The alarm rang and Mark sat straight up and turned it off. He felt oddly refreshed. He jumped out of bed and hurried to the bathroom, but it was occupied again.

"Good morning", he called out to his sister through the door.

"Stop acting weird!" She called back.

He went back to his room and fidgeted with his things until she finished.

After he was done getting ready he went downstairs to join his family for breakfast. As he sat down he noticed them staring at him strangely.

"What?" He irately demanded.

"Well son, you just look so giddy this morning. Usually you look like a squeezed lemon", his father pondered.

"More like a squeezed floor rag", his mother commented helpfully.

"True, dear. So son, did something happen?"

"Nothing happened. Can I eat now?" Mark snapped.

"You got a girlfriend, right?" His sister smirked at him.

"I did not!" he exclaimed.

"What's her name?" Rebecca didn't relent.

"I don't know!". Mark immediately realized his mistake. "Because I don't have one!", he tried to cover his slip of the tongue, but it was too late. His sister smirked knowingly.

"Make sure to introduce her to us soon, son", his father commented from behind his newspaper.

"You can invite her for dinner", his mother added encouragingly.

Mark gave up on trying to argue and quickly gobbled down his breakfast, ignoring the rest of what his family had to say. Once he was finished he escaped out of the house without even saying goodbye.

He jogged on his way to school, slowly cooling off his head in the crisp and cool morning air of autumn. When he reached the school parking lot he realized he was much too early. Nobody else was there yet. Looking at his phone he saw that the time was just 7:35. He decided to keep jogging around the neighborhood.

As he ran he thought about his family's reactions the previous night and this morning. Maybe he did look too happy. He didn't want the other kids in school to notice that anything was up. He didn't want them asking annoying questions, or trying to look into it. The hole was there for him. He was sure of it, because it appeared at the place where he practiced soccer and at a time when no one else but him was around. He didn't want anyone to poke around and scare off the girl who was on the other side, or worse, to somehow end up having to share.

Who was she? He felt that it must be one of the girls from school, but it was also possible that it could be a teacher. After all, it was usually only teachers who stayed that late. Why would she do it? If it was a dare or she was being bullied, wouldn't once be enough? If she liked him, wouldn't it make more sense for her to ask him out first?

What if it wasn't a girl? He didn't like to think about the possibility, but it could be a guy. The same question would apply about the motive, too. He tried to shake the thought out of his mind. He wasn't into guys. Definitely not. Not that he had something against gays, but he just didn't share their preference. But what if there's a guy in school who liked him and for some strange reason decided that was the way to approach him? Mark shuddered. He tried to suppress the thought, then realized that it would probably help him look less happy, which would be a good thing.

He looked at his phone it again. It was 7:50. Although it didn't feel like it, he had somehow jogged for an extra 15 minutes that morning. He headed back to school and went to wash up in the bathroom, delaying for as long as possible. He got to the class just before the bell started to chime.

For some strange reason the geniuses at the school administration decided to start Wednesday with a class on American history. Even though he woke up full of energy he already felt himself getting drowsy again, and it was only the first period. He fought to stay awake and take notes. Someone was snoring softly behind him, and the irritating sound helped him avoid falling asleep. The teacher didn't seem to notice. Maybe he just didn't hear it, or perhaps he was too accustomed to it by now.

Eventually the bell rang, saving Mark. He escaped to the bathroom again and washed his face to try to wake up for the second time that morning. Most students hated Mondays, but for him Monday was the day of soccer practice. Wednesdays were definitely the bane of his existence. The middle of the week, no soccer practice, and the most boring subject first thing in the morning. It was even worse than math. At least math had problems to solve, which provided some action.

The bathroom door opened and Steve walked in. He stood in front of one of the urinals to pee.

"It feels great to get blown by a girl, right?" Steve said out of nowhere, causing Mark to jump.

"I wouldn't know", Mark answered cautiously.

"Didn't Beth do it for you when you were dating her?" Steve asked casually.

"We didn't do that, and anyway what happened between us is private", Mark said defensively.

"You know the last girl I dated? She used to do that for me all the time. You have the same look on your face now like I did back then. That's why I'm saying it".

"Then why did you break up?"

"She was way too jealous and used it to try to control me. Wouldn't put out at all if she saw me even look at another girl. I got fed up with the drama and dumped her".

Mark smiled weakly, trying to look like he sympathized, but who could? It sounded too much like bragging and rubbing salt in other guy's wounds. Steve went to wash his hands.

"So anyway, what I'm saying is that with the look on your face it's obvious that you hooked up with a girl".

Mark snorted. "I wish. I'm just thinking about the game tomorrow".

"Whatever, man. If you don't want to talk about it it's up to you".

Mark watched Steve leave the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. Was it really so obvious? He thought he looked the same as always. He tried to make himself look more depressed but the result was ridiculous. Then he tried to think about the possibility that it was a guy. That seemed to work better. While he was experimenting the bell rang again. He hurried to get back to class.

Finally the morning classes were over. Mark headed to the lunch room together with the rest of his classmates. All morning the main topic of conversation was Beth's disappearance, and this continued as they sat down to eat. Mark felt his phone vibrate, and when he took it out he saw a message from his mother.

Did you see the news? Another girl disappeared right after Beth.

There was a link. Mark opened it and skimmed through the article. It was a college student named Amber Wheeler. She disappeared from Green Meadows Village at around 23:00, while Beth disappeared from Elmwood at around 22:30. Although he didn't drive, he knew that the distance by car was around 30 minutes. It fit. Also, Amber seemed a little prettier than Beth. Beth was thin with a slightly narrow face and was kind of average. This Amber girl had a rounder face and didn't look bony at all. If he was a scumbag kidnapper who just grabbed an okay-looking girl and then came across a chance at grabbing someone who's better than okay, he'd have taken it.

"Cassandra, take a look at this", he called out. She was deep in conversation with her friends but turned toward him anyway. He passed he his phone. Stephanie and Jessica watched quietly while she carefully read through the article. She looked at him again when she finished, staring him directly in the eye.

"Do you think she was kidnapped?" she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"That's what it looks like", he answered frankly. "What do you think?"

Cassandra passed his phone back to him.

"I think you're right, and it looks like that's what the police think, too".

Mark saw Stephanie starting to tear up. Jessica noticed as well and was trying to comfort her. People on either side of them seemed to be listening.

"What do you think we can do?" he asked Cassandra. She thought for a long moment.

"I don't know", she eventually sighed in resignation.

Mark sank into thought and spent the rest of lunch in silence, which was how he preferred it anyway. He did feel worried for Beth, although it seemed his worry was a little less intense than that of Beth's friends.

The rest of the day dragged on, until finally the last class ended. Mark quickly gathered his things and hurried to get changed and go out. He practiced his ball skills, but his heart wasn't in it. He kept looking to the wall, impatiently hoping for the hole to appear again while the school slowly emptied out of students and the few hockey players went in to the gym for their practice. He kept practicing and playing until the hockey players went home. His excitement was already giving way to disappointment when the hole finally appeared.

He quickly checked out the area, and when he saw no one he hurried to the hole, repeating his actions of the previous day, and immediately felt the person on the other side respond. He suppressed his thoughts about what the other person's identity might be and began to relax when he faintly heard what sounded like crying coming through the wall. For the first time he felt teeth brush against him. Mark tried to ignore it, telling himself that it was his imagination, but as time ticked by he realized it wasn't. Eventually he couldn't bring himself to ignore it anymore.

"Look, if you don't want to do this you don't have to. It's not like I'm forcing you or anything, right?" he said as loudly as he dared. He could feel the moist warmth leaving him. The sound of crying intensified, but the hand still gripped him firmly. He waited anxiously, hoping that whoever it was would calm down and decide to continue. Instead, after a while the hand let go of him and pushed him out. He looked down to see the brick sliding back in place, and a moment later he faintly heard a door slam.

"So she really was crying because she hated it, and without knowing anything I took advantage of her like a scumbag", he thought with self-recrimination. He rearranged his clothing and worked out his guilt and frustration on the ball, hoping that no one would come by and see the tent in his pants. It would be too embarrassing.

An hour later he finally had enough and headed home. He managed to avoid his family on his way to his room and after neatly putting his thing away and preparing for tomorrow he sat down to continue catching up on his homework.

He was distracted. Less than yesterday, but it still made it difficult for him. He felt that he was burning up with unsatisfied desire, and his thoughts kept drifting, remembering his experiences with the hole and with Beth. Finally he gave up on fighting it. He made sure his door was locked and his blinds closed before taking care of his problem himself. It's been a long time since he last had to do it. Usually he was too focused on soccer to think about such things.

He sighed regretfully. Maybe if he didn't open his big mouth he wouldn't have to suffer like this now. No, that was wrong. He couldn't just ignore the fact that she was suffering.

He wondered who she was. Perhaps it was one of the girls in his class? A few of them were quite cute. Then he sighed again when he realized that unless she came back to the hole he'd have no way of finding out. She could confess, too, but he thought it was highly unlikely that would ever happen.

He shook himself and got back to work. By the time he went down for supper he had already caught up to where he should have been last night. As he sat down at the table his mood was very different from the morning. Rebecca immediately picked up on it.

"She dumped you already, huh?" his little sister cheerfully poked at his sore spot.

"I already told you I don't have a girlfriend, so how can I get dumped?" Mark answered irritably.

"How do you feel?" His mother asked with concern.

"Fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?" Mark snapped. What was with them? Why did it seem like they were out to get on his nerves all the time?

"Because of the news. You did see the article I sent you, yes?" his mother was taken aback.

Mark felt foolish for the way he spoke to his mother a moment ago.

"Oh, that. Yes, I'm a little worried. Some of the girls in school were even crying, but I'm sure the cops will figure it out".

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Rebecca butted in.

"None of your business", Mark brushed her off.

"Mark's friend went missing two nights ago. Now it turns out that another girl went missing at around the same time. The cops think they've been kidnapped", Mark's mother shot him a critical look. "Now let's forget about all of that for the moment and eat our supper".

"I agree", the father spoke up. His plate was already half-empty. The rest of them haven't even touched their food.

"How does he eat so much so fast and not get fat? He doesn't even exercise", Mark wondered, and not for the first time. His dad was thinner than he was, despite being a sedentary office worker, and despite Mark exercising almost every day. Maybe he just didn't eat much for breakfast or lunch.

After dinner he went back up to his room. He remembered that he should call Beth's parents to inquire as to how they were doing and how the investigation was progressing. He checked the time on his phone and saw that it wasn't too late to call.

"Hello?" the voice that greeted him sounded haggard.

"Hello Mrs. Turner, it's Mark. I was wondering if there was any news". He could already guess from the single word she had uttered that there wasn't, but since he called he felt that he should carry on the conversation.

"No, there isn't". Somehow she managed to sound even worse.

"I'm really sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do? Everyone in class is worried and wants to help".

"Just pray for her. That's all we've been able to do", Mrs. Turner whispered.

"I see. I hope they find her soon. Good night Mrs. Turner", Mark awkwardly ended the conversation.

"Good night. Thank you for calling". Beth's mother hung up.

Mark wasn't a religious person and he didn't know if he believed in any of that stuff, but he figured it couldn't hurt.

"What's the worst that can happen, anyway? Nothing?"

His family wasn't religious either and they rarely visited a church. Usually just for a birth, wedding, or funeral. He wasn't sure he ever saw anyone pray before. Fortunately he did watch the occasional movie so he imitated what he saw there. He got on his knees in front of his window, put his hands together before him, and said "Dear Lord, please bring Beth home quickly and safely. And that other girl too. Amen".

He didn't feel anything, but at least he did that favor for Beth and her parents. He got up and went to his computer. There wasn't anything else he had to do that evening, so he spent it playing a soccer team management simulation until it was time to go to bed. He Figured it would help him get his mind off both Beth and the mystery girl.

When the hour got late enough Mark turned off his computer and started getting ready for sleep. While he was brushing his teeth his sister walked into the bathroom.

"I know you've been dating someone, and I know she dumped your ass", she said with a big smirk, "it's written all over your face".

"You don't talk like that!" Mark admonished.

"But it's true. Even if you try to deny it, I know". Her smirk became even bigger.

"Just bugger off, okay?" he said in resignation.

Rebecca left him alone, but her grin seemed to linger like the smile of the Cheshire cat.

Her teasing brought back the memories he was trying to forget, and his regrets and feelings of guilt kept him lying awake in bed for a very long time.