Chapter 7: Missing
"Connie! Wait up!" A shout was heard from behind Charlie. He and his friends turned around to see Terra skateboarding up to them. She had her coat off, and a sliver of skin shone through from her stomach. She jumped the curb and hit the front end of the skateboard to make it tip up, so she could catch it in her hand. "Where you going?" She had a quizzical look on her face. Connie said, "I was going to wait for you, but not you are here! So now we can all go! Yay!" Connie hugged her and said, "You are killer with that skateboard. How do you do that?" Terra blushed and replied, "It's from several years of gymnastics, dancing, and skating."
"I though you couldn't skate..." Banks stated. "Um...I meant roller blading." She said with a sneaky grin. No one but Charlie saw, though. Terra looked up and saw Charlie staring at her. She waved her hand in front of his eyes, then snapped it. She laughed and said, "Are you having fun staring at me like that?" He smiled and replied, "Yes, actually." She was shocked and shook her head. Connie grabbed her arm and demanded her teach her how to skateboard.
"I can't teach you how to...I don't know how to teach that, and besides weren't you going somewhere?" People all around her had looks of recognition. They heard shouts and laughter coming from across the lawn. It was Fulton and Portman. Terra had not yet met Portman, he had skipped lunch that day. They saw the rest of the team and shouted, "He-ey! Look who it is? Our team! Whooo-hoo!" They ran towards the team and gave everyone high-fives.
"We saw you both just not five minutes ago...how much trouble can you two get into in less than five minutes?" Portman looked up at Connie, he was about to answer her question when he saw the new girl next to Connie. "And who is this babe? Is she a new player?" Fulton looked at her and said, "No, she's my lab partner. Her name is Terra. You would know that if you hadn't skipped lunch today to go stalk Lucy.." "Hey! I am not a stalker, I was just following her." Portman raised a clenched fist.
Connie said, "Knock it off guys. Anyway, are we still going to go play roller-hockey?" Charlie nodded with everyone else and they started walking towards the lot. They passed a bar with a picture of a girl in the window. Banks saw it and said, "Hey! This girl kinda looks like you, Terra!" Terra looked up at the picture and grabbed it off the window. She stared at it with a perplexed face. A look of recognition crossed her face and she crumpled it up. "Sorry Connie, but I've gotta...go.." She took of running, because Connie was still holding her skateboard. "Hey! Where are you going?! Charlie! Go get her!" Charlie took off skating towards her. He caught up with her when he turned the corner. He grabbed her elbow and turned her around.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just take off like that! And what's up with that picture? It really looks like you, what does it say?" Terra put her hands up to her temples and started rubbing them to make her headache go away. She looked up at his face and yelled, "No! Not again!" She pushed his hand away and she turned to run again. She had pushed him off balance, so to regain his balance he had to wrap his arms around her waist. She froze. He could feel her muscles tense up when his hands touched her hips. She sucked in cold air and held it.
She turned around in his arms and he straightened his back. He was much taller than she was, especially with his roller blades on. He looked down his nose at her face. She had freckles across the bridge of her nose. He looked into her teary blue eyes and smiled. He felt her hands moving at his waist. He looked down and saw the piece of paper from the bar window. He removed his arms from her waist and took the piece of paper she was offering. On the top of the paper it read in big red bold letters, "MISSING; TERRA LOWE."