Hey guys. Hopefully this chapter is better than the last one; it felt so much better to write. Anyways you know the drill, Read and Review. Please be honest and tell me anything you think I could improve on. Thanks.

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Chapter 9 – The Phone Call

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A week passed by in Newport since Marissa's first disappearance, and there was still no news of her. The cops had searched the area within a 10 mile radius of Newport countless times but were still clueless as to where Marissa could be. The bus schedule gave them no lead either; there were at least 15 different destinations Marissa could have taken a bus to, and that excluded the stops along the way. Her credit card was still inactive; she obviously hadn't needed much money yet which meant she probably found someone to stay with. Yet, Julie had phoned relative after relative but no one had seen or heard from her.

It was early on Friday, just after 8am. Julie was at the station yet again, still hounding the officers on duty as to why they haven't found her daughter yet.

"What do you mean there is still no sign of her! You had a search party out looking for the past 24 hours and you've still found NOTHING!" Julie stood up and shouted at the officer behind the desk. She was tired and fed up.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Cooper but there isn't much else we can do. I know you wanted this to stay quiet, but the best thing to do right now would be to announce Marissa to the public as a missing person," calmly said the officer, leaning back in his chair.

Julie grumbled to herself before replying, "Fine. Tomorrow morning, you can announce it, but only if we don't hear anything before then," she angrily said before placing her Chanel handbag over her shoulder and walking out the door. She really didn't want the Newpsies knowing she had driven away her own daughter; it was bad enough that Kirsten and Sandy knew. It was lucky school hadn't started again yet, she really didn't need them hassling her as well.

As much as Julie cared about how she looked as a mother to society, she was really beginning to fear the worst; that Marissa may have been kidnapped or could even be, dare she say it, dead.

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But an hour's drive from Newport, in a street somewhere in the small town of Chino, Marissa was far from dead. In fact, she was lying on the couch in Ryan's small living room, giggling over Ryan tickling her.

"Ryan… stop" Marissa giggled, "it..." she giggled again, "please Ryan," Marissa was begging him to stop tickling her, though she did like having him touch her. She had been in Chino almost a week now, and they were slowly getting to know one another. They had shared details about their lives; Marissa had told Ryan what it was like growing up in the gated community, and Ryan let Marissa know how the other half lived. Although Ryan knew Marissa came from a wealthy background, he insisted on being a gentleman and refused to let her pay for anything apart from that first lot of groceries. Even though this annoyed Marissa, it worked in her favour to keep her location hidden from her family.

Her family. The thought of phoning home to let her family know she was alive and well had crossed Marissa's mind numerous times all week, but it was never right time for her. Every time she thought about it, she just kept remembering how they had treated her and driven her away, and it made her hatred towards them grow even more.

But today she decided that she was going to make that call. She had realised while lying in bed the previous night, that she needed to make some sort of communication with her family otherwise they may report her as missing. She wasn't going to talk to them for very long, only to let them know she was alive and to tell them to leave her alone for a while, she just needed space.

"Fine, fine, I'll stop," Ryan said, giving in and pulled away from tickling Marissa, who was now smiling as she recovered from all the laughter.

Sitting up on the sofa with Marissa now leaning against him, Ryan smiled at Marissa smiling. He loved her smile, he loved her laugh. They were beautiful, just like her.

It was unbelievable how much he had gotten used to having her around and it hadn't even been a week. It had even become difficult for him to imagine his life without her around. Since Marissa finally told him why she was in Chino and the difficulties of her life back home, their friendship had grown. Sure it was obvious there was chemistry between them, there was no denying that. But there was more to it than that. Ryan felt like he could trust her, and he knew she felt the same way about him.

As he looked over at Marissa, who was staring at the ceiling, he couldn't help but hope that she would be here for a long time to come. But for now, they will just have to take everything day by day.

"So Marissa, since you have ruined my fun for the morning," Ryan stuck out his tongue to show he was joking, "what should we today? I suggest we do something extremely fun to make up for the next couple days I have to work before I get another day off. Any ideas?"

"Well, I'm up for anything but there's just one thing I have to do first"

"What's that?"

"Call my mother." Marissa said coldly. She really despised her mother, and Ryan knew that.

"Oh. Are you sure you are ready for that?" Ryan was concerned. From what Marissa had told him, her mother wasn't a very nice woman, and he wasn't sure she was ready to deal with people back home yet.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to talk to her but I really should let her know I'm fine. Knowing her, she'll have me announced as missing any day now."

"Hmm… I suppose you're right. Okay then, how about you make that phone call now and then we can go out somewhere for the day?"

"Sounds like we have a plan, I'll just go grab my phone." Marissa stood up and went down to the bedroom to grab her phone. When she came back, she sat down next to Ryan. She glanced over at him next to her and he gave her a supportive nod. Taking in a deep breath, Marissa began to dial Julie's phone number.

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Back at her Newport mansion, Julie was just sitting down at the kitchen bench with a cup of coffee and a bagel when her phone began ringing. One glance at caller ID and Julie quickly answered.

"Marissa honey, I'm so glad you're calling. Where have you been young lady?" she said half angry, half overcome with relief.

"Hi mom… listen I'm sorry I took off like that, but I really just can't be in Newport at the moment. I'll come home when I'm ready." Marissa said, anxious to see whether her mother will just let her be alone.

"What do you mean you can't be in Newport at the moment? What about Luke? You can't just leave him like that. "

"I just can't be there mom, too much has happened. And as for Luke, we are over. That's just another reason for me to get away."

"Marissa, your whole life is here, where else can you go?"

"I've got a place to stay for a while," glancing over at Ryan as she said that, and saw him smiling happily, so she continued, "So I'll be fine for now. Just leave me alone and I'll come home eventually"

"Marissa darling, you are talking nonsense. Come home now or don't bother coming home at all."

"Fine. You want me to choose? I won't come home at all then. I can't believe you. I ask for space and time to think, and you do this to me. Well have it your way then. Goodbye Mother."

"Maris-"but Julie was too late, the phone went dead. She had lost her daughter yet again, but this time it was different. This time it could be for good.

As Julie put down her phone, she thought to herself, how on earth am I going to get Marissa back now?

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Hanging up her phone, Marissa turned to talk to Ryan.

"I can't believe she could make me choose like that. She truly doesn't care a single bit about me." Marissa said angrily, outraged at her mother's words.

"I'm sure she does care about you, at least a tiny bit."

"Well she has a funny way of showing it; basically telling me she'll disown me if I don't obey her orders. Right now I just want to stay as far away from Newport as possible." Marissa told him, calming down from her angry burst slightly.

"Well you are welcome to stay with me for as long as you like," Ryan offered, hoping she would accept.

"Thank you. As long as I'm here with you, everything will be alright. I don't want to be anywhere else." She replied to his offer, accepting it gratefully, she loved being with him.

"Don't worry about it; I wouldn't want to be you to be anywhere else."

And with that, Ryan leaned forward and placed a short but gentle, caring kiss on Marissa's lips.

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