Chapter 44 Missing
NANCY'S POV
"What? What's what?" I grabbed my neck immediately, covering it up while I rushed to the mirror to take a look.
My eyes went wide with shock when I saw that I was sporting a hickey, and my breath caught in my throat.
Thinking fast, I turned around to face Diana, then pulled my hand on my neck, trying to act nonchalant about it.
"Oh, this, I scratched too hard at an itch in my neck last night...Didn't realise I bruised it."
Daina didn't respond immediately, and in the few seconds that she hesitated, beads of sweat slid down my back.
"You should put an ointment on it. I think Dad has some in his room." Diana said that she immediately turned to the side to grab a book that was open on my nightstand.
She flipped it open, and I gulped quietly, saying a prayer to whoever was up there in my mind.
As quickly as she'd picked it up, Diana lost interest in the book, then set it down and turned to me again.
"Why didn't you tell me your faucet was leaking?"
"What?" I answered in confusion. "What faucet?"
Her gaze deepened on me. "Faucet? The one in your toilet, it's leaking?"
I finally understood what she meant, but my face scrunched up in confusion again.
I didn't know the faucet was leaking.
Without waiting for me to reply, Diana continued, "I went in there this morning and discovered that it was leaking."
My eyes widened in horror, "You've been to my room today?"
Diana paused, then tilted her head, "Don't look so surprised."
"I came to ask what you wanted for breakfast, but didn't find you. That was when I discovered the leaking faucet."
It was over.
Everything I was trying to hide was about to be exposed.
Diana would find out that I was sleeping with her Dad and then...then...
"You were in the guest restroom then, right?"
"Huh?" I paused, thrown off by the question.
"Why do you keep acting so surprised? Keep your ears open and stop acting like someone hard of hearing."
She rolled her eyes at me, then went on to say, "That time I came and couldn't find you in your room, you were in the guest restroom then, right?"
Like I had been doused with a bucket of cold water, my entire body cooled in an instant.
"Yes," I nodded once, then nodded again, "Yes, I was in the guest restroom."
"You should have told me the faucet was leaking, I would have had Dad take a look at it or call a plumber to fix it..."
Diana went on talking about how the faucet in her room had been leaking sometime ago, too, but I was no longer listening to her.
My mind was stuck on the fact that she had nearly caught me lying.
Only God knows how that would have turned out if it actually did happen.
Thankfully, and luckily for me, it didn't.
A brief moment of silence followed, and then Diana clapped her hands once, "I came up to wake you so we can start getting ready for school. I already prepared breakfast, so just come down when you're ready."
"Alright," I said, nodding, "I'll be quick."
Diana pushed herself off my bed then and got up, heading towards the door.
She paused before she reached it, then turned around again.
"Right, have you seen my Dad this morning?"
My heart thudded, skipping several beats, "No, no, why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering if you knew when he left. I haven't seen him since I got up," She explained with a frown surfacing on her face.
"Oh," I muttered, trying to keep my expression neutral, although I was wondering the same.
"He's been acting really weird lately, "Diana added, and her frown deepened.
I tried to be casual about it, "You think so?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I know my Dad, something's bothering him."
I could attest to that; I was the same, but I didn't say that to Diana and pressed my lips together instead.
"Anyway," Diana waved her hand and her face straightened, "You should hurry."
She left after saying that, and I closed the door behind her, leaning against it once more.
This time, I couldn't even sigh in relief.
A couple of minutes later, I stepped away from the door and walked back to my bed, then slowly sank into it.
I sat there for a while, pondering.
Where was Mr Landon?
Why did he leave like that without waking me?
There was no one to give answers to my questions, and all I could do was exhale and run a finger through my hair.
Six months.
It had barely even started, and I had already been through every emotion that existed.
Later that day, when Diana and I got to school, I couldn't help but notice how strangely I viewed it.
It felt really strange, like I was stepping into a different world, but really, the only thing that was different was the fact that I'd been fearless enough to have sex with my best friend's father.
It felt like that thought had been branded into my brain, and I couldn't get it out.
"Finally," A voice sighed playfully as I walked with Diana into the classroom.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Mason leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, smiling playfully at us.
"I almost thought you two wouldn’t show up today," He said as he approached us.
Daina frowned slightly, "Why wouldn't we show up?"
"I don't know, maybe you were planning on ditching school..."
"Hey, don't compare me to yourself," Diana retorted, making Mason chuckle.
I couldn't bring myself to even smile, and Mason noticed that.
His eyes shifted to me. "Nancy, are you alright?"
"See, everyone keeps asking you the same because you look a mess," Diana chipped in.
I shot her a glare before answering Mason, "I'm fine."
"Let's go," Diana grabbed my arm, "...Before our seats get taken."
I wanted to remind her that I switched my seat, but I wasn't even given a chance to do so.
Behind us, Mason walked languidly.
By the time Diana and I settled into our seats, Mason finally reached us, after getting stopped by one of the girls who, just like many others before her, stuffed a chocolate into his palm.
He got to us then without hesitation, tossed the chocolate at Diana, "You eat it."
Diana glared at him, then took it and stuffed it into her bag, while muttering under her breath, "I don't even know why they bother to give you things like this."
The front door of the classroom opened, and instinctively, I lifted my head.
It, however, wasn't Mr Landon who walked in but an older man. They could have been the same age, too, given that Mr Landon looked younger than his years.
"Who's that?" I asked, trailing the man as he walked up to the podium.
"That's not my Dad," Diana frowned.
I was sure that all of us had the same question at that moment.
Where was Mr Landon?