Darling, What Is Going On?

***The next morning***

I woke up this morning to hearing another voice downstairs. An unfamiliar one, at that. I raised my eyebrow and got up, not even bothering to fix my hair or anything and walked downstairs to see a man downstairs sitting at the table with my mom, drinking coffee.

Please note that it was 6 in the morning. Strange man whom I've never met sitting at our table drinking coffee out of one of our mugs at 6:00am. Yeah, that's totally normal.

"Oh, good morning dear! Um, well, first off, this is John Radke; Ronnie's father. John, this is my daughter, Annabelle." My mom said, pointing to John. I sighed a sigh of relief and smiled sleepily at him, waving. He nodded his head at me and smiled back, but he looked worried. Very, very worried.

"Hello Anna. So um, sorry to jump to questions, but are you friends with Ronnie...?" He asked, still sounding worried. I nodded my head, confused.

"Yeah......what's going on?" I asked nervously, and Mr. Radke sighed nervously and set down his cup.

"My son's missing, Annabelle. Ronnie's gone, and I don't know where he is." He said, and my eyes almost popped out of my head.

"Wait...what?!" I exclaimed, and my mother tried to shush me. Not working.

"When I came home from work around 10 pm last night, I went to go and check on him like I always do when I come back from work. He wasn't in his room, he wasn't in the yard, he wasn't in the house, he wasn't anywhere. But......when I went into his bathroom, I-I saw a razor on the counter......and it had....white particles on it." He said, starting to sound angry at the end.

I looked over at my mom as she just looked at John sympathetically, and then looked back at John, urging him to continue with the story.

"I noticed that the cabinet door in his bathroom hadn't closed all the way, and when I opened it I saw a container with the lid just placed on the top; it wasn't screwed on. So I took the lid off of what I thought was a hair gel container, and found 2 little bags of cocaine in it." He said, sounding a mixture between scared and angry.

"C-C-Cocaine....?" I asked, my heart beating faster by the second. He nodded his head.

"So, as any parent would probably do, I searched his room for any other drugs, and found that he had 1 bag marijuana, and a shoebox full of prescription painkillers and other....addictive medications." He said, slightly choking up at the end.

At this point I was scared; dangerous drugs + Ronnie = something terrible's going to happen. Especially when no one knows where the hell he is.

"So, Anna dear, when was the last time you saw Ronnie?" My mom asked me, and I gulped.

"Just yesterday.......he came in through my window after I came home from the hospital to see Craig.....we talked for a bit, a-and he kissed me....but I pushed him away and told him no, and that he should probably leave......so he did.....but he didn't say anything else or look back at me.......oh my god, I did this to him...." I whispered the last part, tears springing to my eyes.

"No, honey, you didn't....." John started, but I shook my head.

"Yes I did! He told me he liked me; that he actually really liked me, unlike those other girls at school, and I told him no! You should've seen the look on his face when I told him to leave, you guys; he looked completely heartbroken! He's gone because of me!" I started crying by the time I finished, and my mom wrapped me in a hug. John got up and put his hand on my shoulder, looking at me sympathetically, and also looking like he was ready to cry himself.

"And now, who KNOWS where he is, or if he's even alive still!" I sobbed in my hands, crying loudly.

"Honey, don't say that-"

"No, Trish.....she's right...." John said. "I've gotta find my son and see if he's even still living." His voice cracked at the end. I sniffled and calmed myself down.

"C-Can I help you find him? Please.....? It'll drive me crazy if I don't." I whispered, and he looked at my mom.

"If your mom says you can, then you can." He said, and I looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Please mom? I think helping Mr. Radke find his son is a little more important then school right now....and it's only one day. Please?" I whispered, and she nodded.

"Of course, dear. I'll call the school and tell them you can't make it, just go get dressed, and help Mr. Radke find Ronnie." She said. I nodded and hugged her, and told John I'd be back. I ran up the stairs and fixed my hair a little, then threw on some skinny jeans, a t-shirt and a cardigan, along with my converse. I grabbed my phone and ran back down the stairs, told my mom goodbye, Mr. Radke telling her that we'd call her often to tell her what's going on, and we were off to find Ronnie.

***

"So where are we going to go first?" I asked, and Mr. Radke sat in the drivers seat of his car while I sat in the passenger, thinking.

"Well........I already called all of his friends, and they said they haven't seen him....except for Maxwell...." He started, and I looked up at him.

"Call Max, now." I said, and he nodded, punching in the numbers on his cell phone.

"Hello, Kelly? Hi, it's John......well, that's why I'm calling......Ronnie's missing........Yes, listen, I need you to go wake your son up or go get him and I need to talk to him......thanks......................Max, it's Mr. Radke....yes.....No, I don't know where he is.......when's the last time you saw him?.........what?!" He exclaimed, and my head shot up again as I looked at Mr. Radke.

"Okay, listen, I need you to ask your mom if it's okay for you to come and help me find him.......okay...." We sat in silence for a minute until he answered. "Okay, I'll come pick you up. Bye." He hung up, and sighed a heavy sigh.

"So...?" I asked nervously, and he looked at me.

"Ronnie was over at Max's around midnight, and Max said he was...."high as a kite". He tried to get Ronnie to stay with him, but Ronnie just ran off, and he doesn't know where.....and he went after him, but lost track of him." He explained, starting the car and driving to Max's. A tear slipped down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away.

Mr. Radke pulled into a driveway, and I saw Max run to the car and get in the backseat.

"Annabelle?" He asked, and I smiled nervously at him.

"I'm helping Mr. Radke find Ronnie...." I said softly, and Max simply nodded.

***

By now it was 10 am; almost 4 hours of searching, and no Ronnie in sight. I told Max about the little event that happened yesterday with me and Ronnie, and it turns out Ronnie has a huge crush on me, and Max is blaming me for Ronnie running away. Currently we're ignoring each other. Yeah, this is fun!

"Well, we've looked everywhere.......and nothing." Max said angrily, getting into the backseat. Mr. Radke sighed and gripped the steering wheel tightly, then let it go.

"Now what? I asked softly, and Mr. Radke shook his head.

"We've gotta go to the police station and tell them he's missing, so they'll run a report on the news." He said simply, and started driving to the police station. Awkward silence filled the air as we drove, and even more awkward silence nearly choked us when Mr. Radke pulled into the police station and got out, telling us to wait here as he went inside.

"Annabelle?" I heard Max whisper, and I turned my head to him to see a tear streaming down his cheek.

"Yeah Max?" I whispered, my own eyes tearing up as I reached over and wiped the tear off his face.

"What if we find him...but...he's not alive...?" He choked out, and I crawled into the back seat and wrapped my arms around his middle, resting my head on his shoulder. I felt his head rest atop of mine and he wrapped his arms around me gently.

"We'll find him Maxy.....we'll find him, and we'll find him alive.....I promise." I whispered, tears flowing down my cheeks. He murmured an "OK" and squeezed me lightly, hugging me. I hugged him back and sat there, thinking of all the possible things that could, or have happened to Ronnie, and all the places he could be.

Yesterday, my mind was flooded with Craig.

Today, it's Ronnie's turn to take over my thoughts.