The Lost One

The country song played quietly through the speakers as Debbie drove to school, her fingers absentmindedly tapped with the beat against the steering wheel. The school was only a five minute drive from her house, but Debbie liked to take back roads and could be found on the other side of town just minutes before the first bell would ring. After she turned around on one of the many dirt roads in Shapleigh, she found that she had already missed first block and had only five minutes to get back to school before second block started.

Her laughter rang out of the open windows as she marveled at how quickly time passed on the back roads of Maine. It was her favorite thing to do to pass the time ever since Lisa disappeared because it was something the girls had done together whenever their mom would come home reeking of booze after yet another night out at the bar. Unfortunately school was something that Debbie didn’t look forward to, even as she drove into a spot around the back.

After she had snuck into the school from the back doors, she found that she was still late for second block and would have to go to the main office to get a late pass. She didn’t mind as it meant she had missed the Snob Mob. She couldn’t help but quietly laugh to herself at the name her sister had given the group of fairly popular kids who seemed to only pick on the twins and their friends, which was a very small group of people.

“What are you laughing at loser?” A voice called out from the senior hallway in front of the gym.

Debbie groaned internally and let her head hang down as her hand hovered over the handle to the last door to the main office’s hallway. Their laughter echoed in the empty halls and Debbie had started to wish a teacher would show up so she wouldn’t be subject to any more of their harsh words, but of course, that had never happened for her.

“I’m talking to you Gross!” the voice shouted suddenly.

Debbie tried not to let her anger show as she turned around to face the group of teenagers who lived to make her life a living nightmare. Their faces, full of smiles and mischievous grins, made the anger inside of her boil.

“It’s Grouse,” she snapped back at the culprit behind the name calling.

The school’s star running back, Cayden Smith, stood at five foot ten and average build with jet black hair and ice blue eyes that had been trained on Debbie since she stepped foot around the corner. The glint in his eyes could be mistaken for charming if you didn’t know Cayden as well as Debbie did, and she knew him well.

“I’m sorry Deb, did I hurt your feelings?” he asked as his mischievous smile grew and the group around him laughed harder.

Debbie took a deep breath before lifting her hand and her middle finger as she turned back towards the door. She hadn’t expected him to react with anything more than words, so when he pulled her away from the door and roughly pushed her into the wall, she couldn’t stop the tears that had sprung to her green eyes as they met with his blue ones.

“Hey!” A new voice interrupted.

A smirk appeared on Cayden’s lips as he let go of her shoulders and took a step back, tilting his head to the side as he looked over at the intruder.

“Hey there Cameron, we’re just having a little chat,” Cayden stated as he turned to look back at Debbie.

She nodded her head, scooted away from the wall and straight into Cameron’s arms, the tears that had gathered now falling to her cheeks. Cameron shook his head and wrapped his arm around Debbie while leading her through the door leading to the main office.

“What was that all about?” He asked Debbie as the door shut behind them and they slowly made their way down the short hallway.

She shrugged and pulled away from him as she walked up to the office and got the attention of one of the secretaries. Cameron sighed as he watched his girlfriend ignore him and get her late slip. A clap on his shoulder distracted him and as he turned his head to see who it was, it didn’t surprise him to find his best friend, Dalton Underwood, standing next to him with a grin.

“So I saw Cayden moving in on your girlfriend,” he joked, putting his hands up when Cameron gave him a playful shove.

“I wish they’d just leave her alone,” he muttered as Dalton moved next to him again, his eyes were back on Debbie as she tried to explain why she was so late.

“After that stint she did in rehab last year, I doubt they’ll ever forget about her,” Dalton mumbled back, his own eyes on the girl in case she decided to turn around.

“Don’t bring that up,” Cameron growled lowly, much to Dalton’s amusement.

“I have ten minutes left of class; do I go or just head to my next class?” Debbie asked as she turned around, shooting a smile to Dalton.

Cameron shrugged, “I’m going back to class, so I’ll see you at lunch.”

Debbie frowned as she stood with Dalton and watched Cameron walk back towards his classroom. Dalton laughed while throwing his arm around her shoulder and directing her towards their next class, Language Arts.

“I might have brought up your personal party last year,” Dalton stated while laughing again.
Debbie sighed while shaking her head and rolling her eyes as the bell rang and students crowded the hallways. Dalton let go of her and started to look around while they walked through the hallway, his eyes rolling over the tons of students as he searched for his girlfriend. Debbie slipped away from him and into their classroom as he continued down the hallway, oblivious to her disappearing act.

“Hey Deb,” a soft voice startled her.

His chuckle is as soft as his voice and she couldn’t help but smile as she turned towards the sound while her heart picked up its pace. Max had been Lisa’s boyfriend and a wide receiver on the football team with Cameron, but that was before Lisa went missing. He couldn’t focus on the team anymore and he wasn’t Lisa’s boyfriend anymore, he was just Max. He couldn’t help the way his own heart rate soared when Debbie walked into the classroom when she looked exactly like her sister with shorter hair and less makeup.

“You’re here early,” Debbie stated, dragging them both from the staring contest.

Max grinned and nodded his head before gesturing to the seat next to him and raising an eyebrow. Debbie couldn’t help but laugh as she walked between the desks to get to the seat, sitting down and kicking the chair back as she let her eyes roam around the room to avoid looking at him again.

“You need to stop being such a chatter box,” she stated after a while.

He chuckled as the bell rang as students started pouring into the classroom. Dalton had found his girlfriend, Roni, and he pulled her to the pair in the back, booting two other students out of their seats so that he could sit with his friends. A sudden peal of laughter had the four of them looking at the door as Darcy and Adam Miller, the twins who had transferred to the school their freshman year walked in with Melody, Darcy’s best friend and Adam’s girlfriend, walked into the classroom.

Their teacher, Mrs. Drew, walked in directly behind the trio and straight to the board, turning to face her students with a smile as she demanded their attention with the phrase, “your prompt is on the board, go ahead and start now.”

Debbie sighed but looked up at the board as Mrs. Drew sat down and she knew instantly that Max’s face must have paled as much as hers after reading the prompt. Roni, a girl with curly brown hair and brown eyes immediately spoke up, “Mrs. Drew? Are you sure that’s appropriate?”

Their teacher looked up at Roni before turning to look at the board and Debbie immediately knew that something was wrong. Mrs. Drew turned back around and locked eyes with Debbie before letting her eyes scan the rest of the classroom.

“Who replaced my prompt?”

No one said anything as Mrs. Drew’s face grew red, “that is inappropriate,” she snapped at the class.

“Max and Debbie, you are dismissed,” she added as an afterthought while turning to erase the short sentence from the board.

The pair of them stood up, but Darcy spoke before they could make it across the room, “well how is that fair to the rest of us Mrs. Drew?”

“Shut up Darcy,” someone muttered from the front of the classroom.

She shot the back of their head a dirty look before turning back to their teacher with an expectant look on her face. Mrs. Drew shook her head at the girl, “Darcy that’s enough, unless you want to have a meeting with Mr. Erikson after class.”

Darcy mumbled something to Melody while rolling her eyes and both the girls had to stifle giggles as Max pulled Debbie along with him, only letting go of her after they had made it through the classroom door and into the deserted hallway.

“Where do you want to go now?” He asked her as they started to wander down the hall.

Debbie shrugged, her fingers balled into a fist in the pocket of her jeans as a strong wave of longing washed through her. Max noticed immediately that something was different, as he stopped and grabbed her arm, turning her to face him.

“It’s not worth it Debbie,” he mumbled as her eyes narrowed in on him.

“You’re not worth it Max,” she growled before turning on her heel and stomping towards the cafeteria.