15
Rascal the runaway
“Oh, no! I’ll be right there,” I promised Van before returning Derek’s phone and racing down the hall to get my purse. It was at that moment that I realized I had ridden here with Derek. “Will you give me a ride home?”
“Of course,” he responded, already grabbing his keys. “What’s going on?”
When I told him that Rascal had ran away, he seemed genuinely concerned, which made me like him even more. “We’ll find him,” he tried to reassure me. He drove the short distance to Van’s house slowly, so we could monitor the sides of the streets for any sign of Rascal.
When we arrived, Van had already secured the help of several neighbors, who were out scouring the inky darkness with flashlights and calling for Rascal. Van seemed completely frazzled as he ran a hand through hi
