Where's Warren?

Dragging Ellen Mae to her car and driving her home while she murmured nonsense about who kissed who at school or who went 'all the way' wasn't the highlight of my day. Especially after the painful slap she delivered, which left a red mark on my cheek and a gaping hole in my confidence. With all that has happened, it seemed as though Ellen had all the answers, but she wasn't more than willing to share.

I contemplated turning her in to the police, saying that she knew where Warren was but I had no proof. She'd only said the things she did while intoxicated, and after she puked all the contents of her stomach onto the hallway, she seemed to have no recollection of our encounter. I'd put all she said in the back of my mind, yet that one line repeated in my mind.

'Be careful when revealing secrets, these windows have eyes. They can easily rip off your disguise.{/i]

I sighed and laid back in bed, repeating the line over and over in my mind, but I couldn't catch the significance of the words.

The words repeated over and over in my mind, entangling themselves in my thoughts until all I could hear and think were her rhymes and riddles.

Getting up, I paced my room, trying to calm myself down. I couldn't lose it. Not when I was possibly so close to finding out something about his disappearance! Still, I couldn't calm myself down. Sweat beaded over my bottom lip and eye brows and my hands squeezed each other painfully. Still it wasn't enough to calm myself down.

Letting out a breath of air, I went downstairs and popped two ice cubes in my mouth. The sudden coldness chilled and numbed by tongue but it did calm me down a bit. I was not in control of my emotions, that much was evident as my heart hammered against my chest.

The room began to spin, and so did my stomach. I sucked in air through my mouth, only to chock when one of the ice cubes lodged in my throat. I gasped involuntarily and brought my hand to my throat, as if I could force the ice cube down. I couldn't. My eyes watered and my mind was in a frenzy. I was sure I was on the edge of passing out when the ice cube melted down enough to continue its route.

I stumbled back onto the kitchen counter and sat on it. Did I just have an anxiety attack? Everything happened so fast, I could have easily killed myself. What was happening to me?

Leaning back, I took deep, soothing breaths. The emptiness of the house didn't help. I missed my mother and father who always seemed to be busy with work, but I knew well enough that they weren't. They were doing just what Warren's parents wouldn't have had the to heart to do: cheat.

I'd figured this all out not too long, but I should have noticed it long before that. I was only 14 when they stopped the love-filled glances across the table, 15 when they stopped kissing, 16 when they telling each other they loved each other and just recently, around my 17th birthday, they even stopped being able to look each other in the eyes; let alone be in the same room for more than 10 minutes.

It's more than evident that they were unhappy.

My mind wondered to who could have possibly been breaking up my family. I imagined my father with some leggy on brunette with dazzling eyes and a sing-song voice. He's always loved women like that; somewhat like my mom. My mom, I imagined her with, well, just about anyone. She was one of those people that you can imagine being with anyone from a politician to a farmer. Though, I thought she would be happier with someone like a farmer, someone with strong arms and a loving heart.

Sliding off the counter, I grabbed my coat and keys off the sofa and decided to go for a walk. So what if I only have on sweatpants and a thin T-shirt?

My feet seemed to go where ever they want-going past Ellen Mae's house, the church, the coffee shop, the backside of Warren's house, through the park, past the school and finally I stop at the entrance at the brightly lit entrance of 'The Strip'.

For a moment, I wondered why I was there, and then I remembered.

“If you want to discover something, it's best if you to go somewhere he didn't go a lot or that he hated. People always look in the obvious places,never where they would never look. You'd be surprised what you could find.”

“Your best bet is to go after dark, where the police men are stationed in actual stores instead of roaming the streets. You wouldn't want people to see Little-miss-good girl Daisy walking down the streets of bars, prostitution alleys and strip clubs, right?”

Once again, Ellen's voice was invading my head and I hated it! Even if she does help me find Warren, I'd rather not have had her voice constantly repeating her riddles. Then again, if I had a choice, I'd rather have Warren back and her voice forever repeating itself in my mind then to have him gone and complete silence in my head.

The thought forced me down 'The Strip' which is basically what Ellen said it was, a long street leading to a cul-de-sac that was filled with strip joints, burlesque sows, prostitution alleys, stores that held everything from porn to 'toys' and everything else you need for your pleasure. Nobody under the age of 18 was supposed to be here but there weren't any people nor rules to enforce that after a certain time, I believe. So, most teens over 16, came here over the weekend of late Mondays or Fridays. The only thing that bothered me was that it's literally two streets away from my high school.

I sighed, hating the smell of sultry perfume. At first, the perfumes smelled lovely, but as all the scents mixed together, they smelled more like a 'sexy' stink bomb.

The further I walked down The Strip, the fewer clothes I saw on people. I drew my coast closer to my body, feeling wayy out of my comfort zone. What was I doing here? It's not like I was going to find Warren selling his body on the side of the road in a golden man thong!

I snorted a laugh at the thought and turned around, coming face to shoulder with a stranger. The strong smell of Axe wafted off the fabric and straight to my nose. The scent sent my head spinning, and I stepped back.

No, Warren may not have been there, but his jacket was.



I looked over at Warren from the back of Ellen Mae's car. He must have sensed me looking because he turned his head to smile.

“Hey,” He murmured, grabbing one of my hands and squeezing it.

“Hi.” I said back, questioning my decision to go to the party. An eerie feeling came over me as soon as we pulled out of my driveway.

“C'mon Daisy, liven up,” Warren teased me, nudging my shoulder with a soft chuckle.

“I'll try, but I just don't feel so good right now.” I admitted, rubbing my stomach for effect.

Ellen looked at through her rear view mirror, her eyes peaking over her red heart shaped shades. “I think you'll be fine Daisy, a little party won't hurt you.”

I scooted closer to Warren and rested my head on his shoulder, resting my head on the dark green material of his thin jacket. It's extremely stiff against my fingers, completely unlike any of his other jackets. I never liked this one, but he loved it so I tolerated it. Plus, it smelled like him. Peppermint mixed with one of his many Axe sprays. I inhaled the scent deeply, storing it in the back of mind.

“Just promise me you'll have fun tonight,” Warren almost whispered into my hair, one arm sliding behind my back to stroke my hip through the material of my purple mini dress. “Party like this is your last night on Earth.”

I nodded and whispered my promise, just as we pulled into Ellen Mae's driveway.

I blinked, returning from my memory. The man stepped around me and continued down the strip. It took me a second to build up my confidence to call him, but when I did, he stopped and turned around to look at me in confusion. I hurried up to the stranger and asked where he got the jacket. He looked at me, clearly perplexed but answered anyway.

“Oh, I got this from a young man passing through here a couple of days ago. He seemed to be in a hurry, but he stopped when he saw me. Gave me 40 bucks and this ever coat, I was gonna thank him, ask his name even but he was gone before I could look up from counting the money.”

So Warren was here? Before I got my hopes up, I asked the man to describe the man.

“Tall, with curly hair. He had these light eyes, I'm almost sure they were blue. I believe they were blue. I don't know, he had a kind voice though. Umm, he was pretty big and had on some weird shirt and pants. I don't remember what he was wearing but I remember that face. I'd remember that face anywhere.”

A photo! I just need to show him a picture of Warren and he'll confirm or deny my suspicions. I began to dig in my pockets, looking for the small device.

Where was it?? Where could I have left it?

Slowly, the memory of me giving my phone over to the police came to mind and I cursed. How am I going to know if he's talking about Warren now? Groaning, I pushed a hand through my hair, feeling utterly stupid and defeated.

“Looking for somethin'?” The man asked.

“My phone...my best friend...I lost him and I think you saw him...I think he's the guy that gave you that coat.” I attempted to explain but sadness overwhelmed me and the words failed.

“Oh,” The man seemed at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say, how to comfort me. In fact, he looked completely uncomfortable in the presence of someone unhappy. The fact that I was a complete stranger didn't help.

“Do you come here often? I know it's a weird question but I just...I need to know if he was here.”

“This boy your boyfriend or somethin'?”

“My best friend...he means the world to me.”

“Well,” He breathed, appearing to chew on the inside of his bottom lip. “If you come back here soon, around this time, I'll see what I can do.”

I smiled, unable to stop the squeal of happiness that escaped my lips. I almost jumped and wrapped my arms around this man's neck, but I was able to refrain from doing so.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“No problem,” He smiled politely then turned and continued walking.

I couldn't have kept that grin off my face even if I tried. Finally, I have a break through after a week filled with confusion and hurt! I almost skipped back up the street, I was so happy.

Peopled turned and looked at me in confusion but I didn't care. I was almost out of 'The Strip' when I bumped into someone.

“I'm sorry, I'm such a klutz.” I apologized as bent down to pick up their wallet.

“It's okay-”The words ceased as I stood upright and came face to face with the last person I thought I would have seen here.

His blue eyes were widened, mouth slightly ajar.

I could only stare.

“Let's go.” A red head pulled at his arm, whining and pouting. It was obvious that they knew each other very well. It was also obviously that that woman was not his significant other.

Because his significant other was blond, and she was too busy crying over her lost son, at home.