Ember had been gone for quiet a while, but she'd been spending a lot of time with Cass so I could only assume she'd picked up on some habits and went to the bathroom to touch herself up or something. Whatever it is chicks do when they travel in packs to piss. We were all leaning against our cars, by that I mean mine and Alex's, talking about what we were going to do tonight.


First, we wanted to head back to Rian's and have band practice. Ember had never seen us practice and I was pretty stoked to show her how good we sounded together. Even Cass had asked to help Alex with some of the vocals, so maybe she could get Ember to join her on our stage that isn't really a stage. From there, we were going to go grab food, probably a pizza, and head to the movies. I was also excited about this. It was a scary movie, so it'd give me a perfect change to hug and squeeze all over Ember without anyone thinking anything of it. They'd just think I was scared and using her body as my personal stress ball. Usually this was Alex's job.


I was getting really anxious, thinking of amazingly the night would go, when I finally spotted Ember coming across the parking lot. She was rubbing her cheek a lot, which made me get a weird feeling in my gut, but she put on her best smile so most of the worry melted. Most.


"Took you long enough," Alex joked, running to his car door. "Let's get this show on the road!"


"Actually, guys.. I ran into a girl from one of my classes in the hallway. I'm going to help her with a project so she doesn't fail. Rain check?"


Alex rolled his eyes and climbed in his car. Typical Alex, he had his heart set on something and no one would take that away from him. Cass frowned, but gave Ember a quick hug before slipping in the car. Naturally, Rian got in with her. This left Zack and myself to stare at Ember like she'd lost her mind. Since when did she even have other friends? And who was this girl?


"Ember, come on," I offered a smile, fighting my desire to wrap my arms around her. "Tonight was going to be amazing, you can't just bail."


"Actually, I can, Jack. And I'm going to."


"Okay, attitude," Zack forced a laugh and pointed to Alex's car. "I'm just gonna.. yeah."


Ember shifted her weight as we were left alone. There was a look in her eyes that told me she was lying to me, but honestly, I was scared of pissing her off. She hadn't snapped on me like that in so long. Whatever was going on, she didn't want me to know about it and I had to respect that, even if it killed me.


"Look, I'm just gonna go. Have fun tonight. See you at home."


She turned to leave just as a gust of wind swept over the parking lot. I swore, for just a moment, as her hair flew in all different directions I saw a horrible red mark across her cheek. She was already half way across the parking lot when it registered in my mind that something was terribly wrong, and though I ran after her calling her name, she never gave me a second glance. What the fuck did I do to piss her off so bad? Growling, I tapped on Zack's window and told the guys I was just going to go home. They were upset with me, but Alex and Zack had a look of understanding in their eyes.


Blaring angry music all the way home, I punched the car door before I stumbled into the house. Something was driving me crazy, I just didn't know what it was. Worry, maybe? Something was wrong with Ember. I shouldn't have let her go. I should have went after her. Perhaps I can still get her to come home.


Flopping down on the couch, I pulled out my phone and set her a text. Then another. And another.


Ember, please come home. I didn't go out tonight, I'll be right here when you get back.
Em, at least just text me and let me know you're okay.
Who are you with, anyway?
Ember, come on! Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I miss you. Come home.
EMBER. TEXT ME BACK, DAMNIT!


Nothing. Hours passed and I didn't get a single reply. Something was up. I had half a mind to go to Carl and tell him to track down his daughter, but Ember would fully hate me if I did that. All I could do was sit here and wait.


Ember, where are you?!

Notes

Poor Jack. He has no idea what's going on!
Also, I want to thank you guys for all of your votes and comments. We couldn't be more thankful for the love this story is getting. You guys are AMAZING!!
-Jess.