CHAPTER ONE- The World Comes Crashing Down
I stared at the plain metal table. Riley. I was in shock. Riley is missing. How? She was smart; brighter than the average person was. And now she was kidnapped by some egomaniac that tried to get her number. She had a feeling last night when I was begging her to go. A gut feeling I should have listened to. But why kidnap her? Then again, Riley was the full package. During middle school, she had throngs of boys drooling over her. Riley wasn’t a show-off blonde cheerleader. She didn’t join the popular crowd. She was an artist. She stuck with her friends; me. An oval face framed with chestnut brown hair, perfectly proportioned, topped with ominous golden eyes.
“W-when did it happen?” I asked, forcing the words out of my mouth. I couldn’t bear the thought of it happening right after I left her. The female investigator stared at me, trying to unravel me, possibly so she could blame the murder on me.
“At night. Her parents called at midnight reporting a missing person. The video was up at eleven. Any other questions Catherine?” I’d dragged her along with me to that party. I should have known.
***
“It’ll be fun.” I said as I tore apart my closet.
“I doubt it. You’re not the one that’s being attacked by some random guys.” She said under her breath.
“Right.” I pull a slinky black dress out of a pile.
“That’s it.”
“That’s what?” She pulled me and the dress over to the mirror. She positioned over my body.
“It’s the perfect dress for you.”
“Yeah right.” I took the dress out of her hands and hung it in my closet. It was way too short. How did I even get it??? “I’ll just wear a skirt and tank top.”
“Sure… but you’re not gonna get a boyfriend. Come on! First party of the summer! Lighten up! Next year’s the last year of high school. You’ve only dated three guys! Two of them flirted with me and the one that didn’t was a nerd.”
“Jeremy wasn’t a nerd…”
“He was a straight A student, a HIGH school student, who wore suspenders. And a belt.” It wasn’t THAT nerdy…
“Don’t remind me,” I pull off my t-shirt and jeans. “The teachers wished I could learn from him. My mom actually encouraged that relationship.” I picked out a skirt from the pile of clothes in the middle of my room.
“Haha. Well there were so many jerks at school I only tried to date during summer break.” I slid my skirt up and buttoned it at the side. “You should wear that. That’ll get you a boyfriend.”
“I’m not gonna go topless!” I pull on a white tank top while Riley snickered. “Come on! I’m ready! Let’s go to the party!” I slid on my brown flip-flops, checked my limp hair again, and walked out the door towards the party.
***
It was my fault she went out. We could’ve stayed in and watched ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ (our all-time favourite romantic-comedy) but I dragged her out. Me!
“No… I have no more questions…”
“Then do you have any information that might help us?” The investigator asked me as if I kidnapped her. Why would I? She was my best friend since forever. And HOW could I?
“We went to a party last night. All the guys were hitting on her. They had the worst pick-up lines… Except this one guy. He acted so arrogant. Such a narcissist.” Of course Riley would attract the hottest guy at the party; she was like a brunette Marilyn Monroe in jeans and flip-flops. “She rejected him like the rest of them. She was a true romantic; always waiting for ‘the one’. But that guy was pissed after. He kept on bothering her all night. I knew I shouldn’t have let her walk home alone!” I tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“But if you did wouldn’t you have been kidnapped?” Of course she would ask that. She wanted to solve the case and say I hired some weirdo to kidnap Riley.
“No… She was the target. I would have just been a witness…”
“Well thanks for your help. We’ll call you back when we have a lead on the case.”
“You’ll find out who posted the video?” She nodded. “And arrest them?” I asked as I walked into the hallway. She looked like she was babysitting a two year old as she nodded.
“Sure. Now, enjoy your summer break!” How could I? My best friend was just kidnapped and the kidnapper wants more than money. It was personal. How will I survive this summer? Will Riley survive? My feet take each step in daze. Riley was the colour in my life. Now my life is all black and white. Will I just go and stuffy my pre-SAT questions? Write another story about a boy who falls in love with a girl hoping it’ll happen in real life? My world comes crashing down in front of me.
“Why the hell does this have to happen to me?” I say out loud. “Why does this have to happen to Riley?”
“Riley Winslet?” A random boy who looks like he’s selling crack on the street says.
“Yeah, she’s my best friend.” The boy’s clothes are all black.
“She’s a hit! That video’s got over a million hits!”
“Yeah…” I start to walk away. “From pervs like you.” I say quietly. I need to see that video myself. All the police showed me were screenshots; her being tied up in a chair with a masked guy in the background. Apparently, he’s used computer programming to change his voice and the police can’t figure out his real voice. I don’t understand why they can’t just find where he is. There’s a window in the video… But I can’t say that, I have to wait for them to figure it out themselves. You’re not allowed to upstage police in society.
By Jennifer Xie
