Beep.. beep.. click.. click..
Still nothing. I put my phone down onto the table and then flopped back onto my bed. I sighed as I looked up at the blank ceiling. I could just picture him, his long blonde hair straight and shining. His big brown eyes, kind and welcoming. His beautiful smile filled of sparkling white teeth. Why isn't he answering? It's been four days now... I'm starting to worry. Maybe I should call his house, leave a message if I have to, I thought to myself. Yeah, that sounds good. I stood up running my fingers through my long hair and walked over towards the telephone. Now what was his number again? I thought for a minute.
"Oh yeah," I said to myself as I typed the number into the telephone.
Beep.. beep.. beep.. beep-beep..
I could hear it ringing.
"Come on, already. Answer, please!" I whispered, hopping nervously from one foot to the other.
It stopped ringing.
The person you are calling can is unable to answer your call at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone - Beeeeep.
Damn, I thought. Okay, just leave them a message.
"Uh, hey Mrs. Moore. It's me, Connie. I'm actually calling for Danny. Um, I've been calling and texting him... And for some reason he's not been answering me. If he's home, could you please tell him to give me a call when he's not busy? I'm really worried. Well, um, I'd better go now, Mrs. Moore. Thanks anyway, take care, 'bye."
I hung up the phone and put my face in my hands. What's going on? I asked myself.
Knock knock..
"Oh, uh, yeah?" I said, startled.
The door creaked open and my little sister Abbey walked in.
"Con, could you help me with my homework?" She asked, holding a book in her hands.
"'Course I can, what are you stuck on?" I replied, pulling over a chair for her to sit.
"Um, it's science. I don't understand these questions," she opened up the book and pointed to questions two, three and five.
"Okay, let's see then," I said, taking the book and looking the questions over. "So did you go over this in class, Abs?" I asked, as I scanned the questions again.
"Um, yeah, we did, but I forgot most of it.." Abbey replied, playing with a piece of her hair.
"Okay so this one then," I pointed to question two. "It says: What are the three states of matter? Do you remember one of them?" I asked.
"Um, there's.... Solid and then... Liquid.." She hesitated.
"Yeah, that's it, and the last one is?"
"...Gas!" She replied pleased with herself that she had remembered.
"Yeah! That's it! So, the other ones are pretty easy too, maybe if you look over your notes it'll help you remember, okay? I'm sure you can manage yourself." I said, as I stood up and opened the door.
"Okay, thanks, Con." she said as she skipped out of my room.
I closed the door and went over to check my phone again. No texts, no missed calls, nothing.
* * *
My head was pounding as my sleepy eyes opened. Annoyed with myself for falling asleep, went down stairs to get a tablet for my headache. The phone rang as I was on my way down the stairs.
"I'll get it!" I shouted as I bolted through to the kitchen and picking up the telephone, breathing heavily.
"Hello?" I said.
"Uh, hey, is Jamie home?" A deep voice answered.
I sighed.
"Oh, uh, no sorry, Jamie's at work right now, I'll tell him you called when he gets home." I replied, disappointed that the caller wasn't Danny.
"Oh, okay then, thank's pal." He hung up.
I hung up too. 'Pal? He may be three years older than me, but it doesn't mean that he can call me pal. Jamie is my older brother. He's twenty and starting university next month, which means he'll be moving up nearer to it. Thank goodness for that. I looked at the clock. It was quarter to nine at night. Mum came walking through to the kitchen.
"Hey, babe. Who was that on the phone? A friend of yours?" She asked, taking a seat at the table.
"No, it was Curly, I think, calling for Jamie." I replied, taking a seat beside her.
"Ah, we've not seen Curly in a while. I wonder how he's keeping." She said, picking at the table cloth.
"Yeah.. I've not heard from Danny recently.. I'm getting worried, mum." I looked up at her.
"Aww hun. Don't worry, have you called his house?" she asked.
"Yeah, I called about an hour ago. No answer so I left a message. I thought it was him calling back when the phone rang." I looked down at the table as I talked.
"I wouldn't worry, babe. He's maybe just caught up with work. Or gone out for a bit." she said, getting up and clicking the kettle on.
"No, mum. It's been four days now, almost five." I said, indicating at the clock.
"Hmm.. Maybe he's got bad signal on his phone and hasn't gotten your message yet. I'm sure it's nothing, hun." She kissed me on the forehead and headed through to the living room.
Tears streaked down my face as I ran upstairs. I checked my phone again but there were no texts. No point in staying up, I'm aswell going to sleep now. I sorted my pillows and curled up to sleep.
* * *
Beep beep beep beep... My alarm was blaring.
I leaned over and clicked the button, turning it off. The time was 9:01am. I need to get up, I thought to myself. Maybe if I do something I can take my mind off of all this.
Climbing out of bed, I grabbed my phone from the table to find no texts or missed calls, it was always the same. I glanced over at my book but then I thought of watching television. No, reading is probably the better option. I picked up the book and scanned the cover, reading the bold letters in my head. A Child Called 'It' by Dave Peltzer.
This is a horrific true story. Maybe it's best not to read such a depressing book. No, I will read it. I flicked the pages to find my place and started reading.
The time flew by and it was now 10:23am. I decided to put my book down for now, and check the house phone for any messages. My heart pounded as I saw the letter one flashing on the reciever. I clicked the button to play the message.
Click.
Hey, Carol. It's me, Alice from the office. Just a little reminder that the paperwor-- Sighing, I switched it off. I thought I'd put the news on, see what's happening in the world. I sat on the end of my bed and watched as a middle-aged woman gave the headlines.
"Breaking news. A young man was found dead in a field in Inverness early this morning. Louise Carring reports." Oh God, no..
"Yes, we later found out that the young man was named Danny Moore. He lived in a small village in Inverness with his mother and two younger siblings. His family have been informed and the police are investigating the scene. Back to you, Karen."
"I.. Wh.. But.. No.. No! Danny... He.. No.. He just can't be.. They've got it all wrong.. No!" I shouted, my whole body shaking. "No! He can't be!" I screamed.
I heard footsteps running up the stairs. Mum burst through the doors, she saw me crying on the floor.
"Honey! Con, what's up, babe?" She rushed over to me and put her arm over my shoulder.
"He.. Danny.. He's... Dead..." I said, still shaking.
"What? No, sweetie. Don't say that! He--" I interupted.
"No, mum! They found his body! It's on the news, mum! He's dead! He's dead!" I screamed, pointing at the screen.
"Oh, hun.. I.. Come on.. It's fine.. We should go to the Moore's house.. To pay our respects, hun.." She said trying to calm me down.
"No.. No.. I can't..." I said, getting up and running out the door.
"Connie! Babe, come back!" Mum shouted me, but I ignored her.
I ran out of the house, slamming the front door behind me. I ran all the way up the street with tears sprawled across my face. I turned the corner and almost bumped into my neighbour, Ms. Jackson.
"Hey, watch where you- Wait, Connie? Connie, what is it?" She tried to grab my arm but I shrugged her off and kept on running. I ran as fast as I could. I came to a junction and I couldn't see any cars, so I ran across. A car came speeding up... And didn't see me... It was too late... I felt my feet fall from underneath me. It was black.
I woke up, in a field, wait.. No.. A cemetery.. We must be at Danny's funeral.. I wasn't standing with the other's though, I wasn't wearing a black dress. I was.. in my jeans.. The ones I wore when I left the house. I walked up to my mum and whispered,
"Hey, mum, why are you crying? Did Danny mean that much to you?" I asked. She didn't answer me. "Mum? Look, mum. Don't cry, please, you'll get me started!" I said, taking her hand. Anyway I thought if I was here, I might aswell stay for the rest of the ceremony. I looked at the gravestone. Shock covered my whole body... The writing engraved in the stone... It wasn't for Danny... The writing said:
In loving memory of Connie Rachel Williams
1992 - 2010
A caring daughter and sister, who will be dearly missed by many.
