"TWO-BITS!"
I groaned, inwardly. If my ears were correct (which they probably were), my already bad Monday was going to get a lot worse. Taking a deep breath, I turned.
Sure enough, there was Mush, looking like the world was ending. He was barreling toward me, and I quickly side-stepped him, grabbing him around the chest (the very finely muscled chest, might I add) and spun him around.
"Mush, what's up! You look like the world's going up in smoke! Or like Michael Jackson just molested you," I added, grinning wryly. Mush did not seem to appreciate my joke.
"Kid Blink is gone!" he gasped. Oh, boy. I sighed, preparing for my 'Kid Blink has a lot of responsibilities' lecture.
"Mush, Kid has a lot—" I began, but Mush swiftly cut me off.
"Don't give me that 'responsibilities' crap, Bits!" he snapped, irritably. "He's never just got up and left!" I sighed, knowing there was no arguing with Mush when it came to Kid Blink.
"All right, Mush. Tell me what happened," I said, leaning against my locker.
"I don't know! He stayed the night last night, 'cause his mom was smashed, and when I woke up, he was just gone!"
"All right…Did he leave a note?" Mush smacked his forehead.
"I forgot to look!" I smiled, reassuringly, though I wasn't sure myself. Mush was right. It wasn't like Blink to just up and go.
"See? He probably just went home to take care of his mom, and you just missed his note."
"But what if he didn't?" Mush asked, still looking worried.
"C'mon. We'll go to your house and look around for—dare I say it—clues." I winced. "I feel like Nancy Drew," I grumbled, popping the lock back on my locker.
"What about school?" he asked, following me out the doors, to my car. I rolled my eyes.
"Which is more important: Kid Blink, or school?"
"Kid Blink," Mush said, getting in the car.
"Thought so." She drove to Mush's house, careful not to exceed her usual speed limit, so as not to alarm Mush.
She parked the car in the driveway of Mush's huge house and they hurried inside.
The house was empty, because both of Mush's parents were at work. They immediately started searching, beginning with Mush's room.
After tearing apart the bedroom, fruitlessly, they moved through the family room, to the living room, and then to the kitchen.
A sheet of paper had been stuck to the fridge by a magnet. On it, written in a messy red scrawl, was a note. Mush read it aloud.
"You must pay 500 grand if you ever want Kid Williams back."
Mush gasped and let the sheet of paper flutter to the ground.
