Relief made me sag against my sofa. “You have no idea how happy I am that you said that.”
She chewed on her lip a moment and then said, “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”
“I still have it,” I lied. “And if you’re sensible, you’ll hold on to yours for a long, long time.”
Maia rolled her eyes. “Aye, and Santa is real.”
“He is. So is the Easter Bunny. And babies are dropped off at the doors of mums and daddies everywhere by giant storks. Now nod like you believe me.”
She giggled and nodded.
“And my work here is done.”
“I can’t believe you thought these would help make me feel better.” I raised the DVDs at Chloe as she sauntered back into my sitting room with two glasses of wine.
“What?” She frowned at my tone. “You’ve been moping around with a broken heart for quite long enough. I thought these would help you get over it.”
“I’ve had a broken heart for approximately two weeks, but thank you for your patience.” I dumped the DVDs on the coffee table. “How are The Notebook, Sleepless in Seattle, and Love and Other Drugs supposed to help me? They’re all about two people falling in love. With each other. La-di-da. I hate them already.”
“They’re supposed to act as a reminder of hope.” She smirked at my grimace. “These films aren’t just about two people falling in love. They’re about two people who fall in love but there are all these obstacles in their way and it’s a struggle… but in the end they do end up together.”
I took a massive gulp of my wine. “I really wish you’d give up on the idea of me and Logan, Chloe.”
“Nope.”
“I’d really consider it, if I were you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to kill you if you don’t.”
“Pfft.” She waved my threat off. “You don’t scare me, Grace. I could snap you like a twig.”
I stared at her in indignation. “I’d like to see you try.”
“Move the coffee table and I will.”
“Fair enough.” I got up off the chair and the doorbell rang. I narrowed my eyes on her. “You were just saved by the bell.”
“I’m shaking in my boots.”
I threw her a grin before hurrying out of the room to answer my door.
To my surprise I found Logan outside.
“Have you seen Maia?” he said without preamble.
Taking in the frantic expression on his face, I felt my heart rate start to pick up speed. “No. I thought she was going to Layla’s after school today? Have you called her?”
He shook his head. “She’s not picking up.”
“Well, let me try.” I turned on my heel and heard him follow behind me into the sitting room.
“Chloe, this is Logan. Logan, this is Chloe.” I introduced them quickly before rifling through my bag for my phone.
“Is everything all right?” Chloe said.
“Hopefully.” I rang Maia’s number and waited. It went straight to voice mail. I looked over at Logan, who deflated at my expression. “Do you have Layla’s parents’ number?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t think to do that. Fuck.” He ran a hand through his hair, and I could see the panic in him mounting.
“Chloe” – I turned to my friend, who was watching Logan with a mixture of concern and curiosity – “open up your Facebook.”
“Why?”
“Because you have Maia on your Facebook. Maybe she posted something.”
“Well, if she’s up to no good, do you really think she would be that stupid?” she said as she looked through her bag for her phone.
“Yes. Even intelligent teenagers can be idiots sometimes.”
Chloe nodded and started flicking through her phone as Logan and I looked on impatiently. Her eyes grew round as she read something and then she gave us an “uh-oh” look.
“What?” Logan said gruffly.
“They’re trying to get into some club in Tollcross.”
“It’s Thursday,” I said dumbly, disbelieving that Maia would act this irresponsibly.
“It’s student night,” Logan said. “How the fuck does she think she’s going to get into a nightclub? I’m going to kill her.” He started toward the door.
“I’m coming with you!” I turned back to Chloe as I grabbed my keys. “I’m sorry. We need to cut this short.”
My very understanding friend quickly gathered her things, and I said good-bye to her outside my building and left to catch up with Logan. I found him marching past the university toward the Meadows. “Logan…” I tried to match stride with him.
“Why is she acting like this?” He glared at me. “She’s not like this in the house. We’re great. We don’t argue. We’re fine. But then she’s out of the house and she’s kissing boys in media rooms and trying to get into nightclubs, not picking up her phone, making me worry. I got another phone call from school,” he told me. “Yesterday. She missed two morning classes.”
Dread moved through me. “Clearly this is deliberate. It’s not like her. She enjoys school. And she’s happy with you, Logan. I know she is.”
“Then why?”
I shrugged. “Maybe it’s about her mother… or… We don’t know everything she’s been through. We don’t know what’s she dealing with. Perhaps she should see a school counselor.”