Chapter 9

                                    

                                          
Courtney then went straight home. If no one would look for her friend, she would! She felt something bad. Bad enough for her to feel squeezing in her stomach! Was that bad happened to Nadia? How come her aunt seemed not to care about her? Did she hate her? She never thought that Nadia would appear mysterious to her badly. They’d been friends for some months now but she just realized that she never knew Nadia that much. She was just glad that her life wasn’t as complicated as Nadia’s.
                          
When she got home, the first thing that she did was to call the police. Her grandmother was even surprised when she took the phone quickly. The first thing that she did was to hold the phone.
                          
“Hey, you must change first!” Her grandmother scolded but she didn’t obey her.
                          
“Granny, I need to call the police immediately. I can feel it. Something went wrong to Nadia! Didn’t you know that she’s been absent this whole week?” Courtney protested nervously.
                          
Her grandmother looked surprise! She then allowed Courtney to do what she wanted.
                          
Courtney began dialing 911.
                          
“Hello, I need to report a missing girl. Her name is Nadia Clinton and she’s been absent for a week now. She was last seen in a red hot cocktail dress. She’s been in the Victory Party last Friday. After that… she just disappeared into thin air!” Courtney panted.
                          
“Okay… slowly please. Who’s reporting?” The voice on the other line asked.
                          
“I’m Nadia’s friend, Courtney Wilson.” Courtney answered.
                          
“Okay… she appears to be how old?”
                          
“She’s 15-16 years of age, I guess.”
                          
“Where is she living?”
                          
“Here in Gilmore Avenue down to the Western Section. 9th corner from the West Rink High School.”
                          
“Okay… and your address please.”
                          
Courtney hesitated for a moment but she had no choice. She then gave her address. “#144 Franklin Avenue. I’m living in the 15th corner from the West Rink High School.” 
                          
“Okay. We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
                          
Courtney and her grandmother waited for the cops until someone knocked loudly at the door
                          
Courtney answered it.
                          
“Sheriff Alex Scott.” The man said showing his license or ID to Courtney.
                          
“Come in.” Courtney said in an unwelcoming tone.
                          
The Sheriffs sat in the couch opposite to her grandmother.
                          
There was about two of them, wearing the traditional blue police uniforms.
                          
“So who called us?” Sheriff Alex Scott asked.
                          
“I did.” Courtney answered directly.
                          
The sheriff nodded sarcastically.
                          
“Okay. When was the last time you saw this ‘girl’?” The sheriff asked. With him was a piece of paper and a pen.
                          
“Last Friday. Before the party.” Courtney simply answered.
                          
The sheriff nodded again as he wrote the information on the piece of paper.
                          
“What was this party?”
                          
“It’s a victory party for the football team. They won the play-offs.”  
                          
“Who was this girl?”
                          
“Nadia Clinton.” With that, Courtney took a deep breath, then she blurted, “If you’re here for an interview, I don’t have time for that! I already said all the details at the phone! I hope you’re here to help us find her! Not to ask many questions about her!” 
                          
“But we need information to help you find your friend.” The sheriff tried to convince her. She didn’t have a choice but to sit down and continue the interview.
                          

                          
Next Morning, as she parked her bike, there were posters everywhere in the campus. It was a poster about Nadia, being lost for a week now! The police cars were there too. She entered her first class but was surprised when she saw Ms. Duncan! She thought that she was late but it was worse than that. Sheriff Alex Scott and the other two sheriffs were there making interviews with Ms. Duncan and her classmates!
                          
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been wondering about her lost too! I thought that she was just sick but I was wrong.” She heard Ms. Duncan said.
                          

                          
It seemed that there would be no use of going to school today because everyone was busy in looking for Nadia! She opened the door and decided to leave the room. She decided to go to Nadia’s favorite place which was underneath the apple tree. But as she went there, she saw someone sitting in there. She looked at the shadow and decided to walk towards the tree to see who it was. But as she took a step towards the tree, someone called her. It was the principal. She wanted to talk to her about Nadia in the office. Courtney then took a step backward towards the office but when she looked at the tree one more time, the figure disappeared…†