Page 53 of Our Moon
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When I return to the table a few moments later, the bill has been paid and everyone is getting ready to leave.
“Drop a deuce, man?” Joey asks.
“Ew, that’s disgusting Joey,” Ally cries.
I roll my eyes at him, “I got a phone call.” He accepts the lie as truth, and we all head out of the restaurant.
“You boys behave yourselves and please don’t stay out too late,” Mrs. Monroe says as she gives us each a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“No curfew tonight,” Mr. Monroe says. “Be safe.”
“You, too,” Trevor calls out as he walks to his car.
“I love you all,” Mrs. Monroe calls as she gets into their car.
“Love you, too,” we all call back.
I wink at Ally as I get in the backseat, Alex is riding shotgun this time. I’m pretty sure she blew me a kiss in return, and I can’t stop my grin. I don’t even care if anyone saw.
“You ready to par-tay?” Alex calls out.
“Hell, yeah,” Joey says and I nod.
“Let’s do this,” Trevor agrees.
I’m not really looking forward to the party, I’d much rather be with Ally and celebrate with her tonight. But it’s Alex’s night, too, and he wants to party. After tomorrow, I’ll have the rest of my life to spend with Ally. Alex may hate me.
We pull out of the parking lot heading south, and in the rearview mirror, I watch the taillights of the Monroe’s car with the love of my life, my Ally, heading north.
Soon.
Chapter Twenty-Two
We’re at the party for almost two hours before Alex gets a text from Lucy asking if he was still with Ally. I’m immediately on alert because I know Ally was heading straight over to Lucy’s graduation party after dinner; her parents were supposed to be dropping her off there on their way home. She would have told Lucy if she had a change of plans.
“Did you try mom’s cell phone?” Trevor asks Alex as we all step outside in the front yard.
“Yeah, hers and dad’s. They both went to voicemail,” Alex replies, looking worried.
“What about Ally’s?” I ask, trying not to panic myself.
“Lucy tried her cell first, and I just tried it again.”
“Let me try,” I say and pull out my phone. Same thing, voicemail. I shake my head at them to let them know the call didn’t go through. Why isn’t she answering her phone?
“I just tried the house,” Trevor says. “No answer.”
“We better go look for them,” Alex says and heads straight for the car. We all follow, saying nothing to anyone as we make our way down the street to where we parked. We get in the car, Trevor and Alex up front and Joey and I in the back.
“They probably got distracted on the way home, you know how Ally gets. Probably stopped for ice cream or something,” Trevor tries to reason, but I can tell by the shakiness in his voice that he’s starting to panic. He’s just trying to hide it from his brother. As the oldest sibling, he’s always trying to be stronger for the others.
“They had dessert at the restaurant,” Alex says quietly. He’s got his elbow propped up on the door and he’s leaning his head into his hand. His hands are shaking, and he’s completely freaking out.
“Maybe Ally wasn’t feeling well and just went home and went to bed. She ate a lot atdinner. I’ve never seem someone so little pack in so much food,” Joey offers. It’s possible, but she still would have texted Lucy, or someone, to communicate the change in plans. She’s meticulous about stuff like that for this very reason. She hates for people to worry. And why wouldn’t their parents be answering their phones either? Or the house phone?
“I have a bad feeling,” Alex says shaking his head.
