Early Bird | ✓

34 | swan

❁

           "COME eat your breakfast, JJ. I'm not going to serve you," JJ's mom called from the kitchen, the sizzling of bacon causing his stomach to growl.

           "I'll be over there in a minute, Mom," he shouted, his eyes glued to the television screen. He was watching the daily news before he headed off to school, which was part of his morning routine.

           "You better hurry up, it's getting cold," his mother warned. JJ sighed and pushed himself up from the couch. He shuffled to the kitchen, exhaustion clinging to him like a leech.

           "You don't look so good," Asher commented.

           JJ rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Ash. Just tired, that's all."

           "You're always tired."

           "It's called high school."

           "Can you two stop bickering for a second and come eat breakfast?" their mother inquired impatiently, gesturing to the bacon and eggs on the stove. JJ helped himself as Asher stood behind him, waiting to pile his plate for seconds.

           After JJ's plate was crammed with food, he headed back to the living room, ignoring his mother's pleas of not spilling anything on the carpet. The local news station's music blared from the speakers, a man with gray hair the color of a thundercloud appearing on the screen. "We have just received wind that a young teenage girl, aged 17, has gone missing." JJ began to zone the guy out and prepared to switch the channel. Girls had gone missing left and right these past couple months and JJ was craving something new, something fresh. "The girl and her mother, originally from New York, had planned to visit Illinois University when the girl left their hotel room to traverse across the street to a shopping center. The girl, Elizabeth, has never been seen since. If you are aware of Elizabeth's whereabouts or have any information about her disappearance, please come forward and contact the police..."

           The man continued to talk, his lips moving and eyes filled with sympathy and concern, but JJ couldn't hear him. The remote dangled in his hand, his grip slackening until it fell and crashed to the floor. His gaze was glued to the screen, his mouth open agape. Lizzy. It couldn't be. And yet the picture the man now showed on the television screen was the spitting image of the girl that he had been texting for these past couple months. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it.

           "What the hell?" he finally sputtered out, his eyebrows furrowing.

           "Language!" his mother called from the kitchen.

           Asher noticed JJ's distress and wandered into the living room, his plate balanced on his hand. "What's wrong, dude?"

           JJ simply pointed at the TV. He tried to formulate coherent words, but none came out.

           Asher followed JJ's finger. "Oh. Another missing girl? It's no big, J, there's been like ten these past couple months."

           JJ gulped and blinked away the tears that had begun to form in his eyes. He couldn't reveal to anyone that he knew Lizzy. He needed to keep this his little secret for now. How could he explain that he had been texting her for months? That could make him a possible suspect and JJ didn't want that kind of crime to taint his record. First, he needed to locate his phone and then he could find Lizzy—before she got hurt.

           "Oh—I—um—you're right. It just never gets easier to see missing people on TV, I guess."

           Asher shrugged before leaving the room—his plate grew empty and he needed to fill it with more eggs and bacon—and JJ sighed in relief. He buried his head in his hands, a pain in his head suddenly poking him. His mind was racing, coiling into a whirlpool. The news still blared from the TV's speakers, but the noises had quieted to JJ's ears until they were muffled beyond comprehension. Numbness weakened his arms and they almost collapsed as he cradled his head.