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"Three days," I tell Julian with a little bit of distress in my tone. "Three days she hasn't shown up and I know her anxiety was the worst I've seen anyone with it just over the weekend. When I saw her on Monday it was still real bad."

"It's concerning alright," Julian agrees, although sounding sarcastic.

"It is," I reinforce it.

"I meant it when I said it, I just thought it was concerning how much you haven't shut up about it. You're really obsessed with her."

"It's not about me being obsessed with anyone, it's about someone ignoring your texts and calls after you know she wasn't okay."

"Then why'd you leave her in the first place, stupid?"

"Because she asked me to leave, dumb*ss," I fire back. I get that I'm not supposed to take it personal, the insults and all, but sometimes it's uncalled for.

"You're not supposed to leave your girl just because she asks you to leave, everyone knows that. That's her way of telling you to stay."

"You're acting like a real do*chebag," I groan. "If you and a girl are about to get it on and she tells you to stop, would you keep going?"

"Course not! But that isn't the same thing."

"I'm just saying, you don't get to decide what she actually wants. Don't you think there's a reason why you're still single?"

He laughs. "I'm not anymore. Sophie and me are a thing now."

"Message received. Just saying though, if you listen to her things might be a little easier for the both of you. How would you really know what she wants?"

"Alright, alright. I was just saying though, lay off her. She has the freedom to make her own decisions, right? She'll show up when she does."

"I know, but I wish she'd at least update me."

The bell rings after that, and I return to get through my afternoon classes. They're long and dreadful though, and it doesn't help that I just can't focus.

A little bit after I get home from school, I start thinking about how at least Ruby didn't tell me she got in trouble again today. I turn on the TV for some background noise as a weather man goes through the predictions for this week's temperatures. I realize my phone is vibrating and rush over to see if it's Iris, but it's only my mom. Sure it sounds mean to just ignore her, but if it's just her wanting to talk about another man then I'm not too interested.

After a few minutes I'm getting started on my Calculus homework and thinking of Iris. Normally today she'd be coming over after school, but today she wasn't having it. It had only been a couple of weeks, but it wasn't hard for me to adapt to new changes and I had already settled into our new routine.

My phone vibrates and lets me know that my mother texted me as well as calling me. I check the message, opening the chat after unlocking my phone and seeing the simple text.

I stared at the text frozen for a moment, trying to think of what was so urgent. Then a familiar name catches my attention in the background spoken by a man telling a story on the news.

"A murderer is now on the loose," the man says in a low voice. "After escaping prison — having been there for nearly eleven years — Robert Wright is nowhere to be found. Officials say they couldn't track how he got out. Although the man used to have a reputation of being a hardworking father, he's now known for the local murder of Leah Donnelly that's haunted Goalmont for over a decade now. Officials dismissed our proposal to speak to them because the search just began today."

That's all I need to hear before my heart starts racing and I decide to spring into action. Getting into my car, I do exactly what my mom says and I drive over there, calling her and putting her on speaker before tossing the phone in the passenger's seat. While I speed in my car, she answers.

"I'm on my way over," I immediately start, "and I saw it on the news. Why did he escape, does he want Ruby? Do you know where he's at?"

"He threatened me. He doesn't like that I had a child with another man. If you pick up Ruby I can handle myself."

"Can't we all leave together so we know we'll all be safe?" I ask, my brain foggy as it starts to shut down. I feel like what Iris described with my limbs getting heavy but I refuse to succumb to the feeling since I still can.

"It's no place for Ruby. You all need to leave, and I do too. Wherever you go is fine, but don't try to update me or else we'll all find ourselves in trouble. I'm not leaving Ruby's side till you get here but we packed her stuff and she's ready to go, so get here as soon as possible."

"Got it."

"Oh, and you might want to tell Iris."

"What?"

"He's on his way to find Iris, too. He warned me about it, and said if she couldn't stand up to a gun she was screwed. He wants to get back at her because she was the reason why the cops found him in the first place. Listen Pierce, Ruby isn't taking this too well and I'm going to go now, that way I can try to comfort her before I leave. You two need to stick together no matter what and I need you to be strong for Ruby."

"Alright, Mom. Love you, and I'll... see you when I see you."

"Bye."

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