Prologue
Camryn
Hearing a light knock on my door, I turn my bedside lamp on. MacKenzie slowly opens the door and asks if she can come in. Sitting up in bed, I pat the spot next to me and scoot over so she can crawl under the covers next to me.
“Are you excited for today?” I ask her as I place the covers over her.
“Yeah, it should be fun.”
“I’m sure it will be! I know you’re going to have a blast.” MacKenzie stays silent for a few minutes. “What time is it anyway?”
“It’s five thirty.”
“Do you have everything you need ready to go?” I ask and MacKenzie shakes her head yes. “Well then, what are you waiting on? Let’s go.”
Flipping the blanket off of us, I climb out of bed and pull a sweatshirt on over top of my camisole as I follow MacKenzie out into the living room. Being careful not to wake mom, we gather MacKenzie’s stuff, my car keys, and head out to the car. It’s a short drive to the high school where the majority of the Junior class is waiting to board the buses.
“I’ll see you tonight! Have lots of fun and take a ton of pictures!” I tell her, handing her the cash our mother gave me the night before to give to her.
“I will. See you later! Love you,” she says, before closing the door and sprinting off to meet up with her friends and the rest of her classmates.
Pulling away from the school, I stop at my mother’s favorite coffee shop to get us both a coffee before heading home. Today is senior ditch day, so we made plans to have a lazy day at home while MacKenzie is on her trip. I pull into the driveway and grab the coffees from the cup holders, juggling them to unlock the front door. Luckily, my mother opens the door just in time.
“Perfect timing. My coffee almost hit the ground.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that. That’s coffee abuse,” she says, causing me to laugh.
I hand her cup off to her as I walk to the couch and sit down, tucking my feet underneath me. “So, what should we do today?”
“I was thinking, after coffee and breakfast, we could watch a movie and do face masks.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
My mother gets to work preparing us breakfast consisting of omelets and pancakes. I devour mine in no time, before helping to clean up and then settling back into my spot on the couch. The next few hours consist of face masks and romantic comedies. Around lunchtime, the house phone rings, and my mother jumps up to answer it.
“Hello? Yes, this is she,” my mother says into the phone. I watch as the color disappears from her face. Afraid that she might pass out, I go and stand next to her, waiting to find out why she looks so distraught.
“Mom? Are you okay?” I whisper. ” Who is that?” She doesn’t say anything as she takes a step back and sits on a kitchen chair. I listen impatiently for a few moments more until she hangs up the receiver, and that’s when my whole world comes crashing down around me.
“It was the school. Mac is missing. They’ve tried her phone and it just goes straight to voicemail.”
My heart drops to my feet. “Missing? What do you mean missing?”
“They went to the museum, then they took a break for lunch and when they reconvened to go to the Cirque du Soleil show, Mac wasn’t accounted for. They can’t find her anywhere.”
“We have to call the police. Mom! Give me the phone. We have to call the police.”
The next few hours were excruciating. After calling the police to file a missing person report, I called Owen. He and I have been together since the ninth grade, and I knew I was going to need his support through all of this.
The police talked to everyone that was on the outing, but all that her friends could remember is that she said she was going to use the restroom, that was the last time they saw her or spoke to her. They were all so excited about going to the show that they didn’t notice she hadn’t returned until roll call was done.
The hours run into days, into weeks, and into months. Still, no leads from the police. Two months ago, I lost my sister. Tomorrow is my graduation day. It’s also the day I leave this town and search for MacKenzie on my own.
Owen
Camryn is laid out on my bed, lost in some corny reality show. I take a moment to admire her beauty, every delicious curve, her plump breasts hidden beneath a Guns and Roses t-shirt, her long auburn hair fanned out across my pillows. I can’t help myself as I slip my hand beneath her t-shirt. I run my fingers over the scar on her ribs, right underneath her left breast. My thoughts automatically remember the dirt bike accident that caused that scar the summer before. I lower my head to place my lips where my fingers just caressed.
Camryn giggles, she’s so ticklish. “What are you doing, O?” Her hands move to my head, pulling it up so she can look me in the eyes.
“I love you so much,” she whispers against my lips.
“I love you, too, Cammie.”
She places another quick kiss on my mouth and rolls out from beneath me, standing to straighten her clothes.
“What’s going on, Cam?” I ask as she looks like she’s about to bolt. When she glances over at me, there are so many emotions showing in her beautiful light green eyes. Pain, sadness, confusion. I wish I could take it all away, make things better for her but I can’t. MacKenzie has been missing for months and there haven’t been any leads to what may have happened to her. Seeing Camryn in so much pain kills me.
“Oh, you know… same old things. I just can’t let it go, none of this makes sense. Mac wouldn’t just leave without telling someone where she was going.” She sighs, sitting down next to me on the bed and I wrap my arm around her.
“We’ll find her, Cam. Somehow, we’ll find her.”
“I hope you’re right.” She pauses for a moment. “Listen, I have to go. Graduation is tomorrow and I still have a lot of stuff to do.”
“It’s still early, we have plenty of time. Right now, you’re all mine.” I grab her, pull her on top of me, and kiss her full lips. She hesitates for a moment before kissing me back, but when she does it’s full of hungry passion and a deep need. I can feel a trail of heat where her hands run over my skin as she caresses my body. Her hands run down my chest and stomach to the waistband of my shorts. I grab her hand, stopping her, and she looks at me with pleading eyes.
“Please.” Her voice, husky from desire, trembles, and it’s more than I can handle. I release her hand, letting it continue on her mission as I kiss her deeply. Our bodies move in unison, giving her what she needs to lessen the pain, to forget just for a little while the agony she’s feeling over her sister’s disappearance. As our bodies become still and calm, we blissfully drift off to sleep in each other’s arms, just as we have since we got together two years ago, but I’ve never been more in love with her than I am right now.
My alarm sounds, waking me up and I stretch out as I sleepily blink my eyes open. I look around the room and Camryn is nowhere to be found. Sliding out of bed, I go in search of her, but she’s gone. When I reach for my phone to call her, I realize the small bin of her things is gone as well. Panicking, I pick up my phone and unlock the screen to find a text message from her.