Lorena Sanchez woke up to the insufferable ringing of her alarm clock. She groaned. Why did school have to start so early? After 15 minutes of procrastination, she finally got out of bed and began to get ready for school.
She changed into her uniform, hastily brushed her hair, and sprinted to the bus stop. I'm going to be so late, she thought. Thankfully, she reached just as a familiar lemon-yellow bus came to stop, allowing its passengers to board.
Her brother, Jax, judgingly eyed her and smirked. This wasn't the first time that she nearly missed the bus, nor was it going to be her last... He, like Lorena, had beige skin, amber eyes, and golden-brown hair, though his was messy and short, and hers reached till her waist.
Jax and Lorena deeply despised each other. They were just so different... Jax was popular, sporty, and maintained excellent grades, with many friends who enjoyed spending time with him. On the other hand, Lorena was neither sporty nor popular, and had very few friends, of which she would spend most of her time with merely one: her best friend, Aysha Sharma.
Aysha and her would meet up in the bus parking lot every day, spend all of their time together at school, and meet up often during weekends. In other words, they were inseparable.
However, today, when she got off the bus, she didn't see her friend's familiar face in the parking lot. She was surprised. Her bus usually comes very early, so she waits for Lorena to arrive. She suspected that she was hidden amidst in the crowd of students, and began searching, but she just couldn't seem to find her.
She sees a small group of students who arrive to school in the same bus as Aysha, and ask them where she was. They simply told her that Aysha didn't board the bus that day. This seemed reasonable enough, but the fact was that Aysha rarely skipped school, and had only done it once this year when she had the measles. Maybe she's sick, she thought.
The rest of the school day flew by, and before she knew it, her bus was dropping her back home. Once she was in her room, she started on her History homework, but only managed to do one-third of it before getting dangerously bored. So, she decided to message Aysha on Groogle Chat from her computer.
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ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ, 5:23 ᴘᴍ: ʜɪɪɪɪɪ
ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ, 5:23 ᴘᴍ: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴜ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ?
ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ, 5:24 ᴘᴍ: ᴀʀᴇ ᴜ ꜱɪᴄᴋ ᴏʀ ꜱᴍᴛʜɴɢ?
ᴀʏꜱʜᴀ, 5:25 ᴘᴍ: ʜɪ
ᴀʏꜱʜᴀ 5:25 ᴘᴍ: ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ꜱɪᴄᴋ
ᴀʏꜱʜᴀ, 5:25 ᴘᴍ: ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ'ꜱ ᴡʀᴏɴɢ
ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ 5:25 ᴘᴍ: ᴜᴍᴍᴍᴍᴍᴍ... ʙᴜᴛ ᴜ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴍɪꜱꜱ ꜱᴄʜᴏᴏʟ
ᴀʏꜱʜᴀ, 5:25 ᴘᴍ: ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ'ꜱ ᴡʀᴏɴɢ, ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ
ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ 5:26 ᴘᴍ: ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ
ᴀʏꜱʜᴀ: ᴛʏᴘɪɴɢ...
ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ, 5:28 ᴘᴍ: ᴡᴏᴡ, ʏᴏᴜ'ᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴛʏᴘɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ
ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ, 5:32 ᴘᴍ: ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴜ?
ʟᴏʀᴇɴᴀ, 6:13 ᴘᴍ: ᴀʏꜱʜᴀ?
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She probably had to go somewhere, that's why she didn't respond. Or maybe she's mad at me, because she didn't sound like herself, Lorena thought. But this wasn't her only confusion. If she wasn't sick, why would she miss school? She's a nerd! She loves school!
She contemplated about this for a while but finally decided to stop thinking about it and finish her infuriatingly exhausting History homework.
Aysha didn't arrive to school the next day, either. Lorena was starting to get seriously worried. But as she walked to class, she noticed something.
Though Aysha did not come to school today, others did: Aysha's parents, a team of police officers, and a man who looked to be detective.
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