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“She’s supposed to be packing.”
“My guess is she’d rather be helping with the decorations. Maybe she’s working on the escape room with Damon.”
“Which room?” She shot Ariana a venomous look.
“The garage.”
Rita raced down the stairs.
Ari hated being at odds with her, but she had also promised to be on Bella’s side. She would do whatever she could to keep her young friend safe, but also protect her right to make her own decisions. It wasn’t like she was a teenager. She was a full-fledged adult, and it had to be frustrating to be twenty and have her family treating her like she was only a child.
In the meantime, Ariana needed to find Bella. She checked all the rooms upstairs, finding them all as empty as Bella’s bedroom. Hopefully she was downstairs helping with the party. That was the last place she’d seen her, and it should’ve been the first place she looked.
Ariana made her way downstairs. Everyone else was busy with the preparations, and neither Rita nor Bella were anywhere to be seen.
Her throat was parched, so she grabbed a water bottle before checking the garage. Damon, Maya, and Olivia were busy transforming the space into an elaborate escape room based off a popular TV series. None of them looked up when Ariana opened the heavy door.
Did Rita go back to her house? Go outside?
Ari finished the water, tossed the bottle into the recycle bin, then headed to the backyard. Maybe they were around the pool house. She hurried there but didn’t find anyone, so she walked toward the tool shed.
She texted Rita, asking where she’d gone. Waited for a response.
Rain started sprinkling down, so Ari went back inside. She and Damon should’ve gotten Bella a phone since she’d had to ditch hers. Now they had no way of reaching her. No way of knowing whether she left because she was mad or because she had some other reason that would make perfect sense once they heard it.
Ari’s phone finally rang.
It was Rita.
She accepted the call. “Where are you?”
“Back at my house. I thought maybe she’d come back here.”
“Did she?”
“No. You didn’t happen to find her, did you?”
“Not yet.”
Rita made a frustrated sound. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“We could ask around the neighborhood.”
“It’s not like she’d go to stay with someone she doesn’t know.”
“Someone might’ve seen her.”
“No,” Rita insisted. “She’shiding. It’s something she’s been good at since she was little. Whenever our father would lose his temper, we’d lose her. Then we’d find her in some random place, like hiding behind boxes in a closet.”
“That’s it!”
“What?”
“I checked all the rooms in my house, but I didn’t look in closets. Check your closets. I bet we’ll find her in one of those.” Ariana darted back up the stairs. There were now plenty more places to look. Every room had a closet, plus there were several in the hallway. She hadn’t even thought to look in any of those.
“Okay.” Rita sounded defeated. “Let me know if you find her.”
“You’ll be the first person I tell.” Ariana ended the call and checked every closet, under all the beds, and anywhere else someone might be able to hide.
