Mia's POV

Out of all the people I wished I could see again, it was Kody I missed most. Sure, I loved my family and all, but we weren't that close. I had never loved anyone as much as I loved Kody. Some people would call it first love, but for some reason, I thought it was more than that. It was almost like my body ached to be near him when he was away, and boy was he away a lot. His family was always going on vacations; they were really rich.

The first day I met Kody was my second day of high school. It was actually quite funny. Since I was transferred from a different middle school than the rest, I assumed he was from that one and knew everyone else; however, he was new as well and thought the same of me. We both kept asking each other questions which only made us more confused. Eventually, we got it all cleared up, and we became good friends.

Talking to Kody was really easy; we just got each other. Our tastes and hobbies were similar, and he was the smartest person I knew, although he would tell you the same about me. We would spend all day talking, even when we got home from school.

"Hello?" I asked even though I could tell from caller ID that it was Kody.

"Hi Mia," he replied in his usual cheery voice. Although, my friends told me that he was never very cheery when other people tried to talk to him. I couldn't blame him though; the other people at school weren't that great.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to keep talking to you," he outright stated. I was a little stunned at his bluntness.

"You could have texted." Calling and talking on the phone wasn't really that common anymore. If it weren't Kody on the phone at that moment, I would have demanded that they just text. Holding conversations wasn't always my forte.

"But I'd rather hear your voice. Plus, this is faster."

"Oh okay."

That was the first time I knew something was up about him. No other guy had ever paid me that much attention before or was that nice, so when he did end up asking me out, I wasn't too surprised. That's not to say that I was completely for it. Since no guy had ever paid me attention, I was wary of Kody's intentions. Plus, any awkwardness between us had finally disappeared. If we were to start dating, it would only come back.

But Kody was persistent. Whenever we'd be talking, he'd always bring up some activity and ask if I wanted to go with him.

"Like a date?" I asked in my I-know-what-you're-doing voice.

"Well of course," he'd reply back with his usual politeness around this topic.

"What's wrong with being friends?"

"There's nothing wrong with that. Part of dating is being best friends with that person. There's just a little more added on to it."

"It's that little more that I'm worried about," I said honestly. After all, he was my best friend.

"I promise I would never hurt you. I'm nothing like any of the guys at school. They all have such dirty thoughts all the time. I promise you that I'm the perfect gentleman."

After chuckling at his comment, I replied, "That's true."

"So is it a date then?"

I hesitated for a moment, thinking about it. I really did want to date Kody; the only thing holding me back were fears of ruining what we already had, but that wasn't really a good reason. I finally responded, "It is."

When we finally started dating, it was a little awkward like I expected, but it was so wonderful. Much better than being friends like Kody said. I imagined the awkwardness was my fault, but Kody insisted that it was him. Sure, he had some quirks like his poor circulation which made his skin cold and his strange diet, but in terms of being sociable, he was super charismatic and always knew how to be the perfect gentleman.

We were always so happy together, and he seemed to cater to my every whim, within reason of course. He agreed to take our relationship slow since it was both our first time, but I quickly fell in love with him regardless. I never had the courage to tell him yet though. After all, we had only dated for six months, and something about Kody made me think we'd be together for much more than that.

My chances may have passed, though. Being stuck inside this prison away from everyone I knew was slowly killing me inside. I was barely living, each day blurring into the next with no purpose or motivation to escape. The highlights of my dark life now included food trays, trips to the bathroom, and the torturous screams that now went on constantly around me. If I hadn't been rescued after however long I had been here, there was no chance of it happening.

The only thing left for me was to wait until I was given the crazy man's torturous gift. Maybe then, I'd finally get some peace in heaven.

I wish I could say the people who loved me would be able to get the same closure I could. At what point would they stop searching for me and give up? At what point, do you decide that someone you love is gone? With no evidence to prove that they are truly dead but no way to get it, how do you move on with your life? With these questions in mind, I was almost glad that I was on this end of the situation and not theirs. It probably saved me more heartache, not that I didn't miss them dearly.