Why She Disappeared (Kaylor)

september 2nd

Tennessee turned out to be a dead end.

Karlie went back home feeling frustrated, played, and incredibly lonely. The house she had found had been similar to the one in Lancaster, but this time, she had found nothing but dust and empty tables.

Maybe she had been given the wrong address. Maybe she hadn't looked into the right places. Maybe something had escaped her eye, too anxious to find another clue, another map that would take her closer to her lost best friend.

Or maybe it had been all a trap. A game. A stupid, meticolously planned game to fool her.

All she saw now was the worst case scenario; Taylor had gone off to somewhere where she would never find her, and consequently she would never see her again. A part of her whispered that that's what Taylor had wanted all along. To be gone for good. To be never found.

And another part of her screamed at her for being so foolish.

Taylor would never do that. She would never isolate herself and tell nothing to her friends and family, her fans.

But she had thought that Taylor would have come back sooner or later, but she had yet to do so. A month had gone by since her discovery at Cornelia Street, almost two had passed since Taylor's absence. And it all felt like more to Karlie.

It was late summer, the autumn air was beginning to graze the skyscrapers of New York, and the leaves were starting to get different colors. Warm yellows and greens and reds, and all Karlie saw was black and white.

That night, she met with Gigi and Martha at her place. They drank wine and ordered junk food, but Karlie felt nothing.

"Karlie?"

"Hm?" She hummed absentmindedly. Gigi was puzzled, a worried brow lifted.  "What is it?"

"Have you discovered anything?"

"About what?" Karlie played dumb. She knew what Gigi meant. She just didn't think that her friends remembered their last outing.

"Well..." Martha jumped in, sipping from her glass of wine. "About Taylor...remember that letter you talked to us about? You said you were going to look for her,"

Karlie looked down at her lap. She furrowed her brows, a sinking feeling settling on her stomach. "No," she mumbled. "I didn't find anything,"

"Oh," Gigi mumbled.

"Yeah," Karlie filled her glass and drank it in one long gulp. "It's...shitty."

"Taylor texted Selena,"

Karlie couldn't believe her own ears. She looked up, slowly, and met Martha's afraid eyes. "What?"

"Taylor texted Selena. Yesterday. She--,"

"Did she say where she is?"

"No," Gigi continued. "She told Selena that she's okay. That we don't need to worry about her."

"What?" Karlie couldn't help but laugh. "What did Selena say to her?"

"Nothing," Martha said. "Taylor blocked her,"

"Why?"

"We don't know," Gigi shook her head. "But that's something. We at least know she's okay, and that she voluntarily isolated herself and that she doesn't want us to worry--,"

"Gigi," Karlie interrupted her, getting up from her seat. "Do you fucking hear yourself? That's crazy!"

"Karlie, calm down," Martha tried to touch her friend, but Karlie rejected the comfort.

"No! I won't! This is fucking crazy! She leaves letters and maps to random places and then she doesn't want us to worry?! She wants us to fucking play hide and seek, and we're supposed to believe that she doesn't want us to go look for her?!"

"She made a choice and we have to respect that," Gigi said, a desperate look in her eyes.

"Well, I don't, because this is bullshit," Karlie exclaimed, walking back and forth. She felt angry, angry at herself for being so gullible. Angry at the fact that she had sent thousands of text messages and voice mails to her best friend, and Taylor had voluntarily ignored her. Tears prickled the side of her eyes, but angrily wiped them away.

"Karlie, I understand how you feel, but we can do nothing about it," Gigi said softly. She stoop up and went next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's frustrating, and you're upset, but we just have to let Taylor decide what's best for her."

"This isn't fair," Karlie whispered. "She wouldn't want us to stop looking for her. She wouldn't want us to give up on her like the whole world has done,"

"We're not giving up on her," Martha stood next to her as well. "She had a choice, and she chose what she thinks is best for her. Whether she wants us with her or not, we can't force ourselves on her."

"This is not fair," Karlie repeated. She stayed silent while her friends rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. Then, angrily, she shook her head. "I just need to look for her harder."

"Karlie--"

But Karlie was already on her way out the door, picking up only her keys and her backpack.