JILIAN SHINSUKE

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It has been a week since I didn't talk to anyone besides Caren and Luke. I never told anyone about what happened a week ago.

"Hey.", Caren called my attention throught giving me a snap of her fingers.

"Sorry. Spaced out right there.", I replied.

"Dude, four weeks from now and the dare will be over. You don't have Maddie's number yet, she hasn't confessed, and I'm getting tired of watching over Kristine.", Luke complained.

"About Kristine...", I paused. Both of them gave me curious glances. After explaining what happened, Caren slapped me. I gently rubbed my cheek.

"Now Kristine's never going to look at you! ugh.. How much of an idiot can you be Jilian?! All the efforts we did came crashing down."

"Yeah dude. You just had to kiss her."

"I'm really sorry! I unconciously did it. The next thing I knew, Kristine slapped me and I had shut Maddie out.", I explained myself.

"Anyway, it already happened.", Caren said.

"What do we do now?", Luke asked.

"First, we let Kristine and Jilian talk. Then, Jilian and Maddie has to talk.", Caren replied.

"Do I tell Maddie about the dare now?", I asked.

"Since everything's already ruined, you have to. So there's no use in making up with Maddie. What you two would talk about is you admitting the dare. After that, no more interactions.", Caren replied.

"Why no more interactions?", I asked again.

"Do you think Maddie would still talk to you after what you did to her?", Caren asked me back. I looked down and scratched the back of my head. This is frustrating. I ruined everything. In the end, Maddie would just know about the dare anyway.

"Meet Kristine at the library later after class. I'll bring her there.", Caren said.

"Why the library?", Luke asked.

"So that they could talk properly without any slapping the other person's face.", Caren replied. After our conversation, classes began. The day went by quickly as usual but I didn't see Maddie since last week. I wonder where she is. I went out of our classroom and I met Josh along the hallway.

"Sup?", Josh greeted.

"Nothing.", I replied.

"Look, I haven't seen Maddie all week. Do you happen to know where she is?", he asked.

"I would like to ask the same question.", I replied. Josh sighed and leaned on the lockers.

"The last time we met, she was smiling. But it was a smile with a message behind it.", Josh said. I looked at the sight from the corner of my eye and my brows were about to meet. Josh noticed my expression.

"If something happened between you and Maddie, you have to fix it as soon as possible.", Josh said.

"How? Without her here, I can't do anything.", I asked.

"Why on earth did she choose you..." I heard Josh utter some words but I couldn't catch what he just said.

"I can help you.", Josh told me. I looked at him in curiosity.

"How?"

"Since I know Maddie way better than you do, I know of a possible place she could be at. I didn't have a chance to go there because of school."

"Is it that far off?"

"Yeah. But I am not sure if she's there since it's just a possibility. I already checked her home but she isn't there."

"Why are you helping me?", I asked. Josh smirked at me.

"I'm not helping you. I'm helping the girl I love.", he replied.

"Tch. Thanks anyway. I have to go.", I said as I parted with Josh. I arrived at the library and I found Kristine reading a book of Shakespeare.

"A fan of Romeo and Juliet?", I asked. She looked up and I saw her cheeks flush a light shade of pink. I sat adjacent to her.

"You wanted to talk?", Kristine asked.

"Yeah.", I replied.

"Go on.", she said in a serious tone. It was like she meant business.

"I just wanted to apologize for what I did and to clear the fact that I just unconciously did it. It was like my body moved on its own accord.", I apologized. I did not look or even glance at her face. I was just looking down with my hands interlaced with each other on top of my lap. Kristine stood up and this made me look at her. Is she leaving? Will she not forgive me? What am I going to do if she doesn't?!

"Alright. I forgive you, but that doesn't mean I'll befriend you again. See you around Jilian." Before I could speak, she hurriedly exited the library. I got a few glances but I didn't care. It didn't bother me at all. I was now happy that I got to fix things with Kristine. Although I can't be her friend anymore, I still deserved it. Now all that's left to do is to talk to Maddie. I still had classes in the aftetnoon but I think I could just ditch my afternoon classes. I immediately went to my car. I drove to the place where Maddie could be. Arriving after an hour or two, it was now seven thirty in the evening. I locked my car and I faced an old house where it looked like nobody was using it for more than ten years. Could she really be in here? I twisted the door knob but it wouldn't budge. My palm was now covered in dust and it smelled like rusty metal. I walked around, trying to look for an open window or something. Then I did find a window that was open and I let myself in. I looked around the house and the furnitures and appliances were covered in white sheets. I walked by the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Maddie wasn't there. I climbed up the stairs. It made creaking noises which made me uneasy and nervous. It was like I was walking around inside a haunted house. The atmosphere was eerie and it was dim. I came across a room which had the tag "Maddie's Room".

"Maddie's old house?", I asked Josh.

"Yeah. It's a few miles drive from here. This is just a guess though.", he replied.

I opened the door and I was now inside a huge bedroom. To my left, there was a dresser with a huge oval shaped mirror. There was also a huge cabinet. Infront of me was a huge bed with a roof and curtains to the side. It was a bed meant for a princess. To my right was a window and a couch. There were porcelain dolls arranged in a shelf. The floor of the bedroom was covered in a carpet and the entire room was in pink with pink furnitures and things. I approached a dresser and I saw picture frames. There were pictures of Maddie when she was little. She had a really long golden brown hair, perfectly matched with her crystal green eyes. She looked really pale. Maddie really looked similar to a porcelain doll. I turned around and I saw a lot of porcelain dolls. I grabbed on which looked like Maddie. Staring at it, it gave me goosebumps. I returned it and I saw another picture frame of Maddie. I noticed that Maddie was always wearing frilled dresses. It was like she was a live porcelain doll. I wondered why she and her family left this house. This is a fairly huge house. The things in here are still in its proper places. After looking around the house, I got out of the house through the same window. Just by looking and exploring the house, I got to know a lot of Maddie's childhood already by just also looking at her pictures and things in her bedroom. Now that I wasn't able to find her here, I wonder where she could have gone. Maddie is missing.