The Disappearance of Chloe Marsh

You decide to talk to Logan. You figure that he has to know something about Audrey, and perhaps even Chloe. When you approach him, he turns his head and smiles.

"Hey, I know you. You're the new kid. What's up?" Thankfully, he seems nice.

"Hey," you greet. "Yeah, we have math together."

"Ah! That's right! Ugh, I hate that class. It's so stupid."

"Yeah," you agree, not sure of what else to say. You figure you should just come out with it.

"Hey, mind if I ask you something?" you ask.

"Shoot," he replies. "As long as it has nothin' to do with math."

"It doesn't," you assure him, "I was just curious about Chloe Marsh."

"Oh," he frowns. "Man... Hadn't thought about her in a while. She was pretty cool. Too bad." Logan sits up and sighs, brushing back his dark hair. "It's been... what, a few months since she's been missin.'"

You nod. "Yeah. What do you think happened to her?"

"What happens to everyone who goes missing for that long," he answers.

"What do you mean?" you ask.

"She's gone. She's gotta be... I hate to say it... but there's no way someone like her just skipped town. She had no reason to."

"Did you know her well?" you ask.

He shrugs. "Yeah, mostly. She was wild but harmless. Likeable, totally... well, except..." he stops.

"Except...?" you say.

Logan looks down at the grass, pulling at it. "Well, she didn't get along with Dahlia, but that's no surprise. But, that's not what gets me... Audrey didn't like her, either."

"Audrey LaCroix? That's not surprising," you reply.

Logan raises a brow at you. "Whattya mean?"

You shrug. "Audrey seems as unlikable as Dahlia."

Logan laughs. "Oh? C'mon, no one's as unlikable as Dahlia. Audrey's cool."

You can't help but scoff. "Really?"

"Oh, come on, don't look at me like that. I swear, Audrey's like everybody's punching bag. 'Burn the rich chick!' It's stupid. If you actually got to know her, then you'd see," Logan says.

You don't really think you want to get to know her. "I guess," you say.

"I'm serious! You know what? Let's hang together tonight. You, me, Audrey and some others. It'll be fun!"

While in the invitation is nice, you're still not sure... then again, if you did get the chance to meet Audrey, maybe you could make some sense of what you saw in the bathroom.

After a second, you say, "Sure. Why not?"

"Exactly! Give me your number! We'll be in touch!"

You and Logan exchange numbers.

You're about to say something more when you see Warren walking to the school.

"Well," you say, "I gotta go. I'll see you around, Logan."

"You can count on it!" Logan calls after you.

Warren waves at you as he jogs. You see that he's changed out of his school clothes and into something comfortable; baggy shorts and a hoodie with a picture of a crescent moon on it. He brushes his curly blonde hair out of his eyes and knocks you in the shoulder lightly.

"Hey!" Warren greets, out of breath. You pull out his thumb drive and hand it to him. "Did you get a chance to watch any of them?" he asks.

You nod. "Yeah, one of them. The movie adaption of Shattered."

"Ah, for Monroe's class, right?"

"You got it," you reply.

You think back to what you saw in the bathroom and decide to ask Warren about it.

"Hey, do you know Audrey LaCroix?" you ask.

"I know of her," he answers. "Why?"

You know that you can trust Warren because you're friends, so you decide to tell him what happened.

"I overheard her talking to someone on the phone, and she mentioned something about Chloe Marsh," you tell him. He perks up.

"Seriously? What does she know about Chloe?" he asks eagerly.

You say, "She said that she was going to fix something, and then she said Chloe's name."

"Nothing else?"

"No," you say.

Warren thinks for a moment before sighing. "Huh...."

"Did you know Chloe?" you ask him.

Warren hesitated before answering, "We're dating- well, were dating, I mean..."

You raise your brows in surprise. "Woah, really?"

"Yeah."

Warren and Chloe were dating at the time of her disappearance? Surely that means he knows something. You want to know, but think that you should be careful in what you say. You don't want to upset him.

"Do you know what happened?" you ask.

Warren shakes his head. "No. The last time I talked to her was over the phone. We were going to a beach party with a bunch of people from school, but she never showed. Never called."

You nod thoughtfully. "Did anything seem off when you spoke to her?"

"Yeah, actually... but," he stops. "I don't know, I thought maybe she was acting weird because she wanted to break up, but now... I don't think that was it."

You can see the grief in his features. You ask, "Did she know Audrey?"

Warren frowns. "Audrey hated her. I don't know why. Chloe never did anything to her."

"That you know of," you add.

Warren scratches the back of his neck. "Well, okay, yeah. Sometimes Chloe could be a little... forceful. And rude. But she was really sweet." Warren pauses, brows furrowed with thought. "...Do you think Audrey has something to do with Chloe disappearance?"

You ponder the thought. It's a possibility when you think about it. She comes from a rich family, and if the rumors are true, she could get away with just about anything... including a missing persons. The only question was why? You may not know Audrey, but you don't think she would be so insane as to get rid of someone just because she didn't like them... right?

But... what if Chloe did do something? Something that angered Audrey and whoever it was she was talking to on the phone... what if-

"Hey!" A voice calls, breaking your train of thought. When your eyes find the source of the voice, your stomach tightens.

Audrey LaCroix is stomping over to you and Warren. Warren shoots you a look before turning to face her. When she gets close enough, she says, "You, you're the new kid, right?"

She's talking to you. You swallow harshly before answering. "Yeah."

"Monroe's pet?"

Huh? You give her a questioning look, but don't answer. She steps up close to you, never breaking eye contact while she pushes Warren aside.

"I saw you," she says. "In the bathroom. What were you doing in there?"

Before you can answer, she cuts you off.

" I saw you leave after me. You best tell me what you heard. Now."

You're at a loss for words. You open your mouth but say nothing.

"Answer me-"

Warren cuts in. "Hey, what's your problem, Audrey?"

Audrey doesn't even acknowledge him. "I'm waiting," she says to you impatiently.

You find your voice. "I was just-"

"What did you hear?!"

"Nothing!" you exclaim.

"Look, I know you're new around here," she says, "and you don't know who I am, but I suggest you don't play dumb. I'd actually respect you more if you told me the truth."

You frown at her. "There's nothing to tell."

Audrey shoves you. You stumble back.

"Hey!" Warren grabs Audrey's arm and swings her around. "Don't touch- ah!"

Audrey punches Warren. He falls back, holding his nose. She turns her attention back to you, moving with incredible speed, grabbing a chunk of your shirt and bringing you closer.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll back off. Stop asking questions. Just be a good little pet and buzz off!" Audrey practically growls in your ear. "Forget anything you heard. Don't talk to me, or any of my people. Don't even look at me. Got it?"

"Let go of me-!"

And then she's gone. Warren tackles her to the ground. His nose is bleeding.

"Get off!" Audrey exclaims.

"I know you know something about Chloe!" Warren replies. Chloe glares and knees him. He buckles over and she shoves him off. Warren looks up at you before saying, "Go, I got her! I'll find you after!" Then, Audrey punches him again.

You panic and peer around. There's no one there to call for help.