Recap:
"Dammit," she said.
"Having some trouble?" A familiar voice called out from the street.
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Andy sighed. "Amy's missing."
Ephram's eyes went wide. "I have to go find her," he said, grabbing his coat and keys without even thinking.
Chapter 10:
Ephram had checked Mama Joy's, Crash and Hope Café, and even the Hart's house with no sign of Amy. He looked at the clock in his car. It read 12:17. He decided to call Bright's cell phone, knowing he'd have it in his room and turned on, even if he was asleep. It rang about four times before Bright picked up.
"Hmm," Bright mumbled groggily.
"Hey, it's me, you gotta tell me if Amy's there."
"Ugh," Bright said, ticked off that someone would call and ask him something like that while he was asleep. "Of course she is, leave me alone, man."
"No, wait, are you sure? 'Cause your parents called my house tonight and said she was missing."
Bright didn't know about it. He had been out until around eleven that night and his parents had already been in bed. He assumed that Amy had been, too. "You're kidding…" he said, now awake, turning on the lamp beside his bed.
"So she's not there?" Ephram asked frantically.
"Let me check," Bright said, leaving his room to walk across the hall. He peeked through the crack in Amy's door. The light was off, but he somehow knew she wasn't in there. He pushed it open to find his suspicions were true.
"She's not there."
"Shit," Ephram mumbled. "Bright, I'm really worried about her. I have this feeling… where else can I look?"
"I don't know, man. Why don't you just go home. I'm sure Mom and Dad will call the cops about it in the morning," Bright tired to convince Ephram.
"That might be too long," Ephram said. "I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Talk to you later," Ephram said, hanging up the phone. He would drive around all night until he found her. He knew there was a reason why she hadn't called, and he had a feeling that it was because she wasn't able to.
"Eph—" Bright shook his head as the dial tone rung in his ears.
Meanwhile, a cold, frightened Amy whimpered softly in the dark, pulling her knees into her chest. You're so stupid, she told herself. You got in a car alone with a crackhead, what are you insane? Amy shook her head and wiped at her tears. Not knowing what else to do, she kept blaming herself for everything. If I hadn't been so stupid last year, she scolded herself. Ephram would have never gotten with Madison and our relationship wouldn't be this complicated. If I had not took him for granted every day after Colin died. If I hadn't made that stupid speech at Reverend Keyes' wedding. Then I would have been able to be with Ephram without Madison or their baby getting in the way, and I wouldn't have been walking alone to school this morning, and I never would have gotten in that van…
But Amy knew that things probably wouldn't have been any better. She and Ephram would have been totally inexperienced as far as relationships went, and probably would have gotten frustrated and broken up within the first few months. Yeah, Kimberly was here now, but she was the biggest blessing in disguise Amy had ever known of.
But all the same, at that exact moment in time, she was afraid that it soon all wouldn't matter. It was snowing and she had no coat, just a pair of torn, muddy jeans and a thin long-sleeved button-up shirt. She was lost in a whirlwind of trees and branches and sticks, without water or food. It had been 12 hours since she'd given up on trying to find her way home, scared she was only going to isolate herself from the people she loved more. She would give anything to see any of them right now. Especially Ephram. Tears stung her eyes just thinking about his name.
"Amy… Amy…"
Amy made a very feeble attempt at laughing at herself when she imagined him calling her name. She began to pile up some leaves to lay on.
"Amy…" Now she was really confused, it sounded like a voice in the far-off distance. "Amy!" The voice called, getting closer.
Someone's coming! Her own voice rang through her head. "Ephram…" she whispered, standing up. "I'm h—" She tried to yell, buth er voice got caught in her throat. She realized she hadn't spoken or had anything to drink in more than 12 hours. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm here!" She called out as loud as she could.
Ephram froze in position when he thought he heard her voice. "Amy! Is that you! Oh god, please tell me it's you…"
"It's me," Amy forced out. Now she was crying, which didn't make it any easier to yell.
Ephram listened and started running towards her voice. He was sure he looked terribly awkward; he had his hands out in front of him making sure he didn't run into any trees and already looked funny when he ran, but he didn't care. It was dark, but when he could see her blonde hair glimmering in the little bit of moonlight that there was when he came up on her.
Amy looked up. "Ephram!" She cried, getting up and throwing her arms around him.
Ephram embraced her. "Amy, what you doing out here?"
"Tommy…" she mumbled into his shoulder.
Ephram felt his blood start to boil. He began wanting to kick himself for not ever telling her that he was a crackhead in the first place, but decided that it was too late for that. He pulled Amy away from him for a second and looked her up and down. She looked beautiful to him, but knew she was probably feeling awful. Her jeans were tattered, her lips pale. "Come on, let's go," Ephram said, guiding her back to his car.
Once they were in the car they heat blasting at full and Amy wrapped up in a blanket Ephram had had stored in his trunk. "I can't believe you found me out here," Amy said. "I thought I was going to die."
Ephram turned to her. "I wouldn't let that happen."
Amy stared at him for a few minutes before looking down at her hands. "Well, I'm glad you didn't."
Ephram started fishing around in his glove compartment and in the back seat. He found a bottle of water and package of crackers and handed them to Amy. "Here, have those," he said.
"Thanks."
"So… has your dad said anything else about… you know… us?"
Amy just shook her head, never looking up.
"I-I-I know it's only been a week, but, I really miss you."
Amy continued to stare at the package of crackers in her lap.
"Amy, come on, look at me," he said softly. He leaned onto the middle compartment and just touching her cheek for a split second. She slowly raised her head and turned it toward him. They both leaned in for the kiss. They kissed for a couple seconds before Amy pulled away as tears formed in her eyes. She quickly looked out the window as Ephram stared at her sadly.
He started the car and drove back towards Everwood.
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