If I hadn't grown up with common sense, I would have instantly left and tried to find Duncan. But I had grown up with common sense – and quite a lot of it, compared to others – so I know better than to go and find Duncan. I kept thinking he'd be okay by himself, he was Duncan after all. But then, his tough-guy-persona I always thought was to impress people. But I have no clue what to do, or how to do whatever I was going to do to get Duncan back, and this angers me. My intelligence was failing me.

I should probably get some sleep. I'd need it, if I was to tell Bridgette and Gwen and the others – oh no. Of course, this is exactly what happened to me and him last time.

No. No. NO.

This is terrible. How on earth am I supposed to explain this?

"You're kidding, right? Right?" Gwen insists, breathless, her face filled with panic. "Idiots. You're both absolute idiots! You think you would have learned, Courtney, honestly. I can't believe you and Duncan could even think about going out like that, after all that happened a few months ago, after all that-" Gwen shouts, angrily. I flinch at the name 'Courtney'. It's always been Court.

"A few months ago. I swear, I honestly didn't think anything would happen! Not this time, anyway…"

"This is beyond a joke," Bridgette chips in. "I agree. You should have learnt your lesson."

I cup my face in my hands, and take a second to recover. I look around at the faces, as we wait around the bench outside of the gates to our school – me, Geoff, Bridgette, Trent, Gwen, Heather and Alejhandro.

"I have no clue, that's the problem. Duncan had a connection with them – I don't. And they could be in Cuba now for all I know. Duncan could even be in a different continent – no, he couldn't. But he could be in a different country, at least."

"It honestly, probably, isn't as bad as that. Personally, it seems a bit far-fetched to take Duncan to a totally different country," Trent points out. "Like, I know he's Duncan, but he's 13. He must have done something pretty bad to be taken to a different coutnry. And he wouldn't have his passport on him. It'd be difficult to take him out of the area."

"They're criminals. They know how to do stuff," Heather chuckles. "And, shut up, Music Man, we don't need your optimism. We're all trying to mourn Duncan here. Courtney, would you like to say a few words?" I pull a face at her. WHY on earth does Heather always have to get involved?

"Okay," Gwen says, now calmly breathing. "There must be some clues. Something. We could check the mansion or something and try to find out what happened or what coulda-"

"HI, GWEN!" I hear a voice shout from a few metres away. Chris McLean.

"Hi, Chris…" Gwen seems to automatically reply, and looks over at me and mutters 'SOS'.

"So, what are we guys doing'? Are we going out to party?" Chris McLean says looking around.

"Uh – Heather, Alejhandro, Geoff, and Bridgette – this is my uncle. And no. Duncan's gone missing. You know, the kid that was in the papers only a few days ago?" Everyone looks at Chris with astonished faces – maybe awe – but Gwen just shrugs it off like it's the most normal thing in the world. Gwen has a tendency to do that.

"But-" Chris starts, and him and Geoff finish, "PARTY!"

"No. No. We've gotta find Duncan," Gwen says firmly. I tighten up at this.

"Since when have you been so keen at seeing Duncan?" I question, and she looks absolutely blank.

"N-never. It's just – like, uh – you're my best friend. And I want to help you find him if he's missing, because…that's what friends are for, right? Finding criminals when their girlfriends lose them?" she replies, sounding unsure. I suspect something's wrong – but I don't have the time to actually care about it. Duncan's gone. That's top of my list. Getting Duncan to question Gwen is only second.

"We need a plan," Chris declares at the top of his voice. Even by the tone in his voice and his grin on his face you know immediately it's going to be absolutely absurd.

"Chris, going to Cuba, getting fake IDs and pretending we're criminals is not a good plan. It's a pretty bad one. And we're not going to Spain. Or Portugal. Or any other country you could possibly think of. First off, I highly doubt my mom would allow me to do that, and I'm pretty sure Trent's too optimistic to actually be a criminal," Gwen says. "No offense, Trent."

"None taken?" Trent replies, sighing, but also slightly puzzled.

"No. That wasn't the plan. The plan was that we all stole fast cars and we drove to some place as I teach you about grass, and let you see it for the first time," Chris says honestly.

"That isn't a very good plan either, Chris. And I've saw grass. I also am not legally permitted to drive yet, either. I think we should go with Gwen's plan. Go to the old mansion and see if there are any clues that could tell us where Duncan could possibly be," I tell the others.

"But that's boring. That's a boring plan. Can we do it while wearing cardboard boxes on our heads?" Chris tries at me.

"No. We couldn't see. And we couldn't spot the clues," I reply dully.

"How about we eat popcorn while doing it?"

"I like that plan," Geoff immediately says.

"That would distract us," I reply flatly.

"You're such an absolute spoil sport, Courtney. I bet you haven't even published an autobiography that was rejected by the publishers yet, have you?"

"No – and I don't plan to, I hope my writing would be better than that…" I reply, looking at him.

And I thought Chris McLean was sane.

A/N – Sorry! I am really sorry! I have not published in something like a month! I just didn't have the time, I had tests, I was doing things in school, I was spending tons of time away, blah, blah, blah. And, I've been in pretty bad shape these past few weeks anyway. But, here it is, hope you enjoyed, um – do something?