Jade:

It has been thirty eight hours, and Tori's still missing. I feel like opening my car door and slamming my face in it.

The police have no clue either. We've combed the entire area from the school to the mall, but there's still no sign of Tori anywhere. They're now talking about widening the search perimeters to cover the Northridge area.

The sense of foreboding I had from earlier came back two hundred percent stronger, and it feels like someone had punched me straight in my gut. There is this fear boiling in my belly I never felt before, not even at the height of my parents' fights when they were throwing pots and pans at each other. The fear that Tori won't ever be found. The fear that Tori is already long gone and we're just wasting our time searching for someone who is no longer around. And most of all, the fear that I'll never see Tori again.

It's all my fault. I should never have let Tori out of my sight. If I had stayed with her on Saturday instead of going back home to change, we would have spent the time eating sushi or burgers, then going onto the Ferris wheel and ended the night walking along the Santa Monica pier, under the full moon. All the romantic chizz that Vega loves.

We would then have spent the entire Sunday lazing around on her couch eating junk food and drinking pink lemonade, with me laughing at the stupid show called "Extreme Groin Injuries" while Tori looks on with a horrified expression on her pretty face. Then we'll bicker about changing channels to watch "Celebrities under water", with me always winning in the end to continue watching whatever horror that's currently showing while Tori snuggles in my arms, trying to cover her eyes and looking away from the images on the tv.

I'm afraid that I would never get the chance to do any of these with her ever again.

André called me earlier, telling me that Tori sent him a text thanking him for singing backup for her all the time, and asking me if Tori's been found. He said he tried to call her after receiving the text, but her phone was turned off. When I told him Tori was still missing, he said he would print out some flyers and stick them around town.

I don't understand. Who would want to harm sweet, dorky Tori who is always upbeat and helping others with a bright smile? This bastard, whoever they are, definitely knows about me, André and her family, which means they must go to school with us.

School. This should be the right direction to search in. I need to go to school today, no matter how much I want to pound the streets looking for Tori, since blindly searching around doesn't seem to be helping much at this point.

On the way to yet another trip to Jet Brew, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen as I put the phone between my ear and shoulder. "Detective Vega?"

"Jade, I just wanted to ask you if you know anything about Tori wanting to withdraw from school?"

"No? What do you mean?"

"My colleague called and said a brown envelope came for me while I was out searching for Tori. I just went back to the station to open it, and there's a letter of intent for school withdrawal sitting on my desk, signed and dated by Tori on Saturday. I know she signed this personally from the signature. There's also a note saying that she's under a lot of stress at Hollywood Arts, and that's the reason for withdrawing from school. She wants me to sign my permission and give it to the principal on her behalf."

A letter that Tori wants to withdraw from school? This fucker that has it out for Tori definitely goes to our school then. Maybe I should try to intercept the letter?

"No, detective, I never heard her say anything about this before. If you want, I'll pick it up from the station and help you give it to Principal Helen?"

"That'll be great. Thank you, Jade. I'll leave it at the front desk and go back to searching for Tori. We're going to cruise around in Northridge and see if Tori went there."

I stood at the vending machine and watched as kids strolled into the school through the front door, like everything is normal. Part of me wants to pick up a loudspeaker and start screaming at all of them, asking them how they could still be so calm and act as if nothing had happened when my Tori has vanished into thin air.

So intensely I was scrutinizing everyone walking in that I didn't notice my surroundings until a hand grabbed me into the Janitor's closet.

I pulled out my trusty scissors from my boot, ready to stab whoever dragged me in here. "Whoa! Hey! It's me!"

"Beck? What do you want?" I lowered my scissors, glaring at him while he holds out both his hands in the air.

"Listen, Jade. I know we haven't been talking ever since we broke up, but there's something weighing on my mind that I need to tell you. When I was hanging out with Ryder and the group on Friday, he was talking about how nice it would be if Tori left the school."

"Why do you even hang out with those losers anyway? Can't find better company?"

Beck's face flushed slightly. "Well, previously it was out of spite after you broke up with me. I wanted to find someone to bash Tori with, and who better than those that also had a vendetta against her?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"André called me on Sunday, asking me if Tori had contacted me. He refused to tell me why he was asking, and I don't know why, but Ryder's words just suddenly came to mind."

Beck let out a long sigh, before holding out his hand. "Look Jade, I know there's no way to patch up our relationship to what it was previously, but I really hope we can all be friends again. I'm remorseful for what I said and did in Yerba. It wasn't right to leave anyone behind. I miss you and the rest of them. None of you would speak to me anymore. And no matter how hard I try, I can't find a group of people that can be better friends than our little group of misfits."

I nodded, and pumped his hand once, before walking out of the Janitor's closet. "You'll have to talk to the rest of them on your own. It's not just up to me to speak for everyone."

A vendetta against Tori. Beck might just have given me an idea as to who is out to get my girlfriend.

I drove to the nearest Pear store. Normally, I wouldn't use my mom's credit card at all to avoid giving her anything to hold over me, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. I picked up two of the newest Peardrones and drove back to school to look for both Robbie and Sinjin.

After using a combination of promising them the drone and threatening them with my scissors if they didn't do as I say, I managed to get them both to agree to skip classes and stalk both Beck and Ryder's houses with the drones, and to call me if they see anything unusual. Beck because I still don't trust him fully, and Ryder because he might have an agenda against Tori after she shamed him in front of the whole school for his actions.

I didn't go to any of my classes. Instead, all I could do is to look through the things in Tori's locker and turn the lights on her locker back on, hoping that she'll come back to make my world shine again.