One of us - Nichorello

32. Gone

<Lorna's POV>

Oh my god. I did it. I finally did it. I have to tell Nicky. NICKY!

I dial Nicky's phone number, which I know by heart and press my ear against the phone, yearning for her raspy voice. It rings again, the smile on my face slowly fading. She usually picks up immediately.

Five minutes later, I tried it again.

Ten minutes later, I called again. Mailbox.

An hour later, I repeated the process. Mailbox.

This was weird, something was wrong, I could tell. I dialed Vause's phone number, hoping that she would know something about Nicky.

"Lorna?"

"Hey, Alex. Uh do you know where Nicky is?"

"She's at home. Why?"

"She isn't answering her phone."

"Maybe she is doing homework." Alex chuckled at her joke before continuing: "Maybe she's taking a shower, there is surely no need to worry."

"I have been calling her for the past hours, I don't know, it just seems weird."

Vause laughed before saying:" You know that desperation is a huge turn-off, right?"

Her sarcastic comment reminded me of Nicky, her humorous perspective, her aloofness. I couldn't wait to tell her.

"I just really need to tell her something"

"I'm not going to ask what, because I don't want to know," Alex said in a cool tone, this was so typical. I grinned at her response, not able to resist the urge to tell her on purpose.

"I broke up with Christopher!" I yelled into the phone, jumping up and down out of excitement.

"Oh my god Lorna, finally. That's great!"

Although she sounded excited, I couldn't shake off the feeling that she was hiding something. Does she know what is going on with Nicky?

"Alex, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, sure, sure. I'm just busy right now, you know?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want to disturb you. "

"It's alright, it was nice to hear your voice one more time" she mumbled. It sounded more like a thought spoken out loud, but what did she mean by one more time?

"What do you mean?"

"Uh- nothing, sorry. I was just thinking"

"Well, okay. See you in school!"

"Yeah- see you in school"

I could hear the hesitation in her voice as she said see you in school. What was going on?

------------------

"Where is Alex?" I asked Piper while staring at the door, hoping that Nicky would finally enter the room.

"I don't know, my calls went straight to mailbox. How dare she shoot me off like that!" Piper continued to rant.

My hands began to slowly shake as the bell rang, signalizing the beginning of English lessons. It was Monday morning, most of the students were sitting on their chairs, staring out of the window, waiting for the bell to dismiss class. Unfortunately, the grey clouds covering the sky were not motivating us to study either.

Although I knew that Nicky was probably still mad at me, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more behind this. It made sense that Nicky would bail the first period of school, but why Alex? She attended lessons more regularly, especially those in the morning.

"Where are the class clowns today?" Mr. Healy asked, referring to Nicky and Alex.

"Oh, yes." Caleb stood up, unfolding a piece of paper while walking to the front desk. He gave it Mr. Healy whose brows began to furrow as he read the letter carefully.

"They should have told me personally," he shouted at Caleb, who served as the messenger.

"It's too late now," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

They continued to discuss their absence in a smaller tone so I couldn't make out their conversation. What were they talking about? Where are Alex and Nicky? I need to talk to Caleb about this.

------------------

"Caleb, wait!" I threw the rest of my stuff in my bag, trying to catch up with Caleb, who had exited the room.

The hallways were filled with students, making it harder to recognize individuals. Luckily, the ash blond hair of Caleb stood out in the crowd. I began pushing people aside, receiving some 'hey watch out!' and 'bitch' s.

"Caleb!" I yelled, grabbing his shoulder a bit harsh.

"Lorna," he said surprised "What's wrong?"

"Where is Nicky?"

"I don't know," he lied, avoiding direct eye contact.

"Just tell me, I need to know where she is!" I pleaded.

"I can't tell you, I'm sorry."

"Why? Why didn't she tell me? Where are they? When will they come back?" I started asking questions which had been circling in my head for hours, distracting me from english lesson.

"I need to know," I pleaded.

"I can't tell you where they are and when they will come back because I really don't know. And neither does Nicky. She told me to give you this." he took out a small crumpled piece of paper and handed it to me.

I opened it quickly, my eyes meeting Nicky's familiar handwriting.

There's a message in the way a person treats you. And I finally started to listen.

No. This can't be right. No. She left, because of me?! Because I waited too long until breaking up with Christopher? Is this my fault?

"She left," I mumbled more to myself than to Caleb.

"I'm sorry," Caleb said, hugging me slightly, pressing my arms against my powerless body.

"Did she leave because of me?"

"Honey, you're asking the wrong questions"

Caleb looked into my eyes which were filled with tears. He stroked my arms up and down, comforting me. He smiled a rather pitiful smile before disappearing into the crowd, suddenly gone. Just like Nicky.