Thanks for all of the amazing reviews and feedback!
I got a comment regarding Brallie. Sorry for all of the Brallie lovers out there, but this story won't be a Brallie. For the purpose of this story, Callie has already been adopted, making her and Brandon siblings. So, there will only be Brallie friendship an
Stef had just finished getting ready for work. It was Friday so she wasn't scheduled to go into work until ten, which still gave her another hour to kill. Usually, she spent this time reading the paper and drinking her second cup of coffee. Today would be no different.
As Stef sat down at the table and opened the newspaper, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, signifying that she had a new text message.
Stef looked at her phone and smiled when she saw that the text message was from Callie.
Callie: Hey! Just checking in, see if you're having a better morning than I am :/
Stef laughed as she typed a response.
Stef: It can't be that bad, love.
Callie: No, it's worse than bad! Brandon fell asleep! Which shows me just how boring I must be. Now, I have nothing to do but wallow in the fact that I'm so boring that even my own brother can't stay awake for more than an hour with me.
Stef: You're not boring Callie. You're one of the most fun people I know. I LOVE hanging out with you!
Callie: Thanks! But, you're my mom. You have to say that.
Stef: No, I'm serious Callie. You are anything, but boring. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your mom. I promise!
Callie: If you say so. Enough about boring old me. How's your morning going?
Stef: Don't you mean boring young you? Lol
Callie: See! I knew you were just being nice lol
Stef: My morning had been good. Just another hour before I have to head to work, so I'm just reading the paper and drinking coffee.
Callie: They still make newspapers!? :/
Stef: Ha ha, very funny!
Callie: So that's why I'm so boring. Everything else about you has rubbed off on me. Of course I would end up boring too lol.
Stef: Hey! I am not boring! I'll have you know that I am a very entertaining person. Back in the day I was a blast!
Callie: What happened to you? Lol
Stef: I fell in love and became the mother of five children ;)
Callie: :)
Callie: Brandon just woke up, he says hello and he loves you.
Stef: I love the both of you so much! Where are you guys now?
Stef waited for a minute for a response from Callie. Up until now, Callie had been responding within seconds of receiving her text messages. Maybe she's talking to Brandon now?
Stef had put her phone down on the table, expecting a response within the next five minutes. She assumed that Callie probably hadn't seen the text message yet. Once she did she would respond right away. Stef continued reading the newspaper.
After five minutes went by, Stef looked at her phone, puzzled as to why Callie hadn't responded yet.
Stef: Hey! Did Brandon steal you from me? Lol
Again, Stef waited for a minute to go by before typing again.
Stef: Callie?
Stef was starting to get concerned. It wasn't like Callie not to answer her text messages right away. Typically whenever she or Lena texted Callie, they got a response within seconds of sending the message. Stef clicked on the details option for Callie and then clicked the call button. Stef put the phone to her ear and waited patiently for Callie to answer her phone call. There was no way that Callie wouldn't answer her phone. However, after one ring, the call went straight to voicemail. 'Hi, this is Callie. You know what to do.'
"I know she charged her phone. I told her to make sure she had a full battery for the trip," Stef wondered aloud.
Stef tried the next best option. Luckily she had two kids sitting right next to each other. If one didn't answer, the other surely would. Stef clicked on Brandon's name and clicked the call button. This time it rang four times before going to voicemail. 'Hey, this is Brandon. Leave a message or just text me.'
Stef was starting to get a really bad feeling in her stomach. Something didn't feel right. In fact, something felt really, really wrong. Their kids were really good when it came to answering their phone calls and text messages. This wasn't like Callie or Brandon. There had to be a reason why both Callie and Brandon wouldn't answer their phones.
Stef got up from the table and began pacing the kitchen as she called Lena.
'Hey, babe,' Lena answered.
"Hey, honey, have you by any chance heard from Callie or Brandon?"
'No, not yet. But, it's only been an hour since they left. I'm sure they'll check in shortly.'
"That's the thing. Callie did check in and we were texting for a while, but then she stopped responding and she hasn't responded to any of my messages since. In fact I tried to call her and her phone is off."
'Maybe she forgot to charge it.'
"No, I made sure that both Brandon and Callie had their phones fully charged for the trip so that we could get in contact with them."
'Did you try Brandon?'
"Yes, and he didn't answer either. I think something's wrong Lena."
'Okay, maybe we're just jumping to conclusions. They're on a rowdy bus. They may have not heard their phones going off,' Lena said to Stef, trying to keep calm.
"Then why is Callie's phone off? And even if they didn't hear it, they would have felt it. Both of them have the vibration for their phones turned on."
Lena stayed quiet on the other end of the line. Lena was trying to remain calm. But, even she knew that something had to be going on. Callie and Brandon always answered their calls and there was no reason why Callie's phone would be off. 'Okay, I'll try and get in contact with Janet or Brian. They're the teachers on their bus. There has to be a reasonable explanation for why they aren't answering. I'll call you right back. Try not to worry.'
"I'll try," Stef responded as she hung up the phone. She was already worried. If she didn't hear good news from Lena, she was going into full on cop mode and try to figure out what the hell was going on.
After what seemed like an eternity, Lena was calling Stef back. "Did you talk to Janet or Brian?" Lena didn't respond. Stef knew this wasn't good. "Lena? What's going on?"
'I called Janet and Brian. Both of their phones were turned off, so I called one of the teacher's on the other bus and spoke with one of them,' Lena responded in a shaky voice.
"And?"
'Well, Daren said that the other bus was about five minutes behind them, so he couldn't see the bus, but he had the bus driver try to radio in the other bus driver.'
"Okay did they respond?"
'There was no response. Stef, the bus is missing!' Lena told Stef, her voice cracking.
Callie's Narration (Italics)
Life can change in an instant. I was finally happy, surrounded by a family that loved me. But, in one second all of that changed. In one second, everything was destroyed.
Callie woke up with a throbbing headache. She could hear a loud ringing in her head. Slowly, the ringing was replaced with the sound of multiple gut-wrenching screams.
Where am I and who is screaming like that!?
Callie opened her eyes in confusion. She couldn't remember what had happened or why her head hurt so badly.
After taking in her surroundings, Callie finally realized that she had been on the school bus for their field trip.
What the hell happened?
The last thing I remember is getting a text message from mom. I went to respond and the rest is a blank.
Wait! Brandon. I was talking to Brandon. He had just woken up.
Where is Brandon!?
So I'm keeping the story in a general point of view but the scenes involving Callie will be narrated by her. Basically the italics are Callie's thoughts.
As always all reviews and feedback are always appreciated. And if anyone else has any ideas or anything they want to see happen, run them by me and I'll try to incorporate it into the story.