The first thing I hear is the sound of my alarm as my body slowly starts up. After an unusually bad night of sleep, it's time for a day of school. Pulling myself out of bed is an almost monumental effort as I mull over the thoughts that ruined my night.

Why was Anna in the Sullivan’s mansion?

Sauntering to the bathroom, I turn on the sink, then splash some water on my face. For a moment I stare in the mirror, examining the physical evidence of my bad sleep. Red, baggy eyes, and a dull expression.

How did Taylor just… disappear?

I continue to get ready for the day; showering, putting on clothes, then eating. I wave to my mom as I leave, and walk toward the bus stop. Harris-Hyde doesn’t have school buses, so most students commute on public transport, which is what I generally do. I take a seat.

Is Anna responsible for Taylor’s disappearance?

The bus arrives. The door swings open and I step inside, flashing the driver my student ID to waive the bus fare. I plop down on the farthest back seat and lean my head against the window.

How does everything fit together?

The bus lurches to a start, and my journey to school begins once again.

The morning class passes slowly as I set a more concrete plan of action. I need to find Anna. She’s the only lead I have, as well as the only suspect. I don’t really want to believe that she would kidnap someone, but I also don’t really know what to believe anymore.

Today’s test day in Chemistry. I sit down at my desk, hammer out the questions in 15 minutes, then turn them in. Everyone else is struggling a bit, and I can see a twinge of concern on Laura’s face as she walks between the desks.

As I’ve spent more time with Laura, one thing about her has made itself apparent. She’s hopelessly idealistic, and when things don’t live up to her ideals she gets — sometimes violently— upset. I’ve tried to talk with her about how things aren’t going that great in her class, but she didn’t quite get what I meant. It was almost like she didn’t want to believe it. I only hope she can use this to improve her teaching.

It’s not like I can just fail alongside everyone else though. I studied a bunch to make sure that at least one of her students passes.

Laura sits down at her desk, looking downwards. Knowing her, she’s barely holding back tears. 

I catch her attention by moving around a little bit. While everyone around me is busy I make a dumb face to see if I can at least get a smile. It doesn’t quite have the desired effect, and instead, she flashes me a weak, tiny smile and goes back to staring at the floor.

That’s not good.

I look over the classroom and see a range of different emotions from the students. Some are stoically staring at the first page with a blank test in front of them, others are frantically writing the few things they remember, trying to secure what points they can. The only other student who seems to be somewhat comfortable with their answers is Minnie, who is avoiding looking at me with every fiber of her being.

The bell rings and a group of students ranging from accepting to utterly distraught turn in their tests and leave the classroom. I’m the last student out of the classroom. Using this brief moment away from prying eyes I lightly touch her hand and say, “Everything’s going to be alright,” while giving her a reassuring smile. After I let go of her hand she wilts even more, seemingly sinking deeper into her chair.

There’s not much I can do about this right now, but I have a plan. That’s for later though.

I step out of the classroom and look for a particular person, who is just short enough that the only way I can find her in the throng of students is by looking for a gap in the horde.

I walk up alongside her, saying “Heya Minnie,” to get her attention.

She turns toward me, realizes who I am, then turns away. Her pale skin transitions into a bright red.

I guess she’s too embarrassed to even look at me, which is a little odd. I don’t understand why she’s the one that’s feeling self-conscious. I still don’t quite get her, honestly.

A smarter man than I might have been able to talk their way out of what happened yesterday, but I’m not that man. Instead, I’ve elected to pretend that it never happened.

“I found something out about Taylor.”

That seems to get her attention, and she quickly turns back to me.“What?” She says while avoiding any and all eye contact. It’s a little awkward, but at least we can have a conversation.

“You and Octavia are friends right?”

“I guess?” She seems a little confused.

“What do you know about her maids?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” her bewilderment has only grown.

“Anna’s currently working as a maid there.”

She stares straight ahead for a moment, contemplating something. “I haven’t been to Octavia’s place in over a year. We could just wait outside the staff exit for her? Most of the maids leave around 5.”

“They have a staff exit?”

“Yeah. They have a big front gate, but they don’t want to open and close it for every one of the help, so they have a side exit and parking lot for them.”

That seems unnecessary. Do they really need a separate entrance and exit for the people they employ? Also, doesn’t having a side entrance eliminate the benefit of a massive gate? I guess it works out in our favor, but it all seems a little ridiculous.

“Let’s do that then.” Minnie knows a lot more about that mansion than I do, so if she says it’s a good idea it’ll probably work out.

We walk side by side for a while toward the school's central courtyard. As we arrive, Minnie has something to say.

“Hey… Sam?” She says this, then looks me directly in the eyes for the first time since we started talking.

“Hm?”

“Jess told me that… you didn’t do anything.”

“Are you talking about yesterday?”

“Yeah…”

“I was sitting there, then Jess tripped into my lap. Nothing else happened. I swear on my life.”

“I thought so. Not many people do… that, in that position.”

“Yeah.” I don’t really know how else to respond.

“I’m sorry if I was being weird, I just… seeing you like that, with her,” that last word has just a little bit of venom behind it, “I was more than a little upset.”

“Yeah, I imagine walking in on that was quite a shock.”

She lets out a little, humorless laugh, “It definitely wasn’t what I expected.”

We talk a little more about a few things, but the conversation is mostly just small talk at this point. I tell her we’ll try to find Anna another day, then I walk away. I’m not super stoked about delaying finding Anna, but I’m more worried about Laura at this point. After school gets out, the rest of the day’s gonna be dedicated to her.