One New Message

Two

* 48 hours before Lacey's disappearance* 

Lacey's 25th birthday group chat

Lacey: Hi, so my birthday is coming up, and Charlotte is forcing me out of the house against my will. Although I want you all to know I wanted to sit at home in my pajamas and, eat ice cream. I have plans with my sister on my actual birthday, so we have to go out before, maybe the 12th? It's a Friday? Let me know if you can go though if not it's not a huge deal. I know it's a late notice and all but if you don't have plans maybe I'll see you there!

Darcy: Duh! I will be there! What bar are we hittin up?

Theo: You're only 25? I was going to say at LEAST 32.

L: Yeah okay, you is an idiot.

T: Ummm I think you meant to type, you're an idiot.

L: Fuck off Theo.

D: Yeah let him have it Lace, but the grammar queen was corrected..

Aubrey: Damn it! I'm bartending on Friday, can't we do it the 14th?

L: I can't Aubrey. I'm going out with my sister, we're going shopping and going to the movies. I promised her. It literally has to be the 12th.

A: Fuck I guess I'll have to miss it.

A: Oh wait, never mind, I'm only bartending until 11, then afterwards I'll just get plastered with you, and get us discounts on the drinks.

T: Damn I was going to say, you don't have to come, nobody really likes you anyway.

A: Don't you have anything better to do then harass a bunch of girls? You think you're cute. 

T: I am cute, you just don't see it yet.

Charlotte: And she never will! Anyway, Hi! Where are we going Lacey?

L: Well Aubrey works at the bar on 22nd street so why don't just go there? The Tipsy Tiki. It's close to pretty much everything, but the West Side of New York isn't as crazy at night so it should be simple for us to have fun, and to find our way home afterwards, Norah is in Florida visiting family so we don't have to worry about her being there, and getting mad when we're all drunk.

T: It's going to officially be a party! We can finish drinking at your place afterwards, and without Norah it'll be perfect!

L: Who said you're invited?

A: It's perfect! The bar has entertainment Saturday, I'll put all of you (don't worry Theo, you too) on the VIP list, so you can bypass the line and get in, with a small admission fee, and then I'll join you after my shift!

L: Sounds good to me, how do you all feel? Any objections?

D: You're planning this, I'm only coming for you, and the alcohol.

C: My boss can suck my ass on my way out I hate it here.

L: Char? What happened? You need to quit you know, he's never going to stop.

C: We just had a designer come in from Elle magazine looking at our outfits and makeup. She decided to look at eye shadow shades for a couple of outfits she recently purchased and he came up and took over mid conversation and now she's getting eye shadow from him and that should have been me!

T: You just have to throw him to the side and work your way in there. Just don't talk so much you tend to do that Charlotte.

L: Don't start your shit now.

T: Why do I bother?

A: So you're coming to the Tipsy Tiki?

D: I don't have any objections. Charlotte?

C: Duh no! It's my roomie's birthday! I'm not missing it, I'm the "horrible one" dragging her out.

A: How about you invite the guy from Tinder. Messiah right?

L: Oh god, never. The guy was a complete whack job.

A: I need the deets bb.

L: So basically he used all these photos that made him seem 'exotic' like he lived such a lavish life. Charlotte and I you know we've decided to be friends instead of dating, well we met for a drink, and it turned into him being so touchy and wanting to do things with me in the bar. It lasted a whole 90 minutes before I made charlotte call me making up an excuse about her getting burnt and that I needed to drive her to the hospital. 

D: Oh Charlotte the queen of acting, how did that go?

L: He was in my face SCREAMING at me and kept tugging on my arm and now he's texting me every hour to tell me how pretty I am and how much he likes me and how much fun he had....

D: Crazy motherfucker....

L: I told him to leave me the hell alone or I would call the police. I think he's more so embarrassed or maybe he's I was drunk and forgot the whole ordeal.

D: I wish we were still 16 sitting in your moms basement trash talking all the popular girls in school and crushing on the guys (girls for you and Char too) and being young and stupid. 

C: It was crazy how mad she was. I heard the name Messiah said so many times angrily that night, I was concerned. 

L: All men want are boobs, ass, and sex.

T: All of the above are quite nice.

L: Like I said, time for us to block Theo.