"Save your advice, 'cause I won't hear." -Selena Gomez, The Heart Wants What It Wants

FORD IS STILL MISSING THE NEXT DAY, THE DAY AFTER THAT, AND THE DAY after that. At this point, the small town has gone full out on trying to find him. The last scandalous thing to happen like this had to be the murder of Ford's mother, which is to this day unsolved, which is what is really worrying people.

That's not worrying me, though. The thing that's weighing so freaking heavily on my mind is why? No matter how hard I try- and believe me, I've sat in my room for hours trying- I just can't figure out for the life of me why Ford would just leave. Sure, he seemed pretty distraught after talking to his Mr. Stevens, but if getting distraught is enough to make him want to leave, he would have been on the highway out of here five minutes after his mother's death. I just can't imagine how if that didn't drive him out of here, an upsetting conversation with Mr. Stevens could.

Of course, I've considered the possibilities. Some are more realistic; like perhaps he was being a teenager, and wanted to rebel. Some are more obscure; maybe he got kidnapped, or abducted by aliens. Either way, it's wracking my brain.

Everyone at school is just as interested. People are coming up with crazy theories, and although I don't want to believe them, the more times I hear, "I'm tellin' you, we're gonna find Wilson's dead body floating in the lake any minute now," the more times I'm actually starting to consider it. It's not like I can exactly avoid it; everywhere I go, Ford is somehow brought up in the conversation. Take now, for example.

"Maybe he found some chick and decided to run off with her," Jas suggests, rummaging through her books.

"Didn't he just break up with Victoria? Like, two weeks ago?" I retort. "I seriously doubt it."

Jas heaves a deep breath, pulling out the textbook she wanted. "Maybe something to do with his mom?"

I bite down on my lip, knowing that if Jas is bringing up Ford's dead mom, she's taking this seriously. "I mean... I don't know. I always though he took her death really well."

"People can be deceiving," Jas points out. She beams as James approaches our lunch table, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Hey, babe."

"What're you guys talking about?" James asks, stripping off his leather jacket, leaving him in a white tank top.

"Wilson," Jas answers plainly.

"Some guys are saying it's only a matter of minutes until they find his dead body," James says, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning like a maniac.

"That's not funny, James," I deadpan.

James shrugs. "It's probably not going to happen. I'm sure he's fine. But, like, c'mon. We need more.... activity in this town. It's so fucking boring. So props to Wilson for actually giving us something to talk about."

"Yes, cheers to Wilson," Jas laughs. Then she actually lifts her juice box, and James lifts his Gatorade. What the hell, I think, lifting my water bottle. Cheers to you, Wilson. You've swept us all off our feet.

x

"Ava Jackson?" Mr. Hilmer pokes his head through the classroom door on Monday. "Could I talk to you?"

Murmurs explode through the classroom like an atomic bomb. The principal coming all the way to an upstairs class to see a student is, yeah, a little more than strange. There's a knot in my stomach as I get up, but then Mr. Hilmer clears his throat and says, "You may want to get your things."

My eyebrows furrow, and although it's hesitantly, I do as he says. After my backpack is full, I slowly make my way through the rows of desks, trying to ignore the pairs of eyes that seem to be glued to me.

Mr. Hilmer places a soft hand on my back once I reach the door, gently leading me away from the classroom. "Um, did I do something wrong?"

"No, not at all," he assures. "You just might be a while, is all. C'mon."

I just not and follow him down to the office. I almost trip over my own two feet when I see who's waiting for me; two police officers. So much for not doing anything wrong, I think as my heart rate begins to speed up. What the hell do two police officers want with me? Every single thing I ever did wrong starts running through my head, but nothing police-worthy comes up.

"Ava Jackson?" one police officer asks. I nod meekly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Officer Jones. If you don't mind, we just have a couple of questions about Ford Wilson's disappearance."

"Oh," I visibly relax. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

Officer Jones grins. "Great. Ava, Mr. Stevens says you were one of the last people to see Ford. Is that true?"

"I think so," I shrug. "I talked to him before lunch ended, and then he never showed up for Chemistry."

"Did he seem upset in anyway?" the Officer asks. "Perhaps distraught?"

"Yeah, actually," I say. "He had been talking to Mr. Stevens, and when he came out, he was really upset. He wouldn't tell me why- he just said he'd see me after lunch, and never showed up to class."

The other officer furrows his eyebrows at the piece of information I offered. "Was he angry, perhaps?"

I purse my lips. "No, just upset."

"And this was Tuesday afternoon?" I nod. "We'll talk to Mr. Stevens. Thank you, Ava."

I give a short nod and turn around to leave. I don't have the chance to, though; at the door is a girl waiting for me. Something about her strikes familiar to me; grey eyes, dark hair...

"Hi, Ava," she smiles sweetly. The smile; I know that smile. The smile that completely brightens the grey eyes, shows all the white teeth all, and is just purely contagious.

"Molly Wilson?"

Ford's older sister's smile only gets bigger. Molly Wilson was valedictorian during her years at our high school, and then she went off to the nearest University. It's been a long while since I've seen her, so I'm quite taken aback, but I guess it makes sense. Her brother has been missing for six days.

"How's University going for you?" I ask, sticking my hands in my jean pockets.

"It's fine," she says. "Pretty stressful, but that's a given. I'm here about Ford, actually."

"I figured," I admit.

"Are you a good friend of his?"

My eyebrows furrow. Am I? Obviously not as close as Lucas, but what we have- whatever we have- has to count as something, right? "Yeah, I guess."

"I was wondering if you could help me with missing posters tonight," Molly admits. "I need a helping hand, and my dad is sort of... unattainable right now."

"Of course! What time?"

"Seven," Molly beams. "Here, let me just write down the address-"

"Oh, that's alright, I got it."

Molly raises an eyebrow, laughing. "Well, then. Maybe you shouldn't have sounded so unsure when I asked if you guys were friends. See you tonight?"

I nod and exchange goodbyes. I didn't notice the bell ring, but Mr. Hilmer had picked me up with only ten minutes of the day to go, so it's not that big of a surprise. Jas and James are waiting for me by the doors, along with a couple of people who string along after school.

"What the hell were you doing in there with police?" Jas demands.

"Questions about Ford," I say lightly, waving it off. "Want to get some coffee?"

"I can't," James says. "Got to head out." He kisses Jas' cheek and gives me a hug, before walking out the school doors.

"Guess it's just you and me," Jas grins, hip-bumping me. I smile and am about to leave with her when I hear screams on the other side of the hall.

"I told you to stay away from him," a voice is snarling. "God damn it, Victoria, I told you! Something is obviously wrong with him."

Jas and I exchange looks and edge closer. A girl's voice shoots back, "No one knows what freaking happened, so drop it, okay? I broke up with him, I did what you said. And now he's fucking missing! How do you expect me to feel? I dated him for a year, Luke."

We turn a corner to finally see who's talking. Victoria Hix and Luke Johnson. Victoria; former girlfriend of Ford's, who had supposedly broken up with him for Luke Johnson. Which, judging by the way they're pressed up against each other, is true.

"Are you guys talking about Ford?" I blurt out suddenly. Both heads shoot to me, bodies moving away from each other as shock overcome their features. But then Victoria sobers, brown eyes narrowing in on me.

"Weren't you the last to see him?" she asks.

"Did you really cheat on him?"

"Can we just forget about Ford Wilson?" Luke suddenly snarls, punching the wall with a sickening sound. "Jesus, Victoria. It's Ford this and Ford that. We're together now, isn't that all that matters?"

Victoria turns her attention back to Luke. "Of course, Luke! But... Luke, he's missing. What if he's hurt?"

"He's not."

"But what if he is?" Victoria presses. "I mean, sure, we're not dating anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't care about him! He's still a person! What if something bad actually happens to him?"

Luke groans. "Christ, Vicky, nothing's going to happen to him."

"You don't know that. What if he's dead?"

"Then another Wilson bites the dust," he growls. "It's not worth stressing over."

I don't expect Jas to snap, but suddenly, she's stepping away from behind me to face Luke with a wicked glare. "Hey, fucktard," Jas says with a fake smile on her face, gaining Luke's attention. "Shut your frog-looking mouth. You don't talk about another person's dead family member like that. Mrs. Wilson was a person, not just 'another one to bite the dust.'" Jas turns to Victoria. "You went from a ten to a one, honey."

Luke glowers. "Shut the hell up, Jaswinder."

Jas scoffs, and goes to take out her earrings. "Oh, bitch, now you asked for it-"

"Screw you," I throw at Luke before gripping Jas' shoulders and leading her away from the corridor, ignore her mumbles and different curses she chooses to call Luke. Once we're out of the school, Jas is still seething.

I manage to get her to calm down enough to get coffee. But I can't enjoy it; the whole time, the words then another Wilson bites the dust just keep chanting in my head.

 x

Jas decides join me with helping out with the missing posters. We pull up at Ford's house, one mutual understanding ringing out between us; this is strange. It really is; besides the fact that Southside is a pretty foreign place itself, the fact that we're staring at Ford Wilson's house- the Ford Wilson that is missing- is just... weird. I sort of feel like I'm seeing a really intimate part of Ford's life, one that he's not giving me permission to see, and like I'm somehow invading.

We slowly get out of my car, Jas' heels clicking on the pavement as we walk. Southside is quiet, which is unusual- Southside is never quiet. It's usually filled with the odd kids playing outside, or the shouts coming from a certain house, or cars' engines being ruined- but it's never quiet. Now, it's silent and eerie, despite it being only the evening, and I can't help but feel chills.

Molly greets us with a warm and welcoming smile, though. She's standing at the door of Ford's house, a huge grin on her face, which I feel is a little out of place, but I appreciate it nonetheless. She introduces herself to Jas before leading us into the house.

It's not what I expected.

To be fair, I wasn't very sure what to expect. But it sure as hell wasn't this. It's pretty hard to see the floor of the home; unlike Ford, who always seems to organized and clean, the house is a mess. Pictures, books, clothes and likewise are scattered all over the house, hanging off of tables and piled on window sills. Molly clears her throat. "Sorry about the mess," she says, cheeks tinting slightly red as if she's embarrassed. "We're not the cleanest family. Ford usually cleans, but..."

She doesn't have to say anymore. I get it. We continue to follow Molly into the kitchen, which is just a tinge cleaner than the the rest of the home, but not by much. My eyes trail to the dining table, where there's a stack of missing posters. I find myself walking over there, grabbing one in my hand, examining the picture of Ford on it. It's not the greatest for a missing poster- his face isn't completely notable, but it sure as hell is an amazing one. Ford is getting piggybacked by someone- judging by the head of blonde hair hanging down, it's Lucas- and is smiling uncontrollably. His grey eyes sparkle like crazy, like they're just gems, not eyes, and his whole face is practically glowing.

"Wow," is all I mutter.

"Not the best picture," Molly admits, looking the photo up and down herself. "It's the only one we had, though."

I furrow my eyebrows, but don't comment any further. 

"If you guys could just put each of these in a plastic cover to keep the rain from ruining it, that would be great," Molly explains. "I know it's a lot of work, but-"

"Don't worry about it," I interrupt. "We're happy to help."

Molly smiles at us, explaining she has to take care of some stuff in the living room, and leaves us be. Jas and I take our seats at the table, getting to work right away.

As we being to slip the papers in the plastic covers, I sigh heavily and let my eyes travel outside to the darkness settling outside. Another night that Ford might be outside, enduring a cold night. Or wherever the hell he is. It frustrates me. "I hope we find him soon," I mutter.

Jas gives me a sympathetic look. She sighs heavily, long nails tapping against the wooden table, dodging the 'Missing' posters scattered all over the surface. "Maybe," she finally says, "Just maybe, he doesn't want to be found, Ava."

I clench my jaw. "No. I refuse to believe that. He's not like that."

"What do you know?" Jas snorts, finally withdrawing her hand from the table and turning back to look at me. "You don't even know him."

I fall silent.

That's when I hear Molly scream from the living room.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter c: If you did, pleeeeease be sure to leave a COMMENT AND VOTE because they mean the world to me. Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates; hope you're having a great day with family and friends! Love you all :) xoxo