POV: Rebel Reid

It was Sunday morning when the news finally broke. Dillion Smiley missing. I stared at the screen on pause for what felt like ages. She's gone. She ran away. I kept texting her but none of my messages went through which means her parents probably took her phone.

I pressed play and watched it again.

"Please, Dillion come home. For me. What they did to you is wrong, you still have me. I promise. I love you. Please come home." Her sister cried.

Mom sighed and sat next to me.

"This is all my fault." I whimpered.

"Hey, enough of that. What happened has happened. Sitting here and moping isn't going to find her any faster. Come on, let's go for another drive."

We have been up since 7 am and have driven around town three times since the news broke. It's just past noon.

"Can you think of any place she might have gone?" she asks.

"No. She didn't have anywhere to go."

"Well come on then." She sighed.

My phone rang it was Scooter, I quickly answered.

"Anything?" I asked him.

"Nothing." He sighed

"Well keep looking. We have to find her."

"Rebel I know you don't want to hear this, but maybe she doesn't want to be found." He said.

"Just keep looking." I hung up.

"Maybe we should go to her church." Mom suggested.

It is Sunday, what was that girls name she was seeing? Stormy.

"Mom! We have to go to church. We need to find a girl named Stormy. She might know something." I said.

"Well you get a head start, I have to put gas in my car. I'll meet you there," she assured me.

I nodded and quickly ran out the door.

Shit! It's already noon. The church is already let out. I jump in my car and speed all the way to the church. When I get there not that many cars are in the lot. Shit. I quickly get out and run inside. I smack right into someone.

"Ow, hey are you okay?" Some guy asks. I recognize him as the same guy who gave me Dillion's number.

"You! Uh, do you know where stormy is?" I ask.

"Yeah, she's not here today. I doubt she'll ever come back. That video of her and Dillion got leaked around here." He says.

"Damn it." I curse.

"You're Dillion's friend right?"

"Yes, I'm looking for her, any idea where she might be?"

"No, but her sister is here if you want to talk to her."

"No thank you." I quickly turn to leave.

"Wait, I know Stormy's address." He says.

"You do! Well, why didn't you say so!"

"Sorry, geez. It's just I don't think Dillion would run to her. I mean Stormy isn't exactly, well you know. Anyways if you think it will help." He pulled out his phone.

Ten minutes later and I am on my way to Stormy's house. I text my mom to just drive around that no one is at the church. She told me she would report back if she found anything. Birdie updated me and said nothing on social media and no one knows where she could have gone. I sigh and clench the steering wheel.

This is all my fault. I should have never gotten involved in the whole thing. If I would have never recorded that video none of this would have happened. I am so stupid. Damn it. I hope wherever she is, she's okay. That she didn't do something stupid and hurt herself. I hope she's safe and warm and has a full stomach. She's been missing since Friday. Who knows where she is now.

I pull into Stormy's driveway. A car is there so Stormy must be home.

I walk up to the door of the shabby looking house and knock. The door swings open and there she stands, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"One who are you? Two what do you want? Three, are you from my church?" she shot off.

"My name is Rebel. I'm looking for Dillion smiley, I'm not from your church. I just want to know if you know where Dillion is, or if she's okay. I know you two had a thing going on."

"I have no clue where she is. She came by here on Friday, she was pretty banged up. I patched her up and offered her a placed to sleep but she refused. She borrowed some clothes and I gave her all the money I had on me which was only 40 bucks. She said she was going somewhere where no one would find her. That she was going to change her name or something like that. I don't know. Look I helped her all I could I don't know where she went from here. All I know is she had 40 bucks, was wrapped in bandages and had on some jeans and a plain pink t-shirt. It was around seven when she left my place."

I sighed, at least I was getting somewhere now. At least I know she was okay-ish.

"Thanks." I turn to leave.

"Why are you trying to find her? She doesn't want to be found." She called after me.

"That's only because she thinks no one loves her. She feels alone and isolated. I just want to show her that she still has me. That she isn't alone. That it's okay for her to be herself. I don't want her to be hiding for the rest of her life. I just want her to be free." I say.

"Good luck, I hope you find her." She says.

I nod and jog off to my car.

Okay if I was Dillion and only had 40 dollars with no means of transportation and nowhere to go what would I do?

I pull out of the driveway.

I look around my surroundings and see if I can see any obvious signs. My eyes land on a train passing by. It's a monorail that takes people downtown. I drive over to it. 10 dollars for a day pass. I walk up to the booth.

"Excuse me, um were you working on Friday around 7?" I ask.

"Yeah..." the woman eyes me cautiously.

"Did you happen to see a girl with blond hair. Blue eyes. Had on a pink shirt and was wrapped up in bandages?"

She thought about it for a second.

"I think I did, the girl with the cuts on her hands?"

"Was she around my age and height?"

"Yeah, yeah. Paid in cash."

"Yes! Her, do you know if she got on that train." I point.

"Of course. It's only one way."

"Okay, can I have a day pass please."

"Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes, my friend. She ran away from home. I'm just trying to find her."

"Well good luck. She looked pretty beat up. I told her she should go to the hospital. She told me to fuck off."

"Sounds like her, thank you." I chuckled.

"I hope you find her!" She called after me as I ran onto the train.

Progress! She has to be downtown somewhere. I bet I can find her.

When I get off the train I walk onto the platform and look around for an obvious first place to look. I don't really see anything so I walk out and into the city. I look around again. Cars zip on by and buildings so tall you can't see the top reflect the sun down on me. I cold breeze makes me shiver. I don't know where to start so I just walk around.

30 dollars is not a lot of money to do anything in the city.

I walk by shops that have big windows that show my wobbly reflection. I pass crosswalks with people doing street acts to get money. I nearly get run over by a taxi. I sigh and lean against the wall of a building after about an hour of searching for a sign.

A rat runs in front of me and I flinch back. I watch it scamper all the way to the dumpster. That's when I see it. Some bloody gauze and bandages on the floor by the dumpster. I stand up straight and walk over to it. I pick it up to inspect. It looks like it could be two days old.

A loud crashing sound makes me flinch. I set the dirty gauze down and go deeper into the alleyway.

"Hello? Is someone back there?" I ask.

More rats skitter away.

I move to the back of the ally. There is crumby looking wooden fence with a tarp over it. I move the tarp and see that there is a hole big enough for thin people to crawl through. I squat down and look to the other side. My eyes go wide as I see a small group of homeless people just sitting around in a sort of homeless camp. It was underneath a large highway and secluded off in the area because of the surrounding buildings.

Many people were wrapped up in old dirty blankets. Some weren't so lucky. In fact a girl with blond hair, a ripped up pink shirt and muddy shoes, was sitting alone in the corner. She was shivering from how cold she was. I could make out many bad looking cuts on her arms. I sighed and crawled through the hole.

No one really paid me any mind as I walked over to the corner. It was Dillion alright. She looked thin, dirty, tired. Her eyes slowly traveled from the wall she was staring at to me. I sat down next to her.

"Hey," I said.

"Go away." She grumbled.

"Not unless you come with me."

"Look this is just a setback. Soon the cops will stop looking for me. I'll turn 18. Then I can change my name. I'll get a job and no one will ever see me again." She said matter of factly.

"Dillion, it's okay to need help."

"I don't need your help." Her teeth chattered and her body shook softly from the cold.

I took my jacket off and wrapped it around her.

"You don't turn 18 for months. What are going to do until then, starve out here?"

"Hey, granny is nice. She gave me half of her cheese sandwich yesterday." Dillion looked over to an old woman who was wrapped in a blanket. She seemed to be talking to herself. I frowned.

"I'm not leaving you here. No matter what." I made clear.

"Why do you even care? I mean I fucking ruined your life, I ruined a lot of peoples lives. I liked it, it was fun and satisfying to me. It gave me a sense of purpose. That's why I did it. Without it, I knew I was nothing but a freak. So I ask again, why do you care? You hardly even know me." she turned away from me and brought her knees to her chest.

"That's not true. I know things about you. I know you only did that stuff because you were scared. You didn't want people to find out about you, about your life at home. I know that every day you have to tell yourself some bullshit just to keep going on as normal. I know you are so strong and very much could stubbornly wait here until spring. I know that under that hard shell you use as a defense is just a regular girl, just like me. A girl who just wants a real friend. Something to hold on to. Dillion. I can be that friend, I can be your lifeline. If you would just let me."

"No one likes me. Even if I did come back everyone would think I only did this for attention. They would tell me to kill myself, to die, that I should have stayed gone. They'll laugh at me. It won't ever end."

"Well screw them. And screw your family too. We can go to the cops, we can tell them what your family did to you."

"And what? Have to face my parents again? Be put through the system and get taken away by C.P.S.? Get taken in by other family members who are just as religious and cruel. No thank you. I'd rather starve to death out here. Just go away, Rebel. We aren't even friends. We never were."

"Bullshit! We were friends. Maybe you didn't know it was me, but it was. You told me things I know for a fact no one knows about you. You and I bonded over text. You may not have known it was me, but I always knew it was you. I just wanted to help you. I never wanted to hurt you. I couldn't do it, maybe you think that's weak, but when I took that video I felt sick to my core just thinking about using it against you. I knew I would never go through with it. I could have, but I didn't. I wanted to give you something, something I've always had. I wanted to be there for you when you were ready to come out. I was going to tell you it was me, I swear it. I was just waiting until you trusted me, really trusted me. Because I knew if you found out it was me before then, you would hate me, you would react just like you did. I wanted to be your friend, and for a moment, you wanted to be mine too. We are friends Dillion. And friends don't let other friends rot out in the cold."

She finally turned to me again. She had tears in her eyes, but she put on a brave mask and refused to let me see her crying again.

"I don't want to go back. I don't ever want to go back to that awful place. I hate it there. I hate everything about it. I'm not free there, and I never will be. I would rather live out here and try and make it on my own than ever go back there. I'm sorry, but I won't go back. Not with you, not with anyone. Just leave, forget about me. Don't ever come back. Let me be free."

"No." I held back my own tears.

She took my jacket off and shoved it into my arms.

"Go away." She spat.

"No. Not without you."

"Damn, I really do have to get a restraining order." She forced a chuckle just as more tears fell.

"Let me be your lifeline, Dillion. You can hold on to me. I'm not going anywhere."

"That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself. You really think you can be my hero?" Her voice shakes.

"You don't need a hero, you are strong enough on your own. But maybe, if you would let me, I would like to be your friend."

"You won't like me as a friend. No one wants to be my friend."

"Just shut up and say okay."

She smiled, "okay."

I hugged her. She hugged me back.

"Okay, no offense but you stink." I pull back with a face.

"No shit sherlock." She laughed.

I smiled and got to my feet before helping her to hers. She winced in pain and clung tightly to her right leg. I could see faint traces of blood seeping through her pants.

"Dillion you should go to the hospital."

"Fuck off. What I need is a shower and food." She grunted.

I sighed. I guess I better get used to her difficult personality, seems like we are stuck with each other now. She limped all the way back to the train platform. Her breathing was rough and I could tell she might pass out from exhaustion at any moment. Still, she pushed through. I bought her boarding pass and she sat next to me.

She was in cold sweat and rested her head against the window. It was clear she was in rough shape. I pulled out my phone and texted Birdie and Scooter as wells as my moms to call off the search. I found her. Meet me back at the house, no police.

They all texted back an affirmative.

When we got off the train and into my car she quickly passed out from exhaustion. I drove her to my house and when I got home woke her up. She limped into the house and sat on the couch. Everyone was waiting for us.

"I'll go start a bath." Mom said.

"What do you want to eat? Name it and it's yours." My other mom said.

"I'll get the first aid kit." Scooter said.

"I'll go get her some pain meds." Birdie walked off to the kitchen.

"Uh, anything is fine," Dillion said to my mom.

"You got it, I'll go buy a boatload of food. You just rest okay?"

Dillion nodded.

"I'm going to go get you some clothes to wear, just wait here." I quickly jogged off to my room.

"Rebel," Dillion called after me.

I turned.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," she said.

I smiled and nodded before going to get her some clothes.

At least now I know she is safe, that just makes me feel ten times better. I'm going to do whatever I can to help her heal. Then maybe we can all move on from this nightmare.