“Hey Melanie?”

She wasn’t there. The room was in its usual state—a few plush toys still left, a couple books left out, but there was still no Melanie. Where was she? She couldn’t have been in any of the bathrooms; Kayla checked them all. The laundry room? Looked there, too. The attic? No one there. The backyard? Nope. The room that formerly belonged to Melanie’s older sister, Allison, before she moved out years ago? Nothing.

“Where is everyone?” She asked herself.

She looked through Melanie’s room to see if she even left a note or anything explaining where she was. While looking, she saw the charger for her phone. With said phone still attached. If she was out she wouldn’t leave her phone. She always took it with her, along with her purse that was still there, too.

‘Something’s not right here.’ Kayla thought to herself. She took out her phone and dialed 9-11.

“9-11 operator, what’s your emergency?” The woman voice on the other line asked.

“Hey, I’m at my friend’s house. She and I were going to hang out today, but she’s not here. No one’s here at all, not even her mom. I think something might be wrong.” Kayla answered.

“Did you try calling her?”

“I sent a text earlier but didn’t get anything back, and I just found her phone still here, so I can’t reach her. She never leaves the house without her phone. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Okay, what’s your friend’s address?”

“Birch Avenue 6572.”

“Alright, we’ll send some officers there, they should be there in about thirty minutes, just hang tight hon.”

“Okay, thanks. Bye.”

After hanging up she noticed something sticking out from under the mattress of Melanie’s bed. Looked like the corner of a small book. Leaning in for a closer look, she lifted the mattress to see what kind of book it was. It had a spiral ring. Must’ve been a journal or a diary. She didn’t think Melanie to be the type to have a diary. Taking it out from under the bed she held it up for a closer look, then looked at her phone and back at the journal, switching looks between the two. Why should she read her friend’s journal that was obvious Melanie didn’t want anyone else to read? Why invade her privacy? It wasn’t like she wouldn’t come back or would have anything to hide.

She looked around, just to make sure no one was in sight. ‘She wouldn’t have to know, right?’ Kayla thought to herself before she opened the journal and began reading.

/This is the only way I can freely talk, and feel safe for saying whatever I have to say here. Where no one can see or hear. No one. Most of all her. I’m better off writing all this in here./

Better off? What was she talking about?

/She can look through my phone messages. Check my computer. Eavesdrop on my phone calls, but this way she can’t. She can’t see or hear or read what I’m thinking if she can’t find it. She’d look under my pillow first, but she wouldn’t think to look under the mattress. She’d probably be too lazy to try, too. I have to write in here what can’t be said elsewhere. I’ve heard it’s good to get things bothering you down on paper, somewhere private. Hope this will help things./

Kayla flipped through the pages to the entries that caught her attention.

/Today I wanted to wear my plaid shirt and jeans. I got up late and just threw on what I could in a minute. Wasn’t anything wrong with them, but when I was about to leave the house my mom started bitching at me about it. She said I looked like a slob and didn’t want me going to school like that. She thought I looked “dirty”. I kept telling her it was fine, and she gave me shit saying she didn’t want me looking like a boy! Looking like a boy? Fuck you I look like a boy! I looked perfectly fine! Like she knows what guys wear anyway! She’s not exactly someone who should be judging people’s looks anyway. But no, she just had to make an argument about it and keep me there until I changed into something else! The bitch got me late! Wouldn’t have been such a big issue if it wasn’t for her! She just has to make everything more difficult!

The people here have such a delusional vision of this town. They wish it was a peaceful little suburb. They wish it was such a quaint little place. They wish the people around here were all such picturesque white people right out of Leave It to Beaver, but it’s not. They’re wrong, and if they think the high school here isn’t anything like “those other schools” they’d be dead fucking wrong about that too. The people here are so blind to what’s happening around them. The stupid shits at school, the assholes everywhere, the teachers that are useless, and everyone seems okay with doing nothing to help anyone else, to follow the dip-shit leader and are content to be a bunch of sheep.

And of course no one really knows what goes on inside my home. What it’s like living with my mom. They see her big, wide around glasses and see a kind warm woman. If only they lived with her instead!

I told her something didn’t taste right about it. Something about it smelled off. The inside didn’t look cooked all the way. But she didn’t listen, just yelled at me to eat what she made for me or starve. I was so hungry, there wasn’t much else in the house (if there was she wouldn’t let me have it), so I had to eat the burger. I got sick later. I felt terrible. All because of her! I think she might’ve tried to kill me! I swear she's gonna get me killed one of these days!

From then on, I started making my own meals./

‘Why’s she never told me about any of this?’ Melanie had complained about her mother on a few occasions to Kayla, but she wasn’t told most of this. No wonder Melanie said she wanted out of this town.