Isabella

Jenny has been missing for officially a month now. The last time anyone saw her was when she was getting off the school bus and heading home.

Maybe she wondered off and got lost? Any possibility is better than knowing someone took her.

Jenny, my little seven year old neighbor who I have known since she was born, is gone. disappeared without a trace. Vanished.

I choke out a sob and finish brushing my hair in the mirror. You can tell how tired I look by the purple bags under my eyes. My brush gets caught in one of the nests that formed in my hair from me not brushing it in days. I yank it, but I don't feel any pain. I don't feel anything. I just need to find Jenny.

Jenny is deaf and I have been meeting with her after school for years teaching her Sign Language. Her mom would cook us dinner while we'd be in her bright purple room. I remember sitting across from her on the bed with my Sign Language picture books, and she would always get distracted from our lessons when the smell of dinner wafted into the bedroom. Her eyes would light up with hunger every time, especially when her mom was making her favorite meal.

I used to get a headache from staring at the bright purple paint that coated her entire bedroom, but now I miss it. I miss the Disney princess stickers she would put all over my books, the over abundance of stuffed animals, and even the mess of barbies I would always trip over on the floor.

I wipe the tear that starts to run down my flushed cheek and shut the bathroom door behind me. I put on some tennis shoes and head out the front door with a stack of papers clutched tight to my chest. I can immediately feel the humidity frizz up my hair the second I step out on the wet concrete.

The rain softly splatters against the road, washing away all the worries from the day. But, there are just some worries that can't go away.

One of Jenny's missing posters is stuck to the cement of the side walk. Her smiling face beaming in the photo is getting drowned in the rain. I sigh and get in my car. I put the stack of her missing posters on the passenger seat and start the engine. I sit in my car before I go anywhere, softly listening to the patter of the rain against my windshield. Jenny used to love rainy days.

Sorry. Jenny loves rainy days. Not used to.

I look up to my mom staring at me from her bedroom window. She gives me a sympathetic smile and a wave goodbye. I return it and go on my way. The day that she went missing I met up with Jenny's mom to make missing posters while her dad stayed in the police station. Her mom and I stayed up all night posting pictures all over the neighborhood. We have a lot of woods that goes on for a couple miles that surrounds our houses, she must've just wondered off and got lost.

The first week went by and no search team could find any trace of her. The helicopter that flew over the woods near our house every day still couldn't find anything. The police on her case has no leads. Nothing. It is like she just vanished.

The second week went by and the police still have nothing, well, that's what I assume. They refuse to give me any specific details. We live right next to a big city, a lot of kids go missing, but this is different. We have never had anyone go missing in our neighborhood off the city, no robberies, barely any crime, nothing. So, when the neighborhood found out Jenny went missing it shook the whole neighborhood. Nothing will be the same anymore. The tight little community we once had is now shattered.

It is officially a month today and I have already coated the entire neighborhood in posters, so now everyday after school I drive out to the city and put some up on every post, tree, and building I see. I started accepting the fact that someone could have taken her, but who? I can not think of anything at all who would be such a monster. Everyone loved Jenny, and maybe that's what caused someone to take her. Jealousy? But who would be jealous of a seven year old.

I shake my head from my thoughts. I keep coming up with ridiculous scenarios.

I get pulled from my thoughts when the ringing of my cellphone fills the car. I take the wheel with my other hand and shuffle a little to reach in my back pocket.

"Hello?"

"Hey girl, just checking in on you. I know today marks a month." My best friend replies. Her voice is coated with concern.

"Yeah, today has been pretty hard. I'm actually heading out to the city right now to put up some more posters. I really appreciate you checking in on me, Gia. I know I have been pretty distant lately. I just can't imagine having fun knowing that Jenny is out there." I start to choke out a tear at the end of my sentence. I fight it by focusing on the road and Gia's voice.

"Isabella, don't you fucking dare try to apologize. I completely understand. I am here for you and will always be there for you, even if you blocked me on every social media platform you have. I will always support you." She says sternly.

I sigh, "I love you."

"I love you too, now let me know when you make it back home. Okay? I am coming back from Florida in three days, and when I get back I am coming over and spending every single day with you until you physically throw me out of the window or something."

"I am honestly looking forward to that." I laugh out. I start pulling up at one of the parking lots behind this Mexican restaurant and say my goodbyes, time to get to work.

Aiden

I take a sip of my water from the booth at the restaurant that I have been going to for a week straight. This specific booth has a perfect view of the parking lot that Isabella parks at every day to walk around the city. I can tell she isn't getting much sleep by the bags under her eyes. Of course, she still looks beautiful.

She sweeps her eyes over the restaurant and my breath halts the second she makes brief eye contact with me. She takes my breath away every single time. Her wavy chestnut brown hair with hints of red undertones to it looks frizzy from the rain, but it still looks perfect. Her cute rosy cheeks look slightly sunken in. Has she not been eating? I can my eyes over her face, studying her more until she disappears into the rain.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat, honey?" My head turns to my waitress. She starts to fill up my water as she waits for my response.

"I'm fine, thank you." I give her one of my signature smiles. Her face gets slightly red and she quickly looks away.

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything." She replies, still blushing.

I watch her walk away for a second, but then quickly try to find Isabella again. No one draws my attention in as much as her.

I feel bad that she is not getting much sleep and eating, but she will be okay soon.

Soon, her and Jenny will be together again.

And we will all be a family.