Welcome To Wonderland

The Thrill is Gone

Days passed with no sign of her.

The boys stayed on edge constantly. Caleb's eyes scanned every corner, every shadow, for signs of Chase's return. There was nothing to find. When school resumed on Monday she wasn't there. Nor was she there the next day or the next. The week drug by and I sat through it in a trance. I remember Mallory telling Tyler that she'd gotten word from the office that Jenna would be gone. They didn't tell her if she'd be returning. How did they know? Who told them? Was Jenna's father panicked? He'd taken my number down when we'd left before the dance but he hadn't called. If his daughter had gone missing, if he had no idea where she was, wouldn't he call? It would only make sense. I tried to explain this to Caleb but he said it was speculative. Speculative my ass. All I'd wanted to do was help her. She'd trusted me with her secret she'd trusted me to help her and now she's gone. I cant help but think that if I'd gotten her to love me she would have shown up that night. She'd have taken our help. But she didn't come to me.

"I love you, don't let him take you from me."

I had finally worked up the courage to tell her how I felt and it hadn't mattered, she didn't feel the same way. I knew the guys were talking behind my back, discussing strategy. I'd even overheard Caleb telling Kate and Sarah to stay away from Jenna if they saw her and to call them immediately. I wanted to walk over there and deck him. As I thought about it my hand gripped tighter around my pencil until it snapped in half.

Professor Smitt looked up from his lecture and zeroed in on me, "Mr. Garwin, is there some issue I need to be aware of. I know your pencil didn't break under the pressure of your note taking, since you have been staring vacantly at the wall since you've gotten here. Am I boring you?" I glared at him.

"No sir."

He smiled, God I hated that smile, "Good then I assume there will be no more distractions."

"No sir."

He smiled again and turned away back to the board. Seriously, it was a freaking pencil.

I was beginning to zone out again when the door opened and everyone looked up.

Jenna.

"How nice of you to join us Ms. Kinnamon. We have sorely missed your presence."

She answered him with silence and handed him a note before sauntering to an empty seat across the room from me. I stared at her for several minutes, she was not paying attention to me but was whispering to the guy sitting beside her. He's the notorious suck up, top of class, nerd. Eddie. I continued to stare over, making sure to look back at Professor Smitt in intervals so he wouldn't see me slacking. When I looked back over towards Jenna she was looking at me for the first time. When our eyes connected I felt that familiar spark and then she smiled.

It was unlike any smile I'd ever seen on her. I don't know if the cold, calculating, smirk could even be designated a smile. It did not belong on her face.

For a fleeting moment, I didn't recognize who I was looking at. Then she turned away and broke the trance.

When the bell sounded at the end of class, a church like bell that you wouldn't hear at any other high school, I quickly grabbed my things and tried to bolt towards the door. There was a bottleneck at the exit and it slowed me down. By the time I caught up with Jenna she was walking with Eddie, "So you'll have no problem getting this done right? You're just helping, I mean we're friends after all." Eddie nodded with a dumb look on his face. I grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards me in a hug. I couldn't help it, it was the same physical force that always drew me towards her. She fit so right inside my arms, I wish I had done this more often. This time, she didn't hug me back. She felt stiff and cold. I pulled back and looked into her eyes. Dark blue.

"Jenna?"

She gave me that smile again, shook her head, and said, "Jenna's gone."

All of a sudden a group of students pushed between us and I lost sight of her for a second, when they passed, she was gone. I looked at the lockers behind where she'd been standing and saw Caleb with a haunted look on his face.

This story will be primarily in Reid's POV, although I may change it up. Feedback is helpful J Please R&R