The Pain of Silence

Chapter 3

Tony walked back inside, confused about what just happened.

Frank went over to his friend. "Did you see her?"

Tony shook his head. "No. She was gone. What was his problem? Why would he just drag her off like that?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen him like that. Sorry man," Frank said and gave his friend a pat on the back. "Try not to let it bother you. It's your birthday. Maybe you can call her later and talk to her?"

Tony nodded, "Yeah. I'll do that. Come on, let's finish up."

They finished their last string and made their way over to Mr. Pizza for dinner. Callie's parents dropped her off shortly after the group arrived. Frank was seated next to Callie, and seemed to be flirting with her.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to use the restroom," Callie said and Frank and Tony moved out of the booth to let her out. "Thank you."

As they continued to eat dinner, Tony nudged him.

"Yeah?" Frank asked.

"She seems to like you," Tony said with a grin.

"It's only been an hour! It'll take a little longer to figure that out," Frank laughed. "Plus, she's new. She's just being friendly."

Tony playfully rolled his eyes. "Sure she is."

Shortly after, Callie returned from the restroom and the boys moved to let her sit back down.

Across the table Joe spoke up. "So Tony, can we come over and see Axel if it's okay with our dad?"

"You bet! My mom made a cake for tonight, so you guys are all welcome to have some later," Tony told his friends.

Joe grinned, "Oh, I'm sure our dad won't let us miss out on some cake. Right Frank?"

Frank shook his head. "You and your food! Yeah, I'm sure he won't mind. Actually, do any of you have a cell phone? I can give him a call and let him know what's going on."

Callie reached into her pocket. "Here you go Frank," she said, handing him her cell phone.

"Thanks Callie," he said and called his dad.

After Frank let their father know they'd be going to Tony's for cake, the Pritos took the group of boys to their house.

Callie's parents picked her up after dinner and took her home.

When everyone left the Pritos, Tony took the phone up to his room, to call Brooke. He sat down, dialed and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" a lady answered.

"Hi Mrs. Tyler. Is Brooke home?" he asked.

"Is this Tony?"

"Yes it is," he answered.

"Happy Birthday, Tony!"

"Thanks."

"Brooke's busy at the moment. Can I have her call you back?"

"Oh, sure. Thank you," he said and they said their goodbyes.

As the night passed Tony watched the clock. When it was nearing eleven he decided to call it a night and went to bed.

The next morning Frank woke up and showered, then made his way to his brother's room. He heard him snoring as he opened the door.

"Joe! Wake up! It's almost nine!"

The lump under the blanket moved and he heard a muffled reply: "One more hour."

Frank rolled his eyes and made his way downstairs to get some breakfast. He found his mother in the kitchen reading the newspaper and having some eggs and toast. "Good morning."

"Hi honey! How was Tony's birthday? Did you have fun bowling?" she asked and stood up to make her son some breakfast.

"Mom, sit down. I'll get something!" He didn't want to bother her while she was eating. "It was fun. We met a new girl who starts school tomorrow."

"That's nice. Hey, Joe told your dad last night that Brooke's father showed up. Was something wrong?" Laura asked. She was concerned about Brooke because she was friends with her mother, Morgan Tyler.

"I'm not sure what was going on. He just showed up and made her leave. Maybe you could check with Mrs. Tyler?" he suggested. "Tony was worried about her. He said he was gonna call her last night. I haven't talked to him yet."

"Sure, I'll give her a call later on today. I've been meaning to get in touch with her. We haven't talked in a couple weeks."

Frank grabbed a bowl of cereal and the milk and joined his mother at the table. "Thanks Mom."

About fifteen minutes later they heard someone coming down the stairs and Joe entered the kitchen, his blonde hair still tousled and messy. "Nice hair Joe," Frank said.

"Oh shut up," he yawned.

Frank laughed, "Do you want to see if Tony wants to hang out today? He was gonna bring Axel to the park."

Joe nodded. "Sure. Sounds good."

Joe sat down and had some breakfast. After he finished he made his way back upstairs and showered.

Frank was in his room on his computer chatting with Tony when Joe finished his shower. "Hey Joe! Tony said to come over any time!" he informed him.

"I'm ready whenever you are!" Joe yelled from his room.

Frank sent Tony a message saying they were on their way.

After several hours at the park playing with Tony's German Shepherd, they started back towards Tony's house.

"Hey guys, could we swing by Brooke's? I tried calling her again this morning but no one answered the phone," Tony asked them.

"Sure. Can I walk Axel?" Joe asked and Tony handed the leash to his friend. "Thanks."

When the boys arrived at Brooke's home, they saw her father's truck in the driveway.

"Oh great," Tony frowned. "I hope he's in a better mood today."

"I would hope so," Frank agreed.

"We'll wait here with Axel," Joe said and kneeled down to pet the dog.

Tony walked up the front steps and knocked on the front door.

Inside, Brooke was upstairs packing her things, as she had been instructed to do and heard a knock on the door. She heard her father walking to the door. "Who is it?" she yelled downstairs.

Scott looked out the window. "Some salesman, Brooke. Finish up your packing!" he told her.

Brooke sighed. "Okay." She had hoped it was Tony. She had wanted to call him that morning but her father had been on the phone with a moving company and his work, among other calls.

Scott opened the door and quickly stepped outside, closing the door behind him. "What can I do for you boys?" he asked.

"Hi Mr. Tyler," Tony said, stepping back. "Is Brooke here? I wanted to thank her for my gift."

Axel barked at the man. "Shh," Joe said and petted the puppy to quiet him.

"No she's not. She won't be back for a while," was Mr. Tyler's grumpy reply.

"Okay, well, do you know where she is?" Tony asked.

"Nope. She went somewhere with her mother. Sorry boys, but I have to be getting back inside. I have to make some phone calls." Scott opened the door and went inside.

"Wait!" Tony said and Scott re-opened the door. "What?"

"Can you have her call me tonight?" Tony asked him.

Scott sighed. "Yeah. Goodbye," he said and closed the door in Tony's face.

"What a jerk!" Tony exclaimed.

Frank was surprised by Scott's attitude. "We'll see her tomorrow at school. Maybe you two can hang out after. He usually works Mondays, right, and her mom's home?"

"Yeah. That's a good idea," Tony said and made his way down the steps.

An hour later, the Hardys were back at home having dinner with their parents.

"Hey mom, did you talk to Mrs. Tyler at all today?" Frank asked.

Laura shook her head, "I tried calling a few times today. The phone was busy. When I got through, her husband answered and said she was out of the house."

"Thanks, Mom. Can you let us know if you hear from her? We tried stopping by with Tony but Mr. Tyler answered the door and was the only one home. He seemed to be in a bad mood," Frank told her.

Fenton spoke up, "Do you think something's wrong?"

"We're not sure yet. We're trying to find out," Frank said, and filled him in on what happened earlier that day and at the birthday party.

"I wouldn't worry about anything yet. Everyone has their bad moods every now and then. But let me know if anything is wrong," Fenton told his sons.

"Tony seems worried about Brooke," Joe said to him.

"We'll see her at school tomorrow and we'll let you know," Frank announced.

The next day at school Frank, Joe and Tony kept an eye out for their friend, but didn't see her anywhere.

Tony, who usually had math with Brooke walked out of the class to find his friends after she never showed up. Thankfully, it was their last class of the day.

"Guys, she wasn't in class," Tony informed them as soon as they met up.

"We haven't seen her either. Let's head over to her house," Frank suggested.

After a fifteen-minute walk the boys arrived at Brooke's house. There were no cars in the driveway and there was a sign out front that hadn't been there the day before.

Tony went straight to the front porch, but Joe stopped to read the sign. "Hey Frank!"

Frank came over and looked at the sign and then glanced at Tony. "He's not gonna be happy."

Tony knocked on the door, hoping someone would answer.

Frank walked over to his friend. "Tony, there's a 'for sale' sign near the sidewalk. They're selling their house."

Tony went over to one of the windows and peered inside. He saw a lot of the furniture had been removed. "She couldn't have up and left without saying goodbye!"

Joe looked in another window and saw only an empty room.

That's when the boys realized their friend was gone.