𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 || 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

4. the vanishing of cathleen olive

song of the chapter:
miss you
by Aaliyah
•••

Sunlight shone through the campground, not sparing an inch of grass.  Nora grumbled drearily as she faced the wrath of morning light. Tiredness overcame her, but the light prevented her from going back to sleep.  You wake up, you're awake.  There was no going back to finishing the dream you just woke up from no matter how hard you try.

"Mornin' Cass."  Nora rolled over onto her other side, assuming that she would be facing the black-haired beauty lying in her sleeping bag.  "Cass?" Instead, the sleeping bag was strewn in a clump in the corner of the tent, soaked from the mix of morning dew and rain that must have fallen earlier in the morning. 

Nora assumed that her friend was already awake and outside either reading on a rock or preparing breakfast for the team.  Because of this deduction, Nora took her time to get dressed and head out to the nature-filled outdoors.

"Good morning world," Nora grumbled in a morning voice.  The black-haired sophomore unzipped the tent, rolled out onto the grassy terrain, and slid her feet into a pair of flip-flops.   "Good morning, Nora!"  Nora greeted herself back when she realized no one else took the liberty to do so. 

"Where's Cass when you need her?  I need a self-esteem boost, bestie!" Nora made her way further out and realized that she was truly curious about where Cathleen Olive was. Originally Nora had assumed that Cass had gone out of her way to make breakfast for the team, she should have known that was unrealistic.  No one would ever trade anything for Carter's famous savory or sweet crepes of the day.

Now all Nora could think of was how the boys managed to get Cass to bunk with them for the night. It was the only plausible explanation Nora could come up with.  It's not like Doctor Strange randomly showed up and summoned her friend across the multiverse, no. Unfortunately, Nora didn't know how close this unrealistic assumption actually was, so instead the teenager assumed that the boys got her tipsy enough to want to cuddle up in a feet-smelling stuffy tent.

"Wake up bitches!"  Nora connected her phone to the speaker and started blasting "I'm a Gummy Bear" by Gummibär, much to the boys' displeasure.

"Shut that thing off!" The grumbled voice of Ian could be heard across the morning weather while other members of the team shoved their pillows over their ears.  "I'll throw your speaker into the swamp!" The threat from the seventh-grade male made no negative impact on Nora, instead, she turned the volume up louder, intent on interrupting the nice sleep her friends were previously participating in.

While taunting and laughing at the complaining boys, Nora didn't notice Alec sneak up behind her and steal the hand-held speaker.  The older boy immediately powered it off and slugged over to the chairs in his Powerpuff Girls pajama set. 

"Ugh! Come on! I was listening to that! It was good music!"

"Then you have very poor music taste.  Have you not seen the music video for that song?  The bear gave me nightmares for weeks."

"Wimp. He was just a bear driving a car. Anyway, did Cass bunk with you all last night?"

"No, I thought she came back into your tent."

"Nope.  Maybe she slept with Ian, Carter, and Drew." Alec shrugged his shoulders.  He was doubtful that was the case and Nora was as well.  Alec was positive that Cass had run back to camp late last night.  The boys had gotten lost in the woods for some time and when they came back to camp, Cass wasn't waiting for them.   They all assumed that she had gone to bed, but after talking with Nora that didn't seem like the case anymore.