Missing

The Secret's Out

Camren just stands in the cafeteria stunned. Maple and Jay come up to Camren wanting to know why Kayla had just run out. Jay asks if this had anything to do with the note Camren and said to give to Caleb. Camren nods and they ask what it was all about.

"I said something that I wasn't supposed to."

"Does it have anything to do with L?" Jay asks.

Camren nods once more, her friends ask what it was about. All Camren says is that they could either find out from Kayla or Caleb. Just as they spoke though Kayla comes back into the cafeteria. Camren tries to talk to her and apologize. She explains that L made her do this, that L had something on her.

"Well L has something on all of us Camren," Kayla sobs and wipes away her tears, "I wouldn't do that to you. And you didn't even see what happened or know the reason why. Now Caleb won't even talk to me...and he'll probably break up with me...and I'll lose my knight in furry armor. I thought you were my friend."

Kayla walks away from them all and tries to talk to Caleb again, he just ignores her. For the rest of the day Camren tries to get Kayla to pay attention to her and listen but she keeps finding ways to keep away from Camren. It didn't help when Maple told Camren that she wouldn't do the thing like that. It also didn't help that Camren still had to get 200 dollars from her father, she didn't even know where to send the money to once she got it.

After school, Camren trudged home instead of taking the school bus. Her books in her book bag were heavy and the strap from the weight of the books was beginning to dig into her shoulder. She felt that she deserved this pain for betraying Kayla's trust. If only there was some way she could gain her friend's trust back. Camren thought about telling Kayla about where her family's money came from. Then again no one could know about that secret. Nothing Camren thought of seemed to help her current situation and soon she arrived home with an awful pounding headache.

Camren's mother comes into the living to welcome her daughter home. A mother knows when her child is upset (call it mother's intuition) and she sees that her own daughter is very close to tears. So Camren's mother leads Camren over to the sofa and wraps her daughter in a warm, loving hug. She asks her what is going on in her life.

"Kayla and I got into a fight. She's not talking to me," Camren tells her mother, "I told something I wasn't supposed to but I didn't have a choice. I'm a horrible friend."

Camren hugs her mother tighter and starts sobbing loudly. Her mother says that she isn't a bad friend.

"Was this a harmful secret to Kayla?" Camren's mother asked.

"I don't know."

"Have you tried apologizing?"

"Yes, but she kept avoiding me the rest of the day after lunch was over."

"Keep trying sweetheart. I'm sure things will work out for the best. Now go upstairs and get your homework done. Okay?"

"Sure mom," and so Camren gives her mom an extra hug and heads upstairs to her room.

Once her homework was all done Camren tried to call Kayla again and again. Each time though Kayla just ignored Camren's call. Finally, Camren just gave up for the night and went to bed with her dog Whatzit curling up beside her on her bed.

Tuesday was even worse for Camren. She didn't want to get out of bed, she didn't want to eat anything, not even Whatzit l*****g her face could lift Camren's spirits. In the end, her mother had decided to let her stay home from school that day. Her mother then warmed up some breakfast leftovers and made her daughter a mug of hot chocolate for when she decided to get out of bed. Camren's father went to work as usual and was the one to let Headmistress Bloodgood, via phone, say that Camren would not be in school that day. He also asked if it would be possible to pick up his daughter's homework during his lunch break from work. The headmistress said yes and that she hoped Camren would feel better soon.

Throughout the rest of the day, Camren's phone kept receiving text messages and calls from her friends wanting to know if she was okay. Not one of them was from Kayla though. It wasn't until one in the afternoon when Camren decided to get out of bed. She ignored her phone like it had the Plague, she scratched her dog behind its ears and made her way down into the kitchen. She still wasn't hungry, and the hot chocolate her mother had made her had gone cold. To make herself feel a little better, Camren decided to warm up the hot chocolate in the microwave and searched for the whipped cream to add on top of it. The hot chocolate didn't make her feel any better though, so once she finished her cup she headed back to her room to check her phone messages.

There were a handful of messages and missed calls from Jackson. A few were from LeLe and Jay. Even Maple had also tried to contact her but Camren didn't want to see anyone at the moment. There was one last text from Jackson and it said that he was coming over to her house once school was over. Camren just sighed, went to her closet, and wondered what to wear when Jackson came over later. She couldn't bring herself to change into any of her clothes though so she just decided to stay in her pajamas even if it meant she looked like a mess.

Three-o-clock came around and a ring on the doorbell let Camren know Jackson had arrived. Her mother was the one who answered the door and said that today might not be a good time for her daughter to have any visitors.

"Please Mrs. Stein," Jackson asks, "Everyone is worried about her. Plus I thought she should know what happened at school today."

Camren's mother allows him to come in but that he can't stay long. Jackson then sits on Stein's sofa and Camren's mother goes upstairs to get her daughter downstairs. Her mother finds her daughter writing in her journal when she comes in. She tells Camren that Jackson is downstairs and that he wants to see her. Camren reluctantly agrees to go downstairs to speak to Jackson. She sits beside Jackson with her back against the armrest and her knees against her chest. Her hands are wrapped around her legs and her fuzzy blue slippers tickle Jackson's hand.

"So, does everyone know what happened between me and Kayla?" Camren asks her boyfriend.

"Not everyone. Just the members of the basketball team." Jackson answers, "I missed you at lunch."

Jackson tries to reach out and hold Camren's hand, Camren pulls away though.

"What happened Camren? You can tell me."

"No one knows this. Not even my best friends," Camren says, tears filling her eyes, "And someone is threatening to tell my secret."

"What is it?"

"During the last part of the summer, my dad lost his job and it got to the point mom would have to go back to work." Camren sniffles a little, "...And dad got desperate and went to the nearest normie town late at night. He terrorized the people there, I think he even hurt a few people...By the end of the night, the mayor of that town gave dad a lot of money to get him to stop."

"Camren, I'm so sorry," Jackson tries again to hold Camren's hand, this time she lets him, "Then what happened?"

"Dad only told mom but mom woke me up later and told me what dad had done. Then she told me that this secret could never be let out. That it would be totes disastrous for us if anyone in town found out. She told me that we'd stick to a lottery story. Dad had already bribed the newspaper to run with the story."

"And the person that knows this?"

"I don't know who it is or how they found out since I never told anyone. This person knows though and said that if I wanted to keep it a secret I had to betray Kayla. But you have to promise not to tell anyone Jackson," Camren pleads.

"I won't." Jackson then kisses Camren's cheek, "Do you want me to do anything? Jay has been trying to talk to Kayla. Maybe I can find out who this mysterious person is."

"Thanks, Jackson but I don't think anyone could find out who this person is."

"Okay, but at least let me do something. You want me to talk to Kayla?"

"If she's not listening to anyone else then what's the point?"

"Alright. I should go through. I promised Hayes I'd help him with his math homework."

"Okay. Bye Jackson."

And so Jackson left and Carmen went to her room and hid under her bed covers.