"You"re sorry? About what?" I try to read his face to guess what he is about to say, but I can"t think over the sound of my pulse in my ears.
"About Rosie. I should have seen this coming. She"s tried this stuff before and it never ends well, but she keeps going determined to be some kind of matchmaker or something."
I stop chewing. I stop eating. So he does know what this is. "You got nothing to apologize for. You didn"t do it."
"I guess." Kent takes a long breath and then locks his eyes on mine. "But I"m pretty sure she did it, thinking she was doing me some kind of favor."
I can feel a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth, but I refuse to let it loose. What does that mean, Kent? Be specific! "Oh. Well, don"t worry about it. I wanted to see this movie anyway." I do my best to brush the whole thing off, to hopefully make him feel less uncomfortable. But I"m realizing that it"s now or never. Either I can laugh this whole thing off like it"s no big deal, or I can make even a tiny confession of my own. "I don"t mind that it"s just us."
Okay, so that was pathetic. But it was something. Now Kent is the one studying me, and I wish I could give him more to go on. I could have been less pathetic if I"d had some kind of warning I was about to go on my first date ever. I have absolutely no experience in any of this, and the one dating expert in my life has probably forgotten her phone in the bathroom and won"t find it again for three hours.
So I guess I"m on my own. Except, I"m with Kent. I"m on my own with Kent. Yes, my brain is not processing this information right now. I consider slipping away, saying I have to go to the bathroom and either calling Reece, or texting Nadine. But I"ll save that plan for an actual emergency. So far, things are just a little awkward, but not bad. When Reece went on her first date last year, though my parents refused to call it that, she said she and Andrew whatever his last name was, barely spoke the whole time, and it was super awkward but she had so much fun anyway. So I"m willing to ride out a bit of awkwardness to see where this goes. Because if nothing else, it"s possible Kent just confessed that he likes me. Or at least that Rosie thinks he likes me.
I take a big bite out of my burger and chew to give myself time. What are we supposed to be talking about? As I"m eating, I feel a gentle nudge against the side of my foot. Every muscle in my body freezes in place as I try to piece together what just happened. I"m pretty sure that Kent"s foot is now leaning against mine, ever so slightly.
I look over at him but he"s pointedly looking away, giving me a great chance to admire from up close, seeing just how cute he is. He"s wearing a blue plaid, b.u.t.ton down shirt I don"t think I"ve ever seen him wear at school. Did he dress up? His hair on the other hand looks about the same as it always does, curly but controlled.
Kent looks over and catches me staring. At first, he looks away. But a moment later his eyes are back on mine and we are both grinning like idiots. Very happy idiots.
I"m on a date with a guy I actually like. How is this my life? All at once, the whole idea of moving to Fairview feels like the best thing that ever happened to me.
"So where does your dad live?" I ask, because it"s the only thing I can think of. My mind has gotten stuck on his quick visit to our house after Thanksgiving. In this moment it"s looking a lot more like there was a reason beyond just being polite for him to stop by that day.
"The absolute middle of nowhere. He and my step-mom have this kind of farm, a couple of hours from here. But they don"t actually farm anything. It"s just all about growing their own food, keeping free range chickens, and basically living in their own little bubble."
"Please tell me they have a stable Internet connection," I joke. "Because I don"t care how much s.p.a.ce they have, without being able to get online I don"t think I"d be able to manage."
"It"s stable. Not good, but it"s stable. It took forever for them to get any Internet at all, so I"m not willing to complain. Yet."
"How long your parents been divorced?" I"m not sure if that"s too heavy a question to ask, but it seems like a natural lead-in from our conversation.
"For years. Five now I guess. I was ten when it happened." He doesn"t elaborate, and I don"t ask any more questions. It"s possible that failed relationships weren"t the right conversation route to take, but I want to know everything about him. My instinct is to just ask every question that pops into my head even though they aren"t remotely related. With is his favorite cla.s.s at school? What"s his favorite movie? Does he have any brothers or sisters? I want to know it all.
Before I can ask anything at all, my phone rings letting loose with the theme song to Doctor Who. "Oh, that"s me. Sorry." I grab it from my pocket and stand up, taking a few steps away before I answer since I"m fully expecting to hear Reece"s voice shrieking at me from the other end of the line as soon as I answer. Instead it"s my dad.
"Reagan, honey. Are you there?"
"Yeah Dad. I"m fine. You can go home. I promise." Has it been forty minutes already? Hard to believe how quickly all of this is flying by. Kent and I should probably make our way over to the movie theatre soon since the showing we were aiming for starts at seven-thirty. Which means, soon, it could be just Kent and I alone in a movie theatre.
I wonder if he"ll try to hold my hand.
"Any chance Rhiannon told you where she was going to be today? We can"t find her."
Chapter 23.
The question hangs in the air between us as it registers in my brain.
"No idea. She barely said anything to me after school," I say, hoping that will be the end of the conversation. And hoping this isn"t anything serious.
"I"m going to need you to meet me outside the mall where I dropped you off, in about five minutes." Only then can I acknowledge the tension in his voice, the anxiety. He has to be overreacting. I don"t answer, and he prods me for a response. "Reagan. Just tell me you understand and I"ll see you in five minutes."
"Do I need to come now?" I spit out the question without thinking. This is just starting to go so well. "I can find my own way home." Rhiannon will call any second now but my night will already be ruined.
"Reagan, we both have to get back to the house. Rhiannon could be missing. We"re not sure, but no one can get a hold of her and she"s not at home. She didn"t tell she was going out, and she"s not answering her phone. Five minutes."
My dad has already hung up the phone so I there"s nothing left to do but to pull mine away from my ear and stare at it as though that will make what he just said make sense. But it really doesn"t help. At all.
Rhiannon is missing? I take a breath. That has to be some kind of mistake. There"s a difference between not knowing where someone is, and them being missing.
I open my phone again and search for my last text from Rhiannon. It was at lunchtime yesterday.
Rhiannon: No idea.
She"d been answering my question about what we were having for dinner. Before that, we"d been texting about plans to marathon Planet Earth a few days earlier. It was all business as usual.
"Everything okay?" Kent is standing behind me, his hand reaching out as though to touch my shoulder but hovering in midair between us.
Right, Kent. I look at it for a few seconds more, and then shake my head to try and clear my thoughts. "I have to go."
Kent"s expression falls at once from worried to disappointment. He thinks I"m leaving because of him. He has to. So while family drama isn"t usually something I"d want or need to broadcast to anyone, I tell him what my dad just told me. I wait for him to respond as though somehow he"ll be able to make sense of this where I can"t.
He nods once. "Okay, let"s go. I"ll walk you out front and wait till your dad gets there. Everything is going to work out."
I gather my stuff and we start moving through the mall. I feel like I should be sprinting or something, but I"m in a daze. More than once, Kent gently nudges me when I go in the wrong direction. It"s been less than an hour since I first walked through this mall, and already everything looks foreign and new.
"How are you going to get home?" I ask when the thought occurs to me. He probably just had someone drop him off too, someone who could be back home in Fairview by now.
"Don"t worry about me. I"ll figure it out. I"m sure my mom will come back and get me."
Sure. I nod like that makes perfect sense. A moment later, we"re outside and the bite of the air is stinging my face. My dad"s car is already waiting at the curb. I see him before he sees me, leaning against the steering wheel and tapping his hand impatiently.
I walk toward the car but then remember Kent behind me. "Thanks," I say. "I"ll see you at school on Monday?" My voice has no tone at all. I sound like a robot, even to me. But I"m already walking toward the car before I can make it better.
"That"s Kent, right?"
"Yeah," I answer, buckling myself in. There"s so much I want to ask, but I"ll wait until we"ve at least pulled away, until we are heading back toward home.
"He"s not on his own, is he?"
"What? Yeah. The rest of our friends bailed, so he"s going to wait for a ride home."
"Don"t be silly. Tell him to get in, and I"ll drive him back to Fairview. If his mom can come get him from our house, at least he"s not stranded here by himself."
On any other day I"m sure that my dad would have been more suspicious of the fact I"d told him I was meeting with the big group of friends and then show up with only a guy for company. But the thought doesn"t even seem to occur to him, which worries me more than anything he"d said earlier.
Kent is still standing huddled in the door, using the protection of its frame to shield him from the frigid weather. I"m sure he"s watching and waiting for us to leave to be polite. He looks at me when I wave him over. Once he"s standing beside the car, I roll down the window. "We can drive you back to Fairview. Could your mom come and get you from our house?"
"Don"t worry about me," he says.
I do my best not to huff impatiently. This conversation is now holding us up from getting back home. "It"s no trouble. Just get in. We"ve got to get going, but we"re not going to leave you here either."
Kent doesn"t argue. As soon as he"s settled in the back seat, my dad pulls away from the mall. Only then do I realize that Kent is about to see the dark side of Gregory Donovan, because even when there isn"t a family crisis going on, his driving is less than ideal. My relaxed, goofy father becomes something of a demon when there are other drivers involved.
I sink into my seat as Dad yells something obscene at a little old lady who he doesn"t think is going as fast as she should be. We haven"t even left the mall"s parking lot yet. It"s just enough to pull me back into my own head, out of the fog that overtook me after my dad first called.
This all has to be a big misunderstanding. By the time we get home, someone will have already found Rhiannon and dragged her back home from some study session, or the bookstore where we both have been known to lose track of time.
I gaze down at my phone but there are no new messages or miss calls. No news yet, but that doesn"t mean it"s not coming.
The van swerves suddenly into the left lane. I look back and mouth a quick I"m sorry" to Kent who"s gone a little pale in the back seat.
If nothing else, at this rate, we will be home in no time.
By the time we pull onto Oakridge, I"m having trouble sitting still in my seat. Dad invites Kent to come inside and wait for his mom to get him, but as we step through the front door, looking at Kent"s expression, I"m guessing he would"ve rather waited outside than to get involved in our family drama. My mom and other sisters are already waiting in the living room, each of them on their phones. Reece does a double take when she sees Kent standing behind me, but says nothing.
"Nothing new?" Dad asks, dumping his coat over a dining room chair, rather than hanging it up, before he moves to go sit beside my mom.
She shakes her head, but doesn"t answer. Dad leans over, putting his arm around her and giving her shoulders a quick squeeze. "She"ll be okay. Something like this was always going to happen eventually. Kids act out. I"m sure this is all that is. I"m sure she"s fine." And somehow, he manages to sound like he believes it.
"I wish she"d just call to tell us she"s okay. Because what if this isn"t her acting out? I"ve been trying not to overreact, trying to let this play out, and hoping she"ll just show up any minute."
My head spins as she talks. What if something"s happened? What is she even considering? A kidnapping? Maybe Rhiannon"s been hit by a car and is lying in a ditch somewhere.
I look helplessly over at my sisters and catch Reilly"s eye. "So what did we miss?"
It"s Reece who answers. "Not much. We were calling earlier, and her phone is ringing, but now we go straight to voicemail. So she"s turned it off. Like she"s sick of us pestering her, worrying about if she"s okay. We"ve only gotten one text from her since we noticed she was gone, and it didn"t say much of anything." Reece"s voice is hard with anger, but I can hear the waiver of worry underneath what she"s saying. Because what if it wasn"t Rhiannon who turned off her phone.
"So we call the cops," I say. As soon as thoughts of worst-case scenarios entered my mom"s head, we should have called the police. One vague text doesn"t mean she"s safe.
"But what if this is nothing? I"m worried it will only make things worse. Rhiannon"s been so unhappy since we got here, and if she"s just hiding out somewhere to get some s.p.a.ce and we send the police after her, I"m sure she won"t thank us."
"She doesn"t need to thank us. If she"s in enough trouble that the police are needed, then this is the only move. If not, then I"m guessing she"s in a whole lot of trouble anyway and no one here cares what she thinks. What did the text say?"
Reilly looks down at her phone, shaking her head. "It was right before you guys got here. It was just I"m fine, leave me alone." And that"s around when she turned off her phone."
"I know." My mom looks up and locks eyes on Kent, who has as far as I know, has been hovering behind me since we got home, trying to stay in view of the driveway so he can sprint out of here at the first opportunity. My mind screeches to a halt, but as it starts working again, I just know I"m worried about the same thing my mom is. He can leave our house, right to his mother"s car. His mother, the reporter who showed up at our house on moving day, completely uninvited. Who seems to think news about our family is the only way to sell papers.
I"d bet good money that no matter how this turns out, Mindy Harris would be very interested in the details on what"s going on at the Donovan house tonight.
"You won"t say anything will you?" I ask, turning on Kent. "I mean, I know she"s your mom. But no one here thinks a fifteen-year-old girl being M.I.A. is news, right?" Unless, she really is missing. But I don"t say that out loud, I don"t allow that to be a possibility.
For a brief moment, Kent looks hurt that I would even suggest what I did. But it"s not so much of a leap. I have to a.s.sume he is a bigger fan of his mother than I am. And I know if one of my friend"s siblings didn"t come home, I"d tell my parents in a heartbeat. It"s not a judgment, but an unavoidable conflict of interest.
"What can I do to help?" Is what Kent says instead. "If you guys need to call the police, but you don"t want this getting out more publicly, I can keep her distracted." Kent looks down at his feet, not loving having five sets of eyes boring into him. "Or, if you want the entire town on a looking for Rhiannon, I"m pretty sure I can do that too. I know my mom would want to help. She can be a bit much sometimes, but when it comes to rallying the troops, you really can"t do better." He looks over at us helplessly, and I turn to my parents. Whatever happens next, is up to them.
"Do you know the chief of police here in Fairview?" Mom asks Kent. "If we wanted to keep this fairly quiet, and just get more eyes on the street. Could we do that?" It hasn"t been that long yet, maybe forty minutes, but I"m still surprised that my mother is even considering holding off on the no holds barred att.i.tude. She"s not one to panic, but Rhiannon"s safety could literally be at stake here.
I hate to think it, but it"s very possible that my mom is still letting Rhiannon"s grudge get the best of her. She"s doing what she thinks will p.i.s.s Rhiannon off the least. Because I do know my sister, and having her picture broadcasted on all the local TV stations, or having a radio announcer tell everyone that she"s not at home, would be her worst nightmare. And if she is fine, and she hated living in Fairview before, I can"t see her getting past something like that after. Is it possible I"m the one over-reacting here, rather than my mom under-reacting?
"Okay," I say. "So, we call the police as a precaution. Say we know it"s probably not an emergency, but ask for help. That"s what they"re there for right?"
Kent nods. "Constable Williams is a good guy. His daughter is just a couple years younger than us. He might even have more ideas about how to help without blowing all of this up."
"We will go try to find her too. All of us." As I speak, an idea forms in my head. Because in a town as small as this one, there are only so many places she could be. And sitting around here, waiting for her to come home will not help us at all. "One of us will wait here, just in case she comes home or calls. The rest of us will look." I glance out the window and wish it wasn"t quite so dark outside even though it"s not that late at night yet.
Although, it"s not like she"s going to be hiding in the bushes or anything, so light or dark, it probably doesn"t make a difference.
A set of headlights pulls up into our driveway.
"So what do you want me to do?" Kent asks, already backing out of the living room towards the front door.
"Nothing. It"s fine. I feel weird asking you to hide something from your mom."
Kent smiles, so little I almost miss it. "So you do want me to hide this from my mom then?"
I grimace apologetically. "You said it, not me. Keep your phone on and I"ll let you know if anything changes." From out of nowhere, I"m smiling. Because Kent has started to act like part of this team with absolutely no trouble at all. It"s something I need to thank him for once I"ve thoroughly yelled at Rhiannon for causing all of this drama in the first place.
If she"s okay. G.o.d, I hope she"s okay. Even if she"s safe, there has to be something big that caused her to do this. She"s not one for random acts of defiance, at least not before we moved here. Lately, I never know what to expect from her anymore. Which is probably what makes this so scary. I can"t imagine what she"s going through that had her acting like this was her only option.
Kent mumbles an uncomfortable goodbye before slipping out of our house and out into the night. A minute later my parents, Reece and I change back into our winter clothing as well. Reilly will stay at home and keep trying Rhiannon"s cell phone. When it comes down to it, she"s the one who"s most likely going to get a response, the most unintimidating option. I can tell she wants to be out helping too, but we all agree that this is our best plan.
It"s only once were outside and on the porch that we realize none of us has much of a game plan. If my parents are both taking their cars that means Reece and I are limited to where we can walk to.
But odds are, wherever Rhiannon has gone, it"s somewhere she has to have been able to walk as well. Unless she took the bus. She also has a head start.
Yeah, this whole thing is kind of a disaster. I try to stop myself from second guessing my every thought. To go with my gut. There are days I understand Rhiannon better than I do myself and that as to count for something.
"Mom, can you drive me to the town square? I"ll start there so Reece and I are covering different ground."
Chapter 24.
I could"ve walked to the square on my own, but as my mom drops me off with a distracted wave, I"m glad for the head start. I don"t have details on where anyone else is headed so I pick a direction and walk, using the time to wonder where Rhiannon could"ve gone, or what she might"ve been thinking.