I woke to my mother shouting, My mom NEVER shouts, so I flew out of bed and down the stairs to see what was wrong. She was standing in front of the TV, and as I entered, she pointed to the screen. I gasped. Never in a million years had I expected the sight that greeted me. A girl was on the news, thin and dirt-streaked, with wild eyes. She was surrounded by police, who were leading her toward her home while reporters shoved microphones in her face. It was like seeing a ghost. Exactly like seeing a ghost, because you see, the girl was my best friend, Jess. And one year ago, Jess disappeared.
The caption on the screen read: MISSING GIRL FOUND. POLICE HUNT FOR SUSPECT.
Jess had been kidnapped?! I’d imagined so many things over the past twelve months. Jess is dead. Jess lost somewhere in the woods, trying to survive. But most of all, I’d imagined the day Jess would come back. The day my phone would ring, and it would be her voice on the other end, with some excuse for where she’d been. I couldn’t believe that day was here!
As I pulled out my phone to call her, the voices on screen got louder. Reporters followed Jess and her bodyguards to the front of her house, still shouting questions as Jess was led inside and the door slammed. A studio reporter promised further news as the case unfolded, and showed a police sketch of the kidnapping suspect, a skinny blond woman.
I dialed Jess, but no one answered. I told myself maybe she had a new phone, or maybe she was too traumatized to talk yet. But days went by, and I didn’t hear anything. I was her best friend. Wasn’t I one of the first people she’d want to see? Finally, I got forwarded an invite on social media for a welcome home party for Jess, at our friend Stacy’s house. I was so excited and nervous to see her. I was greeted at the door by a bunch of girls asking if I’d heard what happened to Jess, and did I know she’d come to the party with a cop guarding her? All anybody could talk about was Jess and the details of her kidnapping.
All I wanted to do was talk to Jess.
She was in the kitchen, describing how she’d been walking home when a woman in a van offered her a ride. She’d felt safe, since the driver was a woman, but as they drove, the woman suddenly took a turn that led out of town. Jess told her they were going the wrong way, but the woman ignored her. Jess tried to get out of the car, but the child locks were on.
The woman took her to an old house in the woods and locked her in the basement. She’d kept Jess there for months, barely feeding her, until finally she attacked her captor when she opened the door and escaped. I listened, horrified. This was the craziest story I’d ever heard in my life, and I couldn’t believe it had happened to someone I knew! But another feeling was surfacing too: jealousy. People were hanging on Jess’s every word. It had always been that way with us. Jess, the star of the show. Me, a quiet little mouse in the corner. I was ashamed of my feelings,
I couldn't speak, but I could feel more and more people staring at us. “Jess,” I said. “What are you talking about?”
Chapter 1: The appearance of Jess 0:00
Chapter 2: Jess's Party and talking about her disappearance 1:41
Chapter 3: Jess blames me and fights during the party 3:22
Chapter 4: Remembering the details of the disappearing day 5:01
Chapter 5: Everyone blames me and questions me for Jess Disappearance 6:42
Chapter 6: Discovering the truth 8:23
Chapter 7: Jess asking for forgiveness and explaining herself 10:04
Chapter 8: The end of our friendship 11:04
She looked around to make sure everyone was still watching her. Of course they were. She pointed at me. “You made me walk home alone that day! That's when I was taken .”
I was so confused! I remembered that the day before Jess vanished, we’d been walking to her house after school, like usual. We'd gotten into a stupid fight, and I had stormed off to my house instead. But according to news reports, the last person to see her had been Kat, a college girl she’d been hanging out with—and that was the morning after she and I fought.
I said that, but Jess’s cold expression didn’t change. She said Kat had gotten the date wrong, that the last person she’d seen was me. I remembered all the horrible hours of police questioning me last year. The cops asking what I knew about Kat. Even though I couldn’t believe Jess was blaming me, some weird part of me felt special that I’d been the last person to see Jess, not Kat. But Jess wasn’t done. “Get out!” she shouted. “I never want to see you again. You disgust me!”
I was so mad! “It's not my fault that you were dumb enough to hitchhike!” I shouted back. Her face turned red, and she grabbed a handful of cake from the pan on the counter, and smashed it into my face. I stood there with icing stuck in my eyes and hair--even up my nose! People laughed and whooped, and someone told us both to calm down. But it was too late. I shoved her entire face into the cake pan and left.
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