Ariana ignored the teasing jabs as she made her way to the front of the class. She wracked her mind, trying to figure out why the principal would call her to the office. She hadn’t broken any rules, hadn’t missed any assignments, hadn’t done anything wrong—that was it! Maybe she wasn’t in trouble, like the kids in her class were saying. What if she was being called in because of her good academics? That made a lot more sense than being called in for doing something wrong.
When she stepped into the main office, the receptionist who was on the phone waved her over to the principal’s office.
The door was open, so Ari went straight. “You called for me?”
The principal was on the phone and motioned for Ariana to take a seat. She waved her hands around while speaking quickly to the other person. Then she ended the call and turned to Ariana. “You’re friends with Tinsley, right?”
Ari got a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?”
The principal scrunched her face. “She didn’t show up to class, and we don’t know where she is.”
“What about the cameras? Security guards? Nobody saw anything?”
“Nothing. She blended into the crowd during the break, and we can’t find her anywhere. Do you have any ideas where she might’ve gone?”
Ariana’s heart thundered. It was the second time in less than a week that Tinsley had gone missing. What was going on with her? Had she seen the lady in the red dress again?
“Do you know something?” asked the principal. “Anything will help, no matter how small it seems.”
“Well, she got lost in the woods over the weekend—she was found, obviously. But I don’t see how that has anything to do with this.”
“Why did she get lost?”
Ari looked down at her nails, guilt stinging again. “She was following someone she thought she knew.”
“Someone from school?”
“No.”
Silence settled between them and the principal paced. “Do you know if she was having any problems with another student? Or anything?”
“Not that she told me about, sorry. I wish I knew.” Ariana strained to think of anything. “What class was she supposed to be going to?”
“She was heading to one of her special education classes. The teacher doesn’t think she had any reason to want to avoid it. She was happy there yesterday.” The principal looked at Ariana. “You can’t think of anywhere she’d have gone?”
Ari shook her head, feeling as helpless as the other night. “I wish I could. She hasn’t said anything to me about this.”
“If you come up with anything at all, let me know.” She opened a drawer and dug around. “Here’s a special hall pass. Use it and come see me. Doesn’t matter how small the idea seems.”
Ariana took the pass and put it in a pocket. “Thanks. I hope she shows up first.”
“We all do. That poor girl has been through more than enough.”
Ari nodded and headed back into the hall to return to her class. Halfway there, she saw Nick and Genevieve racing in the direction of the office.
“Ariana!” Genevieve called.
She hurried over to them. “I just talked with the principal.”
“You don’t have any idea where she went?” Nick asked.
“I wish.” Ariana frowned. Maybe if she were a better friend, she would.
Genevieve put a hand on Ari’s shoulder. “If you think of something, call us. You have both of our numbers, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Thank you.” They hurried away.
Ariana’s stomach knotted. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Tinsley wouldn’t disappear twice in such a short period of time.
Then a thought struck her. Had she seen the woman in red again? That was why she’d gone off in the woods, and Ariana had seen her the night before. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
But would that lady be so bold as to approach her at the school? There were cameras everywhere. Well, not everywhere. If there were, Tinsley wouldn’t be missing.
A teacher walked by and he lifted a brow at Ariana. “What are you doing out of class?”
She pulled out the pass.
“Oh, you’re one of the principal’s assistants. I didn’t realize that. Carry on.” He continued down the hall.
That was easy. Too bad she couldn’t keep the pass indefinitely.
Ari headed for her class, but then a sign for the after-school art club caught her attention. Tinsley loved art. It was her favorite subject. What if she’d gone to one of the art rooms to paint or draw? Ariana darted down the opposite direction until she reached the hallway where all the art classrooms were.
The classrooms were both in session, but the pottery room was empty. The lights were out, and she couldn’t see anyone.
That didn’t mean nobody was actually in there. Tinsley would have a lot of places to hide, if she really wanted to. Plus, the camera down this hall didn’t point toward the pottery room.
She opened the door. “Tinsley?”
Nothing.
“It’s me, Ariana. Are you in here?”
Tap.
The noise could be the kiln, or it could be Tinsley. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time she’d tucked herself away somewhere when she wanted to be alone. It’d happened several times when Ari had been over at their house.
“Tinsley?”
Tap.
Ari crept between the tables, looking under them, but paying more attention to the noises coming from the back of the room. She went around the shelves holding bowls and other artwork in various stages. Blocks of clay were piled to the right and the kiln was off to the left.
She looked around in the dim area. Nearly turned around until she noticed a shoe sticking out from the far side of the room. She almost said something, but stopped herself. Tip-toed toward the shoe, instead.
Ducked down and peeked around the corner.
Tinsley. She sat, her arms wrapped around her legs, shaking.
“What’s wrong?” Ari crawled under the table and scooted next to her. “Why are you here?”
Tinsley sniffled. “To get away.”
“From what?”
“Don’t want to talk about it.”
“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”
Tinsley just shook her head.
Ariana frowned. “Everyone is worried about you.”
“Everyone?”
“Yeah. Nick and Genevieve are here.”
“Momma and Dad are at school?” Tinsley gave her a double take.
Ari nodded. “They’re worried.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody can find you. You’re supposed to be in class.”
“Oh.” Tinsley rested her head on her knees.
“You’re supposed to tell someone if you aren’t going to class.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here? Why are you surprised everybody’s worried?”
She shrugged.
“Let’s go tell them you’re okay.”
Tinsley didn’t budge.
“Is something the matter?”
She didn’t reply.
“Well, I need to let them know you’re safe.”
“Bye.”
“I’m not leaving.” Ariana pulled out her phone to text Genevieve.
Tinsley knocked the device from her hand, and it bounced across the floor.
“Hey! That could break.”
“Sorry.”
“What’s the matter?” Ari demanded. “You have to tell me now.”
Tinsley sighed.
“If you won’t tell me, you can tell your parents. They’re worried sick.” Ariana tugged on her arm.
“Don’t want to go out there.” Tinsley stared her down.
“Why not?” Ari let go of her arm.
“They picked on me.”
“They? They who?”
“Kids. They’re mean.”
Ariana scowled. “Well, they’re not supposed to. Tell me who they are, and I’ll make sure they never bother you again.”
Tinsley just shook her head.
“Guess we’re back to you telling your mom and dad.”
They stared each other down.
“Well?” Ari lifted an eyebrow.
“Kids from my last class,” Tinsley finally said.
“Who are they?”
“Bad kids.”
“Clearly. Do you know their names?”
Tinsley sucked in a breath before speaking. “Yeah.”
“Who are they?” Ari exclaimed.
“I can’t tell you.”
She threw her arms in the air. “I can’t help you, then!”
Tinsley looked back down. “Nobody can.”
“I can, or your parents, or the teachers—if you tell us who they are and what they did exactly.”
“They picked on me.”
Ariana counted to ten silently. Getting frustrated with Tinsley wouldn’t get her anywhere because the girl could shut down completely for days on end. “Did they say mean things?”
Tinsley nodded.
“Did they threaten you? Say they would hurt you?”
She shook her head no.
“That’s good, because otherwise I’d have to hurt them.”
Tinsley looked right at her.
“I’m serious.”
“You would?” she asked.
“Why do you think I’m here? Come on. We need to find your parents. They’re worried.”
Tinsley frowned.
“Next time this happens, ask someone for help. Me, for instance. Or Parker. Or any of your friends. But no more hiding, okay?”
“Okay.”
Ariana helped her up, grabbed her phone, and sent Genevieve a quick text, telling her where they were at.
“Sorry,” Tinsley said.
“Don’t apologize. I’m just glad I found you. And think about telling someone who made you so upset.”
She didn’t respond, so they exited the room and barely made it down the hall before Nick and Genevieve skidded around the corner, both showing a mixture of relief and disbelief before wrapping their arms around her and talking over each other.
Ariana waved and darted toward her class before she missed any more, but then the bell rang. With any luck, the kids would forget about her being called to the principal’s office by the next day. There was usually some kind of drama that made everyone forget about something like that pretty quickly.