Missing

Ruth's POV

I watched the raindrops splatter against the window. Melany had been missing for three days now. I texted her phone but she didn't respond. And unless her phone was dead, she at least responded, "Sorry my phone was dead x_x," or "Whaddya want this time Ruth? ;)" She'd never ditch me like this. We'd been friends since kindergarten, in Ms. Miller's class. I flipped the omelet.

"Zac, do you want any salsa with your omelet?" I called.

"Noooooyeah...? Yes please, Madam Omelet Flipper," said my fiancee, Isaac. He had been trying to cheer me up by acting all charming and funny, but I still worried about Melany. I poured the salsa on his omelet.

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Isaac's POV

"Zac, your salsa omelet is ready!" called Ruth.

"Ok, R." I said, getting of of the sofa. I sat down in a chair. Ruth said, "Okay, so are you gonna get your omelet, or am I your maid, not your fiancee?"

"Maid," I said, walking to the kitchen to get my omelet. Ruth rolled her eyes. "I got to get to work in a few hours," I said, salting my omelet.

"That omelet has plenty of salt, and it's your day off," said Ruth. "I'm the one working today."

I sighed. "Sorry about Melany," I said, wiping salsa from my hands. Ruth paused in the kitchen hall.

"Thanks, Zac," she said, setting down her breakfast. I was always trying to get her out from down in the dumps, but this time it was impossible. "Make sure if a package comes to get it, not leave it out. You and I have both been there before. Love you."

"Love you, too, R," I said.

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Ruth's POV

I closed the door of my blue VW Scirocco. "Bye, R!" called Isaac.

"Bye, Zac!" I called out of my window.

I walked into the school and to the nurse office. I had 10 children come. Two stomachaches, three headaches, one cut knee, one scraped elbow, and three...sick. Mrs. Jones, the principal, came in to check on me.

"Ms. King, are you okay?" she said.

"Yes," I said.

"Is it about Melany?"

I nodded.

"She was a great teacher, Ms. Alexander." said Mrs. Jones. I nodded again. Before disapearring, Melany, whose surname was Alexander, was a teacher at Hampton Cove Elementary.

"Well, Extended Day is over, so fill free to leave, Ms. King."

I got into my car and closed the door. The drive home felt like it was going to take forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Isaac's POV

I heard the garage opening. Ruth walked in a few minutes later.

"Hi, Miss Nurse," I said. Ruth rolled her eyes; again, she's impossible. "What do you want for dinner?" she asked.

"Gnocchi, please," I said. I turned on my phone. I clicked on the text app. Aaron. Hey, is Ruth ok?

You know R. She's being strong. Hey, could you and Irene come over for dinner?

What is it?

Gnocchi

Yes, I'll come. But we might not be hungry. Peanut butter crackers Hahaha. You and your peanut butter cracker obsession.

Aaron was Melany's brother, and Irene was Aaron's girlfriend. Aaron is a few years younger than Melany, like, 18 years old.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and I got the door. Aaron and Irene were at the door. Irene was wearing a white button-up top with a navy skirt.

"RUTH! WE'VE GOT VISITORS!" I said.

"Aaron? Irene?! What are you doing here?!" said Ruth.

Uh, oh. I made her absolutely IN-furiated. And you don't wanna see her like that, trust me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Irene's POV

"What do you mean, Ruth?" I said. She had screamed at me and Aaron like we were monkeys throwing bananas at each other. How rude. Isaac had better had told her we were coming.

"Ruth, were you informed that we were coming?" I said, pushing my glasses up my nose.

"NO!! ISAAC BLYTHE BROWN, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

"Umm...." responded Isaac.

"WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FOOD FOR EVERYONE!! UUUUUGGHH."

"Well, we just had a snack before coming anyway," said Aaron, his ruffled blond hair darkened by the lighting. "PEANUT BUTTER CRACKERS RUUUUUUUUULE."

I laughed. "Why did you invite us anyway?"

"I wanted to discuss Melany." said Isaac.

"Lany...." sighed Aaron. I patted him on the back. It was a big loss for him. Melany was his sister.

"I think we should search for her," said Isaac.

"But, she's gone. If we were playing hide and seek she would have--hang on..? HIDE AND SEEK OMG. I know where Melany is. She's gone into your lab, Aaron! She messed with the memory thing! We never finished that one game of hide and seek!" said Ruth.

My head was spinning. It made sense, but all of that was hard to put together.

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Aaron's POV

"Ruth, now I know why Melany is your friend." I said. I high fived her.

"I think we were playing near the lake on Taylor Road," said Ruth.

"Which one?" said Irene. "There are two."

"The first one," said Ruth, grabbing her raincoat off of the white coatrack.

Everyone put on their raincoats and went outside. We ran to the first lake by Taylor. I saw someone crouching behind a tree. We rushed towards her. It was my sister, Melany.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ruth's POV

"MELANY JANE ALEXANDER!!" I screamed.

"Ruth Joyce King!" said Melany. I rushed towards her and hugged her.

"WHY WERE YOU HIDING, YOU??" I screamed through tears.

"Well, we never really finished that one game of hide and seek 17 years ago, did we?"

"Oh, YOU."

Aaron ran in and hugged his sister. "LANY!! I THOUGHT YOU HAD LEFT US!!'

"Never did, never will, Little A." said Melany fondly.

"Okay, everyone to my house!! Dinner is free!!" I said. Everyone was crying and cheering.

We got to the house and I got out the wine and made gnocchi and fettuccine.

I was relieved. I was exausted. But most of all, I was happy to be with my friend.