Fly Me Away

“Are you going to talk to me yet?”

I was on my way to school with about 10 of talking time left. Jackson was reluctantly in the passenger seat beside me, his arms crossed and a vicious scowl on his face. He’d been avoiding me all morning up until now – He didn’t even wake me up for school.

“I have nothing to say,” he muttered. I glanced over; only he could look good with such an ugly expression on.

I scoffed, turning my eyes back to the road, “What about, ‘hey, how about that smooch last night?’”

I heard a low rumbling sound come from his direction and I jumped. Did he just growl at me? My eyebrows knitted together and I lowered my voice, “I just ….you know now so.…”

“You’re willing to manipulate me to get what you want,” he spat.

“I didn’t manipulate you!” I felt something bubbling in the pit of my stomach. The lump in my throat impaired my speech, made my angry voice strained.

“I know you, you aren’t that naïve! You know exactly what you did and why I didn’t want you to do it!” he growled, unfolding his arms and slamming them against the dashboard. I jumped again, swerving dangerously across the sensor lane before hastily correcting myself. There were tears in the corners of my eyes now, angry, hurt ones. I bit my lip – the lump grew.

He took a breath in and stat back in his seat, trying to calm himself. His hands ran through his hair, and he groaned, having some sort of inner battle with himself. "What happened last night….”

I didn’t respond. Something bad was coming.

“Don’t ever put me in that situation again.”

A tear fell and I wiped my sleeve across my face brashly; what a jerk. He was acting like I’d committed some heinous crime against humanity. It hurt, that he felt that way about something I would hold so dear, but there was nothing I could do. Perhaps I did just bring it on myself, asking him—no—telling him to kiss me, barely considering what he wanted. I was just playing on his primal instinct to do what I asked.

But I would never apologize for that.

…and I was selfish enough to not make any promises.

-----

The people running around school seemed too happy that day. I trudged to my first class, staring at the ground and dragging my feet behind me, looking like I’d just heard the worst news of my life. Jackson could be such an ass.

“Are you Margaret McQueen?”

I lifted my head groggily.

There was a large, stern looking woman standing in my way. I ran through the list of teachers in our school, trying to figure out which one she was, but I didn’t recognize her. She was dressed very formally in a knee length black pencil skirt and a dark blazer, and she had a clip board held out in front of her – she was comparing me to a photo.

“Yes,” I muttered groggily, not interested at all in why she was asking. There was nothing she could say that would be worse that what Jackson said.

The woman raised an brow and looked me up and down with a scrutinizing eye. No doubt she could see how down I looked.

“I am Officer Birchfield, could you please accompany me to your principles office.”

I head snapped up – Officer?

“What’s this about?” I asked shakily.

“Please just come with me,” she repeated unsympathetically.

Jackson appeared at her side then, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth slightly open. It looked like he was listening to something – something bad. His eyes widened and he looked to me in disbelief. My heart started pounding in my chest and I begged him to tell me what was going on silently.

“Go with her,” he ordered, before disappearing again.

I swallowed hard. The woman led the way to the principal’s office and I followed obediently, my heart beating angrily in my ears now. It was such a big school, I had never in my life been called into the principal’s office, and by an officer – it must have been bad.

Had somebody died? My breath was strained as horrific thoughts flooded my mind.

The hallway was empty now, apart from the odd person scampering around, late to class, or trying to ditch. Officer Birchfield’s kitten heels clopped against the linoleum and echoed off the walls. She was a big woman, but she didn’t look like the kind of police woman that would knock you to the ground and tazer you; She looked like one of the ones who stayed indoors and manned the phones.

After the longest walk of my life, we finally made it to the principles rich oak door. The slab on the front of it read ‘Principle Peterson’ in an attractive font. My heart was slamming against my rib cage – she opened the door and ushered me in.

“Oh Maggie!” Kelly cried, sitting in a chair before the principles desk.

My heart slammed harder. Kelly was here too, and she was crying. There was another person in the seat on the end, a boy with his head down.

“Please sit Maggie,” Principle Peterson spoke from behind the desk. He had a strong assertive voice, and his expression told me there was something wrong.

I walked over and cautiously placed myself beside Kelly, whose eyes watched me the whole way while her hands furiously wiped at the tears.

“What’s wrong?” My voice cracked. I glanced over at the boy on Kelly’s other side. He had straight dark hair and a familiar lanky body. He looked up at me, his face stressed with worry.

Kyle.

I took a sharp breath in and turned to the principle. No…

He frowned and placed his elbows in his desk, “I regret to inform you that Pippani Gallingway’s parents have officially reported her missing as of this morning.”

….

“We have identified you three as key elements in finding Pippani. Officer Birchfield has been assigned to the case, and all three of you will be questioned by her. This is just common procedure, please do everything in your power to help her.”

Pip was…missing? Kelly let out a loud sob and I jumped. My mouth had dropped open in disbelief. Kyle had his hands in his hair.

Jackson. Jackson where the hell are you? My eyes darted around the room for him. I felt like I was going to explode.

“Thank you Mr. Peterson,” Officer Birchfield said from behind us.

“Wait….she can’t be….where…?” I didn’t know what I wanted to say.

Officer Birchfield spoke, “She was last seen at a birthday party on Saturday night. Kyle Lyons, I believe you were the last one with her.”

Kyle didn’t move, just hunched deeper into the chair. Officer Birchfield sauntered up to the side of the principal’s desk and placed a hand on it, leaning over to get a look at the boys face in an intimidating way. I wanted to slap her. Look at him! He was obviously messed up, give him a freaking break!

Principal Peterson sighed and closed his eyes, “Officer Birchfield, you may use the office next to mine for all questioning. Children…. I’m sorry about all of this, but the sooner we get answers, the sooner we find Pippani.”

Officer Birchfield looked up and nodded, then jotted something on her clip board.

I just couldn’t believe it. Pip was missing… I couldn’t think of anywhere she would have run away too, which is hopefully all that had happened. Something occurred to me and my heart jumped to my throat – did she run away because of me? I fought with her…

Kelly suddenly broke down into tears again and held her jersey over her face.

“Please come with me,” Officer Birchfield ordered, making a beeline towards the door.

Kyle got up and followed her, his hunched back never stretching out. He stared at the ground as he walked. Kelly was still crying furiously into her jersey.

“Kelly…” I whispered, placing my hand on her back. She continued her crying.

“Please girls, it won’t take too long,” Principal Peterson urge gently. He was a good guy, the kind of Principal who was stern, but also had a heart. He could see that we needed some time to take it all in.

“I …can’t…believe it…” Kelly sobbed, her voice muffled by the jersey.

“She will turn up Kelly,” I said, trying to help, but not sure I believed it. Pip was stubborn…

She pulled the shirt down from her face and smiled at me, before rising to her feet. I followed suit.

-----

The spare office was cold and dusty – I hated it. The carpet was dark green and the walls were made of old unpolished wood. Landscapes were framed on the walls and there was a medium sized desk at the back of the room with a large swivel chair behind it. Three more chairs were in front of it, for us I assumed.

It felt like an interrogation. Officer Birchfield wasn’t quite as passive with the Principal out of the room. I learned that Pip had disappeared not long after our fight. She left Kyle to go to the bathroom and just never came back. I felt bad for this Kyle boy, he seemed nice enough. He tried to find her but couldn’t, so he asked around, but nobody had seen her. He said it was like she vanished…

She asked Kelly and I what we were doing that night, to which we both quietly replied we had had a few wines and our memory was hazy. The woman didn’t like that, and she frowned while she scribbled it down on her clip board. Kelly told her about our falling out with Pip, and I told her about the fight. None of it seemed like big news to Office Birchfield though – Kyle had probably said something to her parents, who Officer Birchfield had undoubtedly spoken to.

She started rambling on about what usually happened in a case like this, and I cried when that evil woman talked about the possibilities. The thought of Pip being gone made me want to vomit.

Where was Jackson? He couldn’t have been that mad at me. I longed for that reassuring look from the corner of the room that nobody else could see – just me. I felt like I was falling apart in there, and I needed my staple to keep me together.

When it finally ended about an hour later, the three of us walked out of there like zombies and went our separate ways. I felt like I had no water left in my whole body, I’d cried it all out. My head was shot. Pip couldn’t be gone. There was no way I was going back to class, I just wanted to go home.

“Jackson,” I whimpered from the quiet bathroom stall. My bag was on my feet and I leaned my head against the wall, waiting from him.

When he didn’t show up, I cried louder, “…Jackson!”

He appeared in the stall in front of me, a startled expression on his face. It turned to worry when he saw me, red eyed and drained sitting on the closed toilet seat.

“Where…where were you?” I croaked, trying to be angry, but failing. I was just sad; the tears rolled down my face, “I needed you there.”

To be honest, he looked like he’d just run a marathon. His hair was a shambles, and his clothes were covered in dirt and leaves. Jackson crouched down and steadied himself with an arm against the wall. A bathroom cubical was hardly big enough for a girl and a full grown male, so I brought my legs up and rested my head on my knees.

“I was out looking for her Maggie. If anybody can find her, it would be me. The family is doing everything they can; all extended family has been called, but with no luck. I’ve….I searched the woods, spoke with Neil, but….”

“…the woods?” I peeped. Why would she be in the woods…

“Maggie…” he shook his head, not wanting to have to explain it to me.

A few tears that I didn’t think I had streamed down my face and I hugged my knees tighter. “I’m scared…what’s going on?” I whispered.

Jackson reluctantly placed his hand on my knee and I felt that feeling of calm trying to overpower the fear. It was working this time, but not well. I was still worried as heck – if they didn’t find Pip within the next hour or so, I might just go crazy.

“I never saw her leave on Saturday night,” Jackson admitted, “I should have been watching.”

If he had been, we might not be in this mess but…

Selfish thoughts Maggie.

“No. You couldn’t have known.” I sighed, feeling the calm spread to my finger tips. My hands stopped trembling and I could relax against my knees, but I couldn’t ease the worry.

Jackson dropped his head, staring a hole into the ground, “I heard them talking, that woman and your principal. They’re considering you a suspect. Kelly and that boy as well.”

A suspect for what? …Murder?

“…what?!” My voice was an octave higher than usual and I dropped my legs to the ground.

Panic. Jackson's hand on my knee wasn’t helping anymore. My hands shook again and my heart slammed into my chest repetitively. The thought of Pip being dead…

I cried again. I sobbed violently into my already wet hands. I couldn’t think, it was all happened too quickly. I didn’t know what to do…

“…I’m going to find her,” Jackson spoke through my crying. His hand rose to my shoulder and he rubbed it reassuringly.

I took a breath in, wiping the tears on my sleeve. I had a horrible headache that was slashing at my eyes, but I ignored it. “What if something’s happened to her?” I croaked, desperately in need of water.

“Shhh,” he hushed me, pushing away the wet hair that stuck to me face.

I wanted to hold his hand then. I would have felt so much better… but I needed his help. I didn’t want him angry at me.

“I’m going to find her,” he added thoughtfully, placing a lock of hair behind my ear.

I know it sounded selfish, but I needed that weight off me. It helped, what he said. I felt like I was the one who needed to find her, like I was the one that caused all of this. But it was nice knowing that I had help – very capable help.

“Thank you,” I voiced.

“But… I can’t stray too far from you,” he warned, “I shouldn’t be helping, it isn’t my job but…for you I will. I know she means a lot to you.”

I smiled my sad smile. Ah, that boy; He warmed my insides. How unfair that he made me feel like that, yet I could never have him.