Chatoyant College, Book 1: New Student Orientation

Chapter 17: Missing

"What?" gasped Lorelei, hurrying towards her. "Isn't she there with you?"

The girl shook her head and stepped out of her room, holding her door open so that light fell on one of the beds. It was empty. Lorelei stepped in and flicked on the light in the room. Now they (or at least Edie) could see that both beds in the room were empty. "I thought..." Lorelei trailed off. "I was sure I saw people in both beds. Was she there when you went to bed, Salome?"

Salome nodded. "She was on her computer, but I heard her turn it off before I fell asleep and I figured she was going to bed too."

"Who's Annie?" Edie whispered to her two friends. Her mind was a blank. "I don't remember her at all." Not that she had memorized everyone's names at the meeting, but the name Annie didn't ring a bell at all.

Corrie shook her head, but Dawn whispered back, "I think I remember her from the meeting. She had a quiet voice... and she was kind of small. I don't remember her well."

"Is she in anyone else's room?" There was a note of panic in Lorelei's voice; it was very faint, but it worried Edie. Almost everyone turned around to check inside their own rooms. Dawn went to her room again, turning on the light this time and looking around. Edie wondered where exactly Annie would be hiding even while she checked her own room. If Annie were here, wouldn't she just say so? But she wasn't. After a few minutes, there was a chorus of "no"s in the hallway. Lorelei ran a hand through her messy hair. "Okay," she said, struggling to keep her voice calm. "There's something I can do about this, but I can't do it until morning. So..." She gestured helplessly. "Everybody go to bed. Hopefully by the time you wake up in the morning Annie will be back and everything will be fine. Okay?"

There were more murmurs, but slowly everyone turned back and went into their rooms, and the sound of murmurs was replaced by the sound of doors clicking shut. Dawn turned to Corrie and Edie. "I guess I'll go back to my room."

Corrie nodded. "I don't know if I'll be able to sleep after this..."

"Yeah," said Dawn, managing a smile, "but it's late, and Lorelei did tell us to go to bed."

"Right," said Edie. "Better listen to the RA."

Edie was sure she would lay awake worrying until late into the morning, but though her mind was racing through the possibilities of what could have happened to Annie, she fell quickly into unconsciousness and was unaware of anything else until she was awakened by the mid-morning sun.