Audrey's P.O.V.
He's not at school. Not that I expected him to be. I cast my mind around for places he would have gone.
His house? Maybe at first, but he can't stay there. He wouldn't want Hana, Alex and Mike to find him.
Rascal's? No, he's not on duty right now so that means someone else is there. He'd want to be alone.
The tree house? Definitely not. He'd hate to go back there, after everything.
I hate myself for what I did.
Just to make sure, I stop by each one of these places, not explaining anything even to my friends. There will be time later, but for now I need to find Jack and tell him all the things I was too afraid to tell him before.
Suddenly a terrible thought enters my mind, and I have to mentally shove it down so it doesn't resurface. I move faster, determined to find him as soon as I can.
When I knock on the door to his house, I don't even stop to explain anything. I know it's not fair to Alex, who answers the door, but there will be time later.
"Do you know where Jack is?" I ask him frantically.
"He's not here," Alex tells me, looking worried. "He's not at school? Is everything okay, Audrey?"
I suck in a breath. "Yeah, it's fine. Have a good day." Then I leave.
I dash up the stairs to the cafe, taking the steps three at a time. But when I wrench open the door, there's only a 20-something year old man with receding red hair. No Jack. For good measure, I ask him, but he just shakes his head.
"Nope. Why?"
"No reason," I say, trying not to tear up. Where the hell is he?
As a last resort, I run as fast as I can to the woods, trying to find the tree house. When I do, I look up and my heart sinks. Of course he's not here. It's not like I thought he would be. I just had to make sure.
So where is he?
I think back to all the places he might have gone. The cabin? How would I even get there to check? The diner? No. Why would he be there? ...My house? Laughable.
Then I notice something I didn't before. It's a little piece of paper in the dirt, and it's been crumpled up.
A note?
But when I carefully pick it up and unravel it, I can see that it's definitely not a note, or at least not a finished one. Several things have been scribbled out, and there's no name on the paper, but I recognize that handwriting.
Dear Audrey,
how do I even begin I don't know what I'm doing, but I
This is a stupid ass idea but
Do you ever
How did this get here? It wasn't here this morning, when we met up. The rest of the words are smeared by mud. He wouldn't have left this in the dirt on purpose. It must have fallen out of his pocket at some point. So...
He did come here. But he's not here now.
I can tell because there are footprints in the dirt leading away from the rope ladder.
Wait.
Footprints! Why didn't I see them before?
I'm on my way, Jack.
YOU ARE READING
The Thing About Flip Flops
Teen FictionAudrey Parker is a self-proclaimed flip flop. She's been metaphorically tossed into a cabinet for her whole life. Everyone's left her; her mom died when she was young, her sister Genevieve has recently moved out for college, and worst of all, at the...
