Brooklyn
"Houston, we have a problem."
Blue grunted something unintelligible into her pillow and blindly flipped me off. I rolled my eyes and reluctantly moved closer to her bed, crouching down until I was close enough to see the cluster of freckles painting the length of her neck. The beauty mark curse is something we all got from our mom, and Blue and Bella usually took the extra time to cover them up with makeup whenever they're out in public. But honestly, I kinda like mine, so I've never bothered.
"Blue," I sighed exasperatedly. She still wasn't budging, and I could feel the clock ticking. It wouldn't be long before the news of Bella's absence broke and mommy came up here to interrogate us, so we had to be like ten steps ahead, minimum. And I know trying to wake Blue up out of her sleep was a dangerous game, especially since we weren't on the best terms right now, but this was important.
My eyes narrowed and scanned over her bedroom until they landed on something that might be useful.
"Blueeee. I said—" I reached for the half empty water bottle off of Blue's bedside table and popped off the cap, "HOUSTON, we have a PROBLEM."
I had the courtesy of giving Blue a solid five seconds to acknowledge my presence before I said fuck it and sloshed the water on her face.
Now that got her attention.
"Oh, you little—"
I swear to God I've never seen someone move so fast. Her blankets flew back and the massive pile of pillows stacked messily against her headboard began tumbling to the ground like Pompeii. Then she was on her feet, water dripping down her face and onto her t-shirt, hair messily covering her face, chest heaving. She kinda looked like that girl from The Ring.
"Wait!" I quickly held out my hands in surrender before she could lunge at me. "I swear it's important."
"Oh it better fucking be!"
I took a step back for my own safety.
"Blue, Bella's gone."
I could see the fight instantly leave her body as my words processed, and I sent a silent thank you up to God because she definitely would've kicked my ass had my excuse not been good enough.
Blue unclenched her fists and cocked her head to the side, staring at me with a blank expression.
"You've gotta be kidding me," She finally huffed. Before I could say anything else, Blue had her phone wedged between her shoulder and her ear while she switched out some old cheer shorts for a pair of sweatpants. Once she was dressed, she grabbed onto my arm and dragged me out of the room with her.
"Her phone's going straight to voicemail. Of course," Blue scowled, rolling her eyes. "You know, I understand why she's mad at mom. I do. But leaving without giving us some sort of heads up? Seriously? She knows mom is gonna ask a million fucking questions that we don't have the answers to, and somehow it'll become our fault. But mostly mine."
She muttered the last part underneath her breath, but I heard her. Still, I knew better than to ask her to elaborate right now. It seems like everyone's relationship with mommy is constantly on the rocks lately—except for me, obviously, the favorite—and I really don't want to get involved in the drama. This is one of the few times I've taken "stay out of grown folks' business" to heart.
"Maybe she's still on the property somewhere," I tried. After all, she wasn't in her bedroom, but that doesn't necessarily mean she hopped in her car and drove back to Malibu. She could be lurking in the shadows somewhere, and this house was huge. "Maybe we don't have to worry yet. Let's just think for a second....where are Bella's favorite places to go when she's super emotional?"
