The next morning, I woke up at 7 AM. I checked up on Catherine because of how drunk she was, the last night. She was still asleep. Usually, she wakes up before me.

I placed my hand on her forehead. She felt hot. I checked her pulse. She was suffering from fever.

The only thing that came to my mind was to not wake her up for the school and let her sleep.

I got ready to leave. While I was leaving, I took out a medicine to cure fever and placed it on the study table with a note.

Eat it when you are awake.
Don't forget to brush your teeth before having this. Lol.
Love you!
And, thank me later ;)
Bye!

And then, I left for my classes.

As I entered the Mathematics class, I saw Josh.

"Hey man." I greeted him, sitting beside him.

"Hi, May! Wait, where's your best friend?" He asked.

"She isn't well. Fever. I let her sleep." I replied.

"Fever? How did this happen?" He asked.

"Nothing severe. Just a common flu." I replied. Or rather say, I lied. Well, I was up with zero confidence to tell him that yeah, his dear friend was insanely drunk last night!

The entire class passed as usual, or rather say, all the classes.

Yes, when we went to our Chemistry class, the teacher did ask about Catherine. Well, I lied again.

*****

After the classes were over, Josh, I and Chris went to the Vale. Of course, I didn't forget about Catherine. I just thought that I should give her some time to recover from yesterday's hangover and not disturb her.

Chris asked me the same question Josh had asked. And yes, I lied to him as well.

Technically, I did not completely lie. Well, Catherine was suffering from fever. Just the reason behind it was not true. But, I can do anything to keep my best friend's impression good.

It was around 5 PM when we went back to our rooms.

As I was walking towards the door, I was imagining Catherine all well. And as I'll open the door, she'll come and hug me and say a thank you because I wrote on the note, 'Thank me later'.

As I opened the door, I found no one.

She must be inside the washroom. I said to myself.

I walked and knocked the washroom's door.

"Catherine?!" I called out.

No reply.

"You there? Stop playing hide and seek. You aren't well. Or, are you? Are you feeling better now?" I said.

No reply.

"Hey? Cathy?"

No reply.

I checked if she had taken the medicine. No. The medicine was kept at the same place where I kept it, untouched.

She must have gone for a walk. I said to myself.

I sat on my bed, waiting for her.

15 minutes passed..

20 minutes passed..

45 minutes passed..

1 hour and 20 minutes passed..

Okay, no! Walk doesn't take this long. I again said to myself.

I started to think about the things Catherine had told me about. Because that was the only way I could find her.

Bad roommates.

Chris and Josh.

The Cath Islands.

Mrs. Nancy.

Her wish to become a Lawyer.

Heartbreak.

Reece.

Reece.

What happened yesterday.

Because of Reece.

Oh, no! Holy ice cream!

I thought of contacting Reece. But, his phone number? I didn't have that.

That's when I recalled Catherine telling me that she maintains a notebook, in which she writes down all the contact numbers.

After twenty minutes of digging through her stuff, I finally located the contact book.

I got Reece's phone number.

I ran towards the telecom to call him up.

The students are allowed to use the telecom only on Sundays. I had read this in the rule book. Damn!

Whatever. I can break a rule for my best friend. Dump the rule book! I thought to myself.

Fortunately, Reece answered the call within a ring.

"Hey?" He spoke.

"Reece?" I said.

"Yes?"

"Reece, it's May. Is Catherine with you?" I asked.

"May? No, she isn't with me. What happened?" He inquired.

"Do you know where she is?" I asked.

"No, May. What's wrong? Tell me." I could sense terror in his voice.

"Sh—she's missing!" I replied.

"What? God damnit! Try finding some clues, May. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Reece, I tried. But couldn't find anything."

"Checked her bag?"

"Oh no. I forgot. I'll do that right now."

"Yes. Most of the girls keep their secret stuff in their bags when they aren't at their own home." Reece told me.

"Okay. Be here soon." I said and hung up. I ran back inside the room.

I found her bag and emptied it on my bed.

There were some books, few Polaroid pictures of Reece and her, some pens, some finger rings and a small box.

Nothing caught my attention other than that box.

I opened it.

It was stuffed with hundreds of envelopes. Letters were in it.

Whom is she writing all these letters to? I thought to myself.

I took them all out of the box.

The first letter she had written was back in 2016. It was dated 22th August, 2016 and was addressed to God.

Wow, how creative. I mean, who writes letters to the God. Well, Catherine!

I looked through all the envelopes. The second last letter which she wrote was addressed to me and the last letter she wrote was addressed to Reece. Well, at that very time, the last letter mattered the most. Even though I wanted to read the letter she had written to me, I chose to not read it and concentrate on the last letter to Reece.

The letter was dated 27th September.

I opened it and read.

-_-

When I was done reading the letter, I was speechless! I was numb. I had no expressions, probably because I didn't knew how to react.

The door swung open.

"Catherine?!" I exclaimed, hoping it was Catherine. Nope, it was Reece.

"Hey! Did you locate any clues." He asked.

I couldn't reply. The letter was so emotional, that no word came out of my sealed mouth.

"What's that in your hand?" He asked again.

I couldn't reply, again.

But, I think he sensed there's something wrong when I didn't reply to any of the questions he had asked.

"Give me that paper." He said and took away the paper from me.

He read it.

-_-

Hey Reece Clyde Parker,
Or rather say, The Best.

First of all, a very happy birthday to you. I tried calling you up to wish you, but you were busy and didn't answer the call. Anyways, so I just left a voice message. I hope you received it.

Anyways, I hope you and May are doing good together. Well, I don't know if you guys are even together, but whatever, someday you guys will be. I didn't ask May about anything. Not because I wasn't interested, but because I didn't want to stab my heart, myself. Keep her happy, Reece. She is really lovely. It's always been tough for me to see you with another girl, especially when it's my own best friend. But anyways, just don't break her heart.

Oh, also, I wrote something for you. Even though I suck at writing. I tried my best.

I know you won't love me twice,
But that's okay.
That's alright.

I know we weren't being wise,
But that's okay.
I hope you'll find someone nice.

I know I messed it up,
For that, I'm not even glad
Or probably, that day was totally bad.

Trust me, it was all fate,
And I never wanted to leave you.
I know it's me, whom you hate,
But please, let me state my point of view.

And now you are back, again,
Not for me, though the reason is same.
You found someone worth your time,
But it hurts even more to see you with a friend of mine.

I wish I could say this before,
That each and every passing day, I loved you even more and more.
But now, you are not mine,
Rather say, my best friend's wine.

And she can savour you infinite times.
She can savour you infinite times.

~ Catherine Hunt

I hope you liked it, Reece. Anyways, Happy birthday once again. Stay happy with whatever you do.

Goodbye.

-_-

Reece read the letter. Even though he didn't utter a word, his expressions were shouting that he was under utmost shock and tension.

"Happy birthday, Reece." I said forcing a smile

"Don't say. It's not a happy birthday anymore. My Cathy is suffering. And goodbye? What does that mean? I know she won't take any huge step, but I don't want her to take any step!" He said, as a tear rolled off his eyes. He was turning red.

"I don't know about the goodbye. I just know that we need to find her." I said.

We got out of the room and ran straight to the backside gate of The Hailstone Vale as the security guard was having his duty at the front gate.

"Get in." Reece said, pointing towards his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I don't know where we are going. But I want to find my Catherine at any cost." He said.

"You should have thought this yesterday, while you were flirting with some girl of yours!" I spatted at him.

Of course, it was his fault. At first he says he likes Catherine, then he sits with another girl at some celebration party. He never tried to help when she was drunk. And now he's getting furious and all just to find Catherine.

I was not at all happy with Reece, but at that point, finding Catherine was more important than telling Reece that it was his fault.

"You think I initiated whatever happened at the party? No! That girl started it. I wasn't even reacting to what she was doing, and neither was I giving it back to her. I wasn't supposed to. I couldn't just push that girl away. It's hell rude." He went pale as he told this to me.

And at some point in my mind, I knew he wasn't lying.

I placed my hand at his shoulder and said, "We'll find her. Don't worry. She is yours and will remain yours."

We got into the car. Reece started the engine and drove off.

___________________________________

Author's Note:

Here comes another chapter. Somewhat lengthy, but this is sure one of my favourite chapter! I seriously loved writing it and I hope you guys will love reading it.

Anyways, how was the letter Catherine wrote to Reece?

And hell, where do you think Cathy has gone? I'm so scared!!

Anyways, wish Reece a Happy birthday. Even though it's not happy anymore :(

I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

Also, thankyouuuu so much for 1.43K reads. This means so much to me. And I love all my readers so much! I wish I could thank each one of you personally, but since I gained a lot of readers in such a less time, I have lost the count. But yes, you all know what you mean to me - Everything! So, once again, thankyouuuu so much for all the support!! 
*hugs you all*.

Love you so much, guys!

Peace ✌️
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