𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 - 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙣

chapter one

"Ok, Theo. No- I'm on my way. I'll be there in, like, 5 minutes. Ok, bye." I hit the end call button on my phone and put my hands back on the wheel of my car.

How the fuck is any of this happening? Three hours ago, I was getting a coffee with my friend. Now, I'm on my way to Madre-fucking-Linda because Natalie's gone missing.

Now, I don't want to sound like I don't care about Natalie, because I do. I really do. If something happened to her- well, I don't know what I'd do. But she's not necessarily the most reliable person, and she's definitely not my favorite person, either.

Going home for the first time in a year is going to be a nightmare, I can feel it. Dad will 100%, without a doubt, be his usual, robotic self, while Theo will be working overtime to try and make things seem normal.

But the thing is, everything is normal. It's just that no one believes me. There's no way that anything actually happened to Natalie, she probably just wanted a break from- well, from dad. They don't even sleep in the same bed, for fucks sake.

I pull into the familiar driveway, staring at the red door that Theo and I got to pick out when we first moved in. Our parents were so happy back then. If it wasn't for Natalie, maybe they still would've been.

On the sidewalk stood what looked like hundreds of reporters and their crew, just waiting for a statement, like vultures circling their prey.

The minute I stepped out of the car, I immediately knew that I should've parked across the street and gone in the back way. Maybe then, I wouldn't have reporters screaming in my face about my "missing" stepmother.

"Tate!"
"Tate Engler!"
"Do you have a statement for us?"
"Give us a statement, Ms. Engler!"
"Do you know anything about your stepmother?"

All of the reporters' questions blurred together, as I weaved through them, their crews, and their bulky equipment.

I practically sprinted up to my front door, and the second I approached, Theo opened it just wide enough for me to squeeze in, before slamming it behind me the second I stepped foot into our house.

"Enjoy the media zoo?" He asked, and I rolled my eyes, as he pulled me in for a hug.

"Yeah, though I kinda feel like we're the animals in this situation. I mean, did you see the way they look at us? It's as if they've been starving and we're the only food in sight." I exclaimed as he pulled away, watching him sigh.

"It's been like that for the past few hours. Guess we just gotta get used to it until they inevitably stop caring about her. As if they ever did in the first place." Theo said, leaning against the doorway.

"You don't seriously believe something happened to her, right? I mean, she does this shit all the time, Theo." I tried to explain, but watched him shrug me off.

"Look, dad thinks somethings up. He actually expressed emotion yesterday. That doesn't happen very often." I almost laughed at his joke, but then realized how outrageous the entire situation was.

"Hey, I know you don't like her very much, but you gotta admit, if he thinks there's something wrong, then there's gotta be something wrong."

I suppose he was right. Dad was never a very...emotional person, I guess. He was the type of person to not cry at a funeral. He just- he didn't do those types of things. That wasn't who he was.

"Tate." I heard a familiar voice say, and turned around to see my father, standing in the hallway.

"Hey, dad. How've you been doing?" I asked, as I walked over to him, pulling him in for a hug. I knew he didn't like these types of things, but I didn't really know what else to do in this type of situation.