Missing.

"Before I fall too fast
Kiss me quick but make it last
So I can see how badly this will hurt me
When you say goodbye.

Keep it sweet, keep it slow,
Let the future pass
And don't let go
But tonight I could fall too soon
Under this beautiful moonlight.

Cause you're so hypnotizing
You got me laughing while I sing,
you've got me smiling in my sleep.
And I can see this unraveling
Your love is where I'm falling
But please don't catch me."

"Gabi, you'll be fine. You can stop practicing. I even know all the words to that song." Chad Danforth, one of my best friends said.

We were in the sixth grade. We just finished our sex education pre course earlier that week. The guys were still laughing at the words 'vagina' and 'penis.' We've been friends for as long as I could remember. It's always been the six of us. There was me, Gabriella Montez, I was the dreamer of the group. I wanted to do anything and everything. My mind was always somewhere else. There was Taylor McKessie, the smartest girl I know, and my best girl friend. There's also Sharpay Evans. She's a little crazy but we tolerated her because she was highly entertaining. She was obsessed with acting, singing, clothes, and girly things. Don't get me started on her love of the color pink.

There was the boy's too. Chad Danforth, he was the grossest, funniest, silliest boy I've ever met. He was like the brother I sometimes wanted. Ryan Evans, Sharpay's twin brother, he was like the brother I've always wanted. He was super nice, very loyal, and he always complimented me. Then there was Troy Bolton, the only thing he loved more than basketball was his mom. He was a jock. He was always off at some practice or some game or some camp. He liked to tease me but I didn't really mind since everybody in the world knew I've had a crush on him since the third grade.

The spring talent show was coming up and I was going to audition. Ryan and Sharpay were going to do a number as well. It wasn't really a competition. It was more like a showcase. Only they shared my excitement. Chad, Troy, and Taylor were less than enthused when I asked them to hear me rehearse.

"But do you think it's good enough?" I asked them biting my lip.

Taylor gave me an encouraging smile. "Don't tell Sharpay I said this but I'd rather hear you sing than her."

"Amen to that. At least you sing cool music not some stupid show tune. If I have to hear that numbers song again, I'm going to rip my ears off." Troy said, mumbling as he laced up his new basketball shoes.

"Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes!" We heard Sharpay faintly coming in to Troy's house.

"No." Troy groaned, covering his ears.

"Seasons of Love!" Sharpay sang as she walked into the room, spreading her arms dramatically.

"Stop! I can't take it anymore!" Chad said, they were both curled up on the couch with their hands over their ears.

Taylor and I both giggled as Sharpay took off her pink sparkly flat and swatted them both with it. "You. Guys. Are. So. Mean." She said within each smack.

"Aw Shar, leave them alone, they're boys." Ryan said, taking a seat next to Taylor.

I took a seat next to Troy at the end of the couch. "Are you guys sleeping over too?" Troy asked, looking at Sharpay and Ryan.

"Yeah, Mummy just dropped us off for the night." Sharpay explained.

Troy's hand fell unknowingly close to my leg. I felt my heart beat pick up. It seemed like whenever he was around I was calm cool and collected on the outside but going crazy on the inside. I swallowed thickly, hoping I wasn't too red. I mentally reminded myself not to sit to close to him so he didn't think I was a freak.

"Gabi."

"What?" I asked, whipping my head up.

"I asked if you could paint my nails." Sharpay said. "Then Tay could do yours while mine dries then I could do Taylor's."

"That's fine." I said, pushing my brown curls behind my ear.

"You're going to make my whole house smell like that stinky stuff." Troy grumbled. My stomach growled, I looked at the time and it was time for lunch. Troy looked over at me concerned. "Are you hungry Brie? I think my mom is making us something."

I nodded my head silently, with a apologetic smile. I didn't know my stomach rumbled that loud. He used to call me Brie to get a stir out of me. I had this weird phase where all I'd bring for snacks were crackers and cheese. He thought it would be funny to call me cheese until one day he realized there was a cheese called Brie and it reminded him of my name. I was Brie ever since. It was kind of nice to have a personalized nickname from the boy you've been desperately crushing on through elementary school.

"Lunch is ready kids! I made everyone's favorite." Aunt Lucy said. Lucy and Jack Bolton were best friends with the Danforth's. My parents were best friends with the McKessie's. When us kids started hanging out, our parents did too. They all seemed like Aunts and Uncles to me and my parents to the rest of them.

I took my seat and Aunt Lucy smiled at me, stroking my hair gently. She was my favorite. Since I lived across the street from Troy I'd always come over while my parents were at work. Troy was always with Jack being shipped off to one practice or another. We'd find new recipes to bake or try our hands at knitting or crochet or gardening. Everyone loved Aunt Lucy. I adored her the most.

"Thanks Aunt Lucy." I said, with a smile up at her. I started eating and everybody mumbled a thanks with food in their mouth.

Aunt Lucy just laughed. "You're welcome. Water for Gabi, Taylor, Sharpay and Ryan. Milk for the basketball boys." She set down the cups of drink next to each of us. "I'll be in my office if you need me. Please don't break anything… Chad."

"I am really sorry about you kitty knickknack mama Bolton." Chad said with his nicest smile.

"I told you ,you shouldn't be playing soccer in the house." Taylor said, smirking at the two boys.

After lunch, the girls and I did our nails while the boys played baseball out back. Ryan loved baseball. His team went to the Little League world series this last season. I was so proud of him. He wasn't into basketball or any other ones, but he played to keep up with the boys. We all knew he didn't have to, but he did anyway. I'd always be on his team since three was such an awkward number and Taylor nor Sharpay wouldn't dare touch any kind of ball.

As we got ready for bed someone thought it would be a bright idea for us to play spin the bottle. I knew something was up when I came out of the bathroom and they were sitting in a circle with an unopened ketchup bottle in the middle of them. I had a bad feeling about this and my instincts were never wrong.

"Come on Gabi. Sit next to me!" Sharpay said, scooting closer to Ryan.

"Okay." I said hesitantly. We were all in Troy's room, on the floor the door closed behind me. I took a seat in between Sharpay and Taylor. Troy was across from me. I tried not to blush as he made eye contact with me.

"We have to have some kind of rules." Taylor said.

"I'm not kissing dudes." Chad said, looking over at Ryan and Troy. "Sorry dudes."

"Fine, then we can't kiss girls." Sharpay said.

The guys looked at each other. "We have no problem with that." Troy said.

Taylor frowned. "No double standards Bolton. All or nothing."

"Fine. All." Chad agreed. We all glared at him. "What?" He shrugged. "Oldest goes first."

"Crap." Taylor said, frowning. She sighed and reached out, spinning the bottle. She closed her eyes as we watched it slow to a stop at Ryan. She opened her eyes. Ryan looked like a deer in the headlights. "Are you ready for this?"

"I-I guess. It's just a kiss." He said with a simple shrug. He leaned over and they kissed before pulling away and sitting down.

Chad took a hold of the bottle, spinning it around. It stopped on Troy. Us girls burst out into giggles. "Shit." Chad cursed silently.

"Hey, you're the one that picked all." Taylor reminded him.

"Come on Danforth. It's just a kiss." Sharpay said with a smirk.

Troy looked over at me quickly before he looked at Chad. They kissed before wiping their mouths off dramatically. "Please be a girl." Troy said as he spun the bottle. It landed on himself. He kissed the back of his hand with a smirk. "Go on Ry."

Ryan spun the bottle and it stopped on his sister. "Whoa! Nuh-uh! I am not kissing Ryan!" Sharpay said.

"Hey! I kissed Hoops! It's like the same thing!"

"No it's not! Me and Ryan shared a womb!"

Taylor and I watched in amusement. "You shared a placenta! A kiss isn't going to kill you." Troy argued.

Shar glared at all of us. "I hate you… all of you." She leaned over to give Ryan a peck. They both made the same face as they pulled away. Sharpay spun the bottle and it landed on Chad. "Ugh, gross." She said as she leaned over the circle, giving Chad a kiss.

I stared at the bottle. I felt really nervous. I didn't want to do this because I knew how it was going to turn out. I knew it was going to land on Troy and I knew he wasn't going to want to kiss me. I twirled my finger around my curl, lost in thought.

"Brie, it's your turn." Troy said. I took a deep breath and spun the bottle. I closed my eyes until I heard somebody gasp. I opened my eyes and I was right. It was on Troy. "Oh, I can't kiss Brie…" He said, laughing nervously. My heart sank.

"Shut up Bolton and kiss the girl before I smack you." Sharpay said.

I sat up and leaned over. He looked as nervous as I felt. He placed his hands on the ground and leaned in to kiss me. His hand slipped and his forehead came in contact with my nose. I tasted blood in my mouth just before I saw a drip on my hand.

"Oh my god! Gabs, you're nose." Taylor said.

"Oh I don't like blood." Ryan said, his face turning pale before he fell back. Sharpay caught him.

Troy was rubbing his forehead and I got up quickly, running to the bathroom. I locked the door with my clean hand and turned on the water. I washed off my hands, letting the blood drip into the sink. I was so embarrassed. I knew something bad was going to happen. I wiped my nose, stuffing toilet paper in both nostrils. I took a seat on the closed toilet lid before I heard a soft knock.

"Gabriella, are you alright sweet heart?"

"I'm fine Aunt Lucy. It's almost stopped bleeding." I said. "I'll clean up the sink too."

"Don't worry about that honey. Do you mind if I come in?" She asked quietly.

I frowned to myself. I didn't want to seem rude. "I'm fine Aunt Lucy, really. Give me a couple more minutes and I'll be right back out."

"Take as much time as you need." She told me.

I sighed, sitting there for a couple of minutes before taking the tissue out of my nose. I sniffed and spit a couple of times to get the metallic blood taste out of my mouth. I brushed my teeth again before looking at myself in the mirror. I wanted to cry. I wanted that kiss so bad, whether I admitted it to myself or not. Now I just looked like a bleeding looser.

I cleaned up the sink and put all the bloody tissue in the garbage. I took a deep breath, making sure I didn't have blood anywhere else on me. I walked out of the bathroom to Troy's room. It smelled like disinfectant. They must have migrated down stairs. I walked down stairs and everybody looked at me.

"Are you alright?" Taylor asked.

I nodded. "I'm fine, it was just a little nose bleed. Troy, is your head okay?"

He gave me a small smile. "Yeah, it's fine." He said rubbing his forehead. "I have a hard head."

I laughed quietly. "Yeah, I know." I joked.

"You guys, get to bed at a decent hour." Aunt Lucy said coming into the room from the kitchen. She walked straight over to me. "You feeling okay? I can get you some Tylenol if you need."

I hugged her. "I'm okay, thanks anyway Aunt Lucy."

"If it's bothering you I left some on the counter." She said. "Goodnight kids."

"Night." We called back to her.

"Hey, where's your dad?" Chad asked Troy.

Troy shrugged. "He's in Oregon for a business trip. He's coming back tomorrow."

"I'm going to bed." Taylor announced crawling into her sleeping bag. Ryan was on one couch and Chad was on the other. Taylor was in the middle of me and Sharpay and I was in the middle of Taylor an Troy.

We all decided to get into our sleeping bags as well. There was a Family Guy episode on TV with the volume down low. Normally I'd fall asleep pretty quickly but my nose was a little sore still. I put my hair up into a bun so it wouldn't get too tangled.

I watched a little TV before I took a quick look at everybody. It looked like everybody was sleeping except me. I grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. I laid back down, facing Troy. His eyes opened, startling me. "I didn't know you were awake." I said quietly.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." He said.

I pulled my blanket up to my neck as I saw him scoot closer to me. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked.

"Well some dork decided it would be fun to smash their forehead into my nose." I said. I touched my tender nose gently. "It's still a little sore."

"I'm so sorry Brie." He said frowning. "It was an accident, really."

I giggled at him. "I know, Troy. I forgive you."

"The bruise is a perfect oval." He said, looking at it closer. "At least it's pretty colors."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever." I said with a smile.

"I guess I still owe you that kiss."

I froze. "You don't have to… if you don't want to… I guess." I said, swallowing thickly. The butterflies were bubbling. No bad feelings this time. He placed his hand on my cheek and pressed his lips against mine slowly. My eyes closed. His lips were light against mine, when I thought he was going to pull back he just pressed against me a little harder. This was definitely not a spin the bottle kiss.

He pulled away from me. He pressed a light kiss to the tip of my nose. "Goodnight Brie." He said softly.

"Goodnight." I said breathlessly. I rolled over, turning my back to him. Dear god, if I wasn't already in love with him, I sure was now.

That kiss was just a kiss and we didn't really act upon it. We went off to middle school where we both got our first boyfriends/girlfriends and heart breaks. The six of us remained close. We added Zeke Baylor and Kelsi Neilson. We had homeroom with them and we all just clicked instantly.

We didn't really start drifting apart until we started our freshman year. Troy, Chad, and Zeke made the basketball team. Ryan, Sharpay and Kelsi were in the theatre most of the time. Taylor and I stuck by each other and we ran for student government and joined all the clubs that we could.

We didn't hate each other. We were all civil. We were still friends, we just weren't that close. As spring of freshman year rolled around, I was set into a routine. Mondays; I had debate and student government after school. Tuesdays; I had Chemistry club and yearbook after school. On Wednesdays, I didn't have anything so I'd go over to Troy's house and hang out with Aunt Lucy. When Troy got home I'd tutor him if he needed help. Thursdays I had leadership activities and key club and on Fridays I had gardening/ environmental science club and a physics club meeting once a month. I had a busy schedule but I wanted a lot of extracurriculars to get me into a good college. I wanted to get into an Ivy league or Stanford. I was so excited to almost be done with my freshman year of high school.

Today was Wednesday, April 16, 2008.I woke up with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could not shake it as I was getting ready. I had my backpack and a bag of clean gym clothes ready to go by the door. Mom was making me breakfast and my dad had already left for work.

I grabbed the juice from the fridge and poured it in a cup. I took a drink as I put the juice away. "You're awfully quiet this morning babe." Mom said, handing me a plate of food.

"My stomach hurts… I think that time of the month is coming soon." I said with a sigh. I started eating.

"Maybe the food will make it feel better." She said. "You can stay home if you need to."

I shook my head. "I should be fine once I get moving." I said, taking a drink. "I'm probably going to be at the Bolton's after school."

Mom took a drink of her coffee. "Have Lucy call me when you get there like usual." Mom said. "You better get going, you're going to miss the bus." She said, looking at her watch.

I popped up, finishing off my food. "You're right." I said, shoving my cell phone in my pocket. "I love you mom, I'll see you tonight." I took one last drink of my juice and my mom kissed my forehead.

"I love you too babe, have a great day."

I smiled at her. "You too." I picked up my things and headed out the door. I walked down my street then turned on to another street. I had to walk down another quiet street to get to the bus stop. I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out.

'I need a man.' This was a message from Taylor.

I laughed to myself. 'Me too girl. But the one I want will never like me back.'

'I think he already does. He's just scared… like you.' Taylor replied and I rolled my eyes.

I stopped at the bus stop. I was always the first one here. Always early. 'Yeah right' I sent it and something went over my head. Suddenly my phone, my gym bag, and my backpack were ripped away from me. I got picked up and put into somewhere tight spaced.

I was frozen, I was terrified. I couldn't scream, move or even talk. I didn't even have time to process what was going on. I felt myself crying and I felt it start to get hard to breathe. I noticed my hands were tied around my back. I tried to wiggle them free but it felt like they were duct taped. It hit me.

I just got kidnapped, taken. My heart rate quickened. I'd never get to see my mom or dad or friends again. I'd never get to tell Troy how I felt. I'd never get to graduate or go off to college. I'd never get to get married. What if I died? Nobody would ever know that I died unless they found my body. What if they never found my body? I was sobbing now, shaking. I just wanted to go home. I just wanted to go home.

I had some inspiration in light of recent events. I've been reading up on those three girls that were taken in Ohio. I hate when kids go missing, kidnappings or other wise. I live in California. We've unfortunately had many pretty famous news stories of girls going missing. Jaycee Dugard- from Lake Tahoe. She is thankfully safe and at home with her family again. There are also some tragic stories about girls that don't get out. One recent one is from a couple years ago. Sierra Lamar was taken from Morgan Hill, CA. I actually know people who knew her and we're still praying everyday that we find her and she's alive. So this story is loosely based on these events but most of it is my imagination. I'm not that fantastic at writing 'bad' things. I hope you like it though. I love you guys. Don't forget to review!