Page 96 of Ours
“I’m fine. Is everything alright?” Cory’s mom didn’t have much reason to call him, especially not lately.
“I’m not sure.” Julia sounded worried. “I know you three had a falling out, but have you seen Cory?”
“Not since school let out earlier today,” Derek answered. “Is something wrong?”
“No, I’m sure he’s fine. I just can’t get a hold of him.” If Derek could see how Julia was pacing in her home, he’d know she was lying. “He told me he was going to a party tonight in the woods. I thought you or Nic might be there too. They just announced a thunderstorm warning for the county, and I just wanted to make sure he got home safely.”
“Sorry, Ms. Davis. Nic is here with me, but neither of us went to that party.” Derek was getting a little worried himself now. “We haven’t seen Cory.”
“Okay.” Derek could feel the concern through the phone. “Well, if you do see him, can you please tell him to call me ASAP?”
“Of course. We’ll both keep our eyes open for him.”
“Thank you, sweetie. Try and stay dry tonight!”
“You too.” Derek hung up the phone.
“Cory’s missing?” Nic didn’t wait for Derek to tell him about the call.
“His mom can’t get a hold of him.” Derek put his phone back down on the table. “He’s at the end of the year party in the woods. You know phones are shit out there. She said a storm is rolling in.”
“Shit. Yeah dude. Look.” Nic nodded to the windows behind Derek.
The sky was a dull gray, totally overcast, but that wasn’t what Nic was referring to. Large amounts of cars began pulling into the parking lot, each packed to the brim with teenagers mad that their night of partying was about to be ruined by bad weather. Most of the kids from the woods had migrated here, determined to grab one last meal with their friends and salvage the night.
“Wow.” Derek turned back around. “Well, Cory will probably show up here too.”
“With Jackson.” Nic sneered.
“Probably.” Derek sighed. “But if we see him, we need to tell him to call his mom.”
“I guess.” Nic sat up. “So, what else is Carl making you do?”
Derek smiled. If talking about this would help his friend get more comfortable with himself, he was happy to share.
It was the crack of thunder that eventually pulled Cory’s attention away from his phone. Fuck. He had completely lost track of how long he had been out here. It was starting to get dark, and that thunder meant it was going to rain soon. Time to get a move on. He stood up and dusted himself off. Stuffing his phone in his pocket, Cory headed in the direction of the party site. Or at least what he thought was the direction.
This is the right way, isn’t it?There were no lights, no sounds or music. Nothing. Cory could feel his chest tighten as he started to realize the predicament he might be in. Shoving down the panic that was building in his stomach, Cory took off, speeding up his search for his former classmates. He’d be fine.
That was an hour ago. About half an hour ago, it started raining. At least Cory thought it was about a half hour ago. Because about fifteen minutes ago, it started raining so hard that his phone managed to short out inside his waterlogged jeans.Fuck. It was raining hard now, and the sky was turning so dark Cory could barely see five feet in front of him. He was totally, completely lost.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” With the panic now finally overtaking him, Cory collapsed against a tree, crouching down near the trunkand hugging his knees. It was getting cold. The rain showed no sign of letting up. He could barely see, couldn’t use his phone, and didn’t even know where he was. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to go home. He wanted his mom. He wanted his friends.
It was maybe twenty minutes after Cory’s mom called when the rain finally started pouring. The diner had filled quickly and was nearly packed, almost every seat filled. Derek and Nic half expected someone to ask to share their booth, but given the subject of what they were talking about, they were glad to have some privacy.
“You’re focusing too much on the sub aspect of this, man.” Derek was in the middle of explaining exactly why he wanted to train under Carl. “It’s not even just about the learning. He knows people, has friends. He can introduce me to other subs, boys, girls. It’s like networking but for kinky sex.”
“That is kinda cool,” Nic agreed. The two boys had finished eating and were more or less loitering in their booth as they nursed their sodas. Derek turned to ask what he thought was the waitress for the check when he instead saw Stephanie standing next to their booth.
“Hey, guys.” Stephanie had just come in, her hair and shoulders still wet from the rain. “Have you seen Cory?”
“No. Did his mom call you too?” Derek instinctively reached for his phone, but he had no new notifications.
“I got a voicemail after I got out of the woods.” Stephanie slid into the seat beside Nic. “I was out there looking for Cory, but when I didn’t see him, I figured he must have already left. Guess not.”
“Should we be worried?” Nic asked honestly.
“I dunno. But his mom definitely is.” Stephanie recalled the voicemail and Julia’s attempts at seeming calm. “He told me he was going with Jackson. Have you seenhim?”
