When Did Your Heart Go Missing?

I resisted the strong urge to smile.

"From...Frank?" I repeated softly, staring down at it and wanting so much to open it and read his handwriting.

"Yeah," Ray said, smiling down at me. "He called me earlier and asked me to bring this to you... I don't know why or what it is, though. He told me not to look into the basket...and that I wouldn't understand the note."

I smiled and looked up at the basket as Ray let it down on my lap. It wasn't the slightest bit heavy.

"He told me to tell you to take the basket outside," Ray went on. "I guess because it's a picnic basket..."

I chuckled as I stood up, letting the basket down. I put the note on top of it and looked at the screen of the DVD player. Just passed one o clock.

"Oh, and he wanted me to let you know that he couldn't come and personally deliver it because Linda won't believe him when he says he feels better," Ray said with a chuckle. "And I'm guessing you girls slept late last night."

He smiled over at his girlfriend. I felt a pang of jealously for just a moment. Not of Sarah but of what she had with Ray. They were so close. And the way he looked at her...

"I'm gonna go freshen up and leave you to...do whatever with Sarah," I whispered to Ray, winking when his confused expression met my knowing one. He chuckled and nodded. Sarah groaned and turned over on the couch, letting us see her face.

Ray walked up to her at the same time I started walking up the stairs.

"I love you," I helplessly heard him whisper to his girlfriend. I sighed and quickened my pace, desperate to get away from the happy couple and "freshen up" before finding out the contents of what Frank had sent me.

It figured Kelsey would be so nosy.

"Hey!" I yelled at her as I walked down the stairs. "Don't read that!"

I'd taken a shower, thrown on some clothes, and washed my hair. It was dripping over my shirt and on the carpeted floor as I made my way to Kelsey, who was sitting by the picnic basket and reading the note Frank had written to me.

"I am so confused," she said softly.

"Yeah, we know, we'll get you help eventually," I said, rolling my eyes but helplessly smirking. She narrowed her eyes as I pulled the note away from her, sticking it in my pants' pocket. I reached passed her and grabbed the basket, holding it close to me defensively.

"I didn't look inside, don't worry," she said, smiling.

"Good," I said. "Where's Sarah?"

"Off with Raymond."

I nodded and smiled. I turned away from her and started to make my way passed the staircase and toward the back door that led into the backyard.

"Hey!" Kelsey yelled after me. "Where you going?"

I turned my head, stuck my tongue out at her, and sped up toward the glass door, pulling it open with my free hand. I eagerly stepped across the grass, avoiding falling into the large, empty pool and arriving at a shaded area under an oak tree. I leaned against the vine-covered white gate that separated Kelsey's house from the next rich family over. I gently dropped the basket and pulled the note out of my pocket, sitting down with my legs crossed. I grinned down at the piece of paper, eagerly opening it. My grin faded when I saw Frank's familiar little scribble in the form of just one sentence:

Dear Layla,

Inside the basket that our lovely friend the Torosaurus will deliver to you is a memory and a kiss.

Love,
Frank

I chuckled at the Torosaurus part. I frowned at the kiss part. I smiled at the love part.

"A memory and a kiss..." I said softly, trying to figure out what he meant by that. I gave up quickly, grabbing the basket and opening it to find out what was it exactly that waited for me inside...