Alex's POV
It's been two days since Jack ran out of the school. No one has seen or heard from him. Alice and I have skipped school to go searching for him, but we had no luck. We checked every place we thought he would go and we left even more upset when he wasn't there. His father has been out looking for him too.
"What are we going to do?" Alice asked, looking up from her computer.
"I don't know. We can't report missing person because they have to be missing for seventy-two hours until police can actually do something."
"He doesn't have money, his phone is shut off and we have no idea if he's even in Baltimore anymore," she said with fresh tears forming in her eyes.
"We have to hope that he is safe and is coming home."
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Another day passed and we stil have no idea where Jack is. The police have finally started sending people out to search for him. The police have gotten a few calls saying they saw him at a bookstore downtown a few days ago. Someone said he left he bookstore with some girl. Alice was very upset to hear that he went off with a stranger. Even though Jack is a smart boy he is pretty gullible and could get himself into trouble. Alice and I were exploring the part of town that he was last seen in. We talked to the people that worked at the bookstore and random people on the street if they've seen him. We even started to put up missing posters, hoping to get a call with any information. We just needed something to let us know he was okay.
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Jack's POV
I've been sleeping on Ellis' couch for the past three days. She was kind enough to let me stay with her until I felt ready to return home. It was around eight pm and I was lying on the couch watching the Great Gatsby when Ellis returned.
"Jack!" She called, rushing into the room with a piece of paper in her hand.
"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up so she could sit beside me.
"I think you need to go home," she said, handing me the paper.
I stared down at the bold letters that read "Missing: Jack Bassam Barakat age 17, last seen Monday." Bellow the words was a picture of me and bellow that was contact information. I stared at the familiar phone number and frowned. The number was Alex's. I didn't think about how worried they must be. All I cared about was getting away. I picked my bag up off the floor and pulled out my phone. I quickly placed the battery back in and waited for it to turn on. One it was on it lit up with multiple notifications. Missed calls from Alex, Alice, Rian, Zack, my father and the police. Hundreds of texts all with the same questions "Jack, where are you?" "Are you safe?" "What happened?" Once the notifications stopped coming in I read the last text I got from Alex. 'Jack please come home. Alice and I are so worried. Your dad has been out looking for you. Please call us so we know you're safe and okay. We miss you.' I stared down at the message, tears forming in my eyes. I pressed the call button and waited for him to answer. It rang once before he answered.
"Jack!?" He screamed into the phone.
"Alex," I whispered, more tears fell down my cheeks.
"Oh thank god," he whispered, his voice cracking.
"I'm sorry."
"Where are you?"
"I'm downtown," I said while rubbign away my tears.
"Where? I'm coming to get you," he said.
I could hear shuffling in the background he was probably trying to find something to write down the address. I could hear his footsteps as he walked through his house. The sound of a door shutting and his feet shuffling across the hardwood floors. I could hear him whispering something to his mother and the sound of his front door opening and closing. The sound of his car engine cut off the silence and he picked up the phone.
