? I mean, Steph has pulled this before."

I shrugged and looked in the direction he was looking at. She has pulled this before but that didn't mean we shouldn't do anything.

"It's already late at night. She's probably staying at a friend's house and their covering for her. Stephanie might have her idiotic moments but she wouldn't be out on the streets at night."

Uncertainty flashed on his face for a second before he relaxed. "I'll call her first thing in the morning tomorrow and if she doesn't answer, I'm calling the police."

"I think that's a good idea." I agreed and started to head upstairs. I rubbed my temples in frustration and I knew that I would be getting a headache soon enough. Taking the bag off my bed, I put it in my drawer.

This didn't feel right; something was wrong. I went downstairs again and my dad was sitting on the couch with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" I asked.

"I'm going to wait here for a while. Maybe she'll call."

I doubt it.

Nodding my head, I went into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of orange juice. My eyes swept through the room until it landed on the alcohol cabinet.