Present Day

I placed my hand on the doorknob and turned to no avail. My heart swelled with hope. Who else would lock my door? I knocked and waited. There was no sound on the other side.

I knocked harder, "It's me." I waited for any sign of life on the other side. There was none. Defeated, I pulled my keys out of my pocket and unlocked my bedroom door. I pushed the door open, and my breath caught.

There he was, sleeping peacefully in my bed. Covered only from the waist down with his long limbs spread out. I could see his bare chest; his muscles weren't as noticeable as they used to be.

Closing the door behind me I set all my belongings on my desk. I leaned on the nightstand next to my bed and watched him sleep. I didn't want to wake him because he looked so comfortable. What I really wanted to do was climb in next to him, but that wasn't an option.

I nudged his arm. He woke with a start and sat up quickly. For a second it seemed like he didn't know where he was. He looked around the room as if searching for something. Then his eyes landed on me. He let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his eyes in frustration. There was a soft plop as he dropped his head back on the bed. We stared at each other in silence.

I bit the inside of my cheek as the tension built. Finally, I said something.

"You stayed."

He smiled at me. "You always come back when you don't mean it."

"Well, it is my room, so I was going to come back eventually." He chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure I just failed my final. So, thanks for that."

His face darkened. "Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," I waved my hand in dismissal. "I'm only kidding, I don't think I failed. And if I did, it's more likely because I'm hungover than anything else."

"So, Jessie, huh?" His eyebrow was raised in that annoying way I could never manage.

2 Years Before Disappearance

I was frustrated as I looked at myself in the mirror. I used to love that dress. A black tight minidress that accentuated all my curves. It looked great on me, and I loved wearing it- when it was my idea.

I looked at Jessie's message again; wear that black dress I like; I want everyone to see how hot my girlfriend is.

I tossed my phone on my bed. I couldn't do it anymore. Being in a relationship with Jessie had become so draining. He had become a completely different person. I couldn't be mad though, because when we first started dating, we were just kids in middle school. As we grew older and got to know ourselves more and more, we changed. Who we each wanted to be had become very distinct from one another; it was beginning to weigh on me. I knew I had to break up with him, and as I finished my makeup, I knew I would do it that night.

When I arrived at the party, I knew immediately I was going to hate it. There was loud music blaring from inside. From the windows you could see the people packed closely together, all with red cups or bottles in their hands.

Normally that was the type of party that I loved, but only when I was in control of the situation, not around a bunch of people I didn't know.

I texted Jessie to let him know I was outside, and a few minutes later he stumbled out.

"Babe!" He put an arm around me. "You look so hot. I'm so glad you're here."

We made our way inside and a group of people I didn't know welcomed Jessie back, barely noticing I was right next to him.

"This is Rosemarie," Jessie said. Everyone halfheartedly said hello, and immediately went back to whatever they were doing.

"Rosemarie?" I asked. "Since when does anyone call me that?"

"It's more exotic and cool that 'Rose'," he gagged. "But who cares, what are you having to drink?" He pulled me towards the kitchen. "There's basically everything here."

"I'll just have a beer." The kitchen was a disaster. There were empty beer bottles and cups covering every surface.

"Rose, you don't look like you're having fun." He placed the beer in my hand and placed his hands on my cheeks. "I want you to have fun." In that moment I felt kind of bad. Jessie just wanted me to be a part of his life. Unfortunately, he didn't want me how I wanted to be, he wanted me in his owned imagined way.

"Jessie, we should talk." I think he knew the minute the words came out of my mouth. His hands stayed on my cheeks as he gave me a sad smile.

"I knew this day would come eventually."

"Jessie!" A short girl with curly blonde hair appeared in the doorway. "I need a partner for beer pong!"

"Go," I told him, "We can talk later."

Once they were gone, I lingered in the kitchen, not really knowing what to do. People shuffled in and out, grabbing beers and refilling their cups, but no one really paid any mind to me.

A tall man walked in and gave me a dazzling smile, I had never seen teeth so perfect. He walked past me to the fridge and pulled out a few beers. He tried to grab as many as he could, but he looked like he was struggling. I watched in amusement as he tried shoving a beer in his pant pockets to no avail.

Looking over at me he said, "Would you mind giving me a hand? I promised too many beers downstairs."

I chuckled and took some from his hands. I followed him as he led me down the stairs and into the basement where there were couches lining the walls. We made our way to one of the couches in the corner that had a group cramped on it. The man started handing out beer and took the ones from my hands to hand them out too.

I was about to walk away when he turned to me and said, "I'm Ivan by the way."