Fineas doesn’t know what to do.
April’s dad was right. She’s gone.
He has tried calling repeatedly. He can’t do much else until he knows where she is.
He walks to her house, music playing in his ears. He knows that he promised himself never to return, but he has to take the risk if it means that he can find her. He’ll do anything for her.
Cautiously, he steps onto the front porch and peers through the little window on the door. The house is dark, and it seems empty.
Thank God, he thinks. Now I don’t have to experience that again.
He raises his hand to knock but pauses. He forces it forward before he can back out.
Three quick taps before rapidly drawing it back. He waits a second. No answer.
He glances around in case there’s anyone on the sidewalk. Seeing that it’s vacant, he walks quickly and quietly to the side of the house until he reaches April’s window. He looks behind him once again, then lifts himself up onto the windowsill, his legs dangling below him. The sill shakes slightly beneath him, and he winces. He tries to push the window open, but it’s locked. He curses under his breath, considering how to get in.
He slips his hand into his pocket, wondering if there’s anything he can use to open the window. His fingers wrap around something metal, and a smile spreads dimly like the light of a broken lamp across his face. He takes his keys and slides them underneath the window frame. He jabs them forward until the window loosens and tries again to push it open. It comes open easily. He slides it all the way up, then crawls into the room.
He knows he has to be fast. He examines her room for anything that could be a clue.
He looks on her shelves, lifting up every object to see if there’s a note. She has a lot of little things, he notices. She always likes to collect her strange little objects and display them. He smiles at the thought, but the edges of his lips soon turn downward. He wonders if he’ll ever see her again.
No, he tells himself. No. He can’t think like that right now. He has to focus.
Where else could she have left something? He glances at her bookshelf, and wonders if she left him anything in her favorite book. He scans the organized-by-title bookshelf until he finds it. He flips through the pages, but no envelope falls out.
He doesn’t find anything in sight, so he needs to investigate further.
He looks under her bed to find a plastic box. Lifting the lid off, the first thing he sees is a piece of paper.
The paper looks old. It’s crumpled like someone crushed it in their hand in anger, and the ink has faded a little, but it’s still legible. There’s not much written on it, but when Fineas picks it up, his breath hitches.
April,
I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I’ll come back when it’s right.
I couldn’t deal with Dad any longer than you could.
In case you remove me from your contacts. Don’t hesitate to call.
Jules
Written underneath is a phone number.
Fineas is shocked. April has a sibling? She never mentioned them.
He blinks. Takes a breath. Shakes his head. Focus.
Maybe April’s sibling knows where she is.
He picks up his phone and slowly dials the number. He reluctantly presses the green button.
After it’s almost stopped ringing, someone picks up.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice. He sounds not too much older than Fineas.
Fineas hesitates.
“Hello?” the voice sounds exasperated.
“Um, hello. I’m Fineas. I’m April’s boyfriend. I was wondering if you knew where she is…”
“God. Why does everyone think I know?”
Before Fineas can ask what he means, the other voice continues.
“I don’t know. Sorry.” There’s a pause. “I’m glad she has someone looking out for her, though.”
Fineas doesn’t know how to respond to this.
“Yeah, I try,” he says finally. “Okay, if you don’t know, I’ll…”
“Yeah. Bye.”
Who could have called about her before?
He’ll figure it out later. Right now, he needs to get out of here before it’s too late.
After shutting the box and pushing it back under her bed, he takes one last look around at the room.
He’s about to leave when he hears the faint sound of a lock clicking open.
He freezes. His eyes widen. He puts his hand over his mouth.
He walks softly to her bed, then crawls underneath, hoping with all the might within him that April’s father won’t hear him. There’s not a lot of room, and he glances at the same box he opened before, curious as to what else it contains. Is there a letter to him? He wants to believe she would leave him a note, a map, an address. He would take even the slightest sliver of a hint if it would give him the opportunity to find her. He wonders, though, if maybe he’s putting a little too much faith in her.
He hears the man come into the house.
“Hello?”
Fineas presses his hand tighter around his mouth. His ears perk up to listen closer.
“I swear I heard someone…” the man mumbles.
Fineas doesn’t dare move a muscle. He holds his breath.
“Ah, well.” His footsteps recede.
Fineas waits until he can’t hear him anymore. He lets out his breath. How the hell do I get out of here? he thinks.