I was grounded the entire weekend. My phone was taken away from me, so was TV and usage of computers or tablets in the house. I had a list of chores to complete by the end of the weekend and a lot of studying to do. It was miserable. During it all, I also listened to mom and dad go back and forth arguing. I heard snippets of it before they took it to the car and drove away yelling, leaving me home alone to do my punishment work. I was unsettled, though, hearing mentions of dad relapsing again. Relapsing over what, drinking? He never drank before, not while I existed at least…

On Monday, I got my phone back, and I was heartbroken to see no texts from anyone; not Justin’s typical spam messages, no messages from Claire or Jake, and none from even Parker. I forgot about homecoming, how I slow-danced with Parker and struck him with a quick kiss on the lips before my mom busted me and punished me. It was a memory of regret everywhere… I guess I deserved being ignored by everyone, I did ruin the night. If I had bought the dress Claire wanted, we’d be fine. If Parker stayed home, then I wouldn’t be outcasted. And if I had texted my mom what was going on with dad, I wouldn’t have been grounded.

That wasn’t the case.

I entered math for the second period. Gym went okay, but I didn’t see Parker… It was weird, and I felt somewhat relieved not having to run into him after leaving off on my mom yelling at me and ignoring him.

I sat down in the back and pulled out my phone to browse through my social media apps. I saw Claire had posted on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter photos of homecoming with Jake. It was cute, but I hesitated on liking her posts. I didn’t know if she would get upset with me or not, whether we were still on bad terms or if we were fine… I never saw her after the start of homecoming, only a glance of her and Jake arguing at the back of the gym.

Then, I opened up my messages with Justin. I had to text him. There was no way we were on bad terms, right? He was fine on homecoming night, just really eager for some action was all. He said we were besties no matter what.

Me: Hey bestie, where you at? Got grounded, I’ll catch you up on why. But, just wanted to see if you were doing alright, haven’t heard from you.

I expected a response since Justin is always on his phone, or at least leaving me on read to know he was alive, but there was nothing. Class began and I put my phone away. Not once did I hear or feel it vibrate. I was never one to look at my phone during class, not frequent at least, but today was the day I changed that personal rule. I kept my phone on the desk and tapped the screen to turn it on every few minutes in wait for a response from Justin.

Math and science were a dread. They were boring and I couldn’t focus with my mind occupied with worries. It didn’t get better. I walked outside for lunch and found the table empty. No Claire sitting on Jake’s lap making out, no Justin blabbing on about guys, makeup, and social media. It was empty. I sat down and picked at my chips but felt unsatisfied and then disinterested in my food. I lost my appetite for who knows why. I watched the front doors to see if Parker skipped out on class and would come for his usual smoke, but nothing. 

What, did everyone gang up on me to teach me a lesson or something? I thought as I crushed the bag of chips in my hands and threw it onto the ground. I felt my eyes tear up, but I held back. I couldn’t be that person at school, the one who cries and makes everyone else around me feel uncomfortable.

I ended up walking around the school building outside until class began, which I had Spanish left for the day. Justin and I had that class, and we sat next to each other. I know he doesn’t ditch class. I marched my way into the room and sat down. I waited anxiously for him to show, but he never did… 

Where is everyone? And why me?