Chapter 79 Mistrust.
NANCY'S POV
The words didn't register immediately.
They hung in the air at first, distorted as if Diana and I were speaking underwater.
After what felt like eternity, I choked out, "She's what?"
"Lily is missing."
At once, everything fell into place. Starting from the strange gloom I'd felt this morning, to the whispers, the huddles, and the talks I'd just heard a couple of minutes ago.
I had already deduced that someone was missing from those girls' words.
What I didn't know, however, was that it was Lily.
Why...Why would she suddenly go missing?
More importantly, why did I have to hear this from Diana?
"She's really missing?" I asked, voice quiet and filled with disbelief.
"Yes," Diana nodded with certainty. "Everyone's discussing it."
I could already see that, but I just found it hard to believe.
"How? When did this happen?" I asked, swallowing.
Diana's eyes flicked over my face, possibly at my unnatural expression, before she responded.
"She hasn't been seen since yesterday."
Yesterday.
Vanessa had approached me yesterday, too, asking that I stay away from her. How come she was missing then?
While I was pondering that, something else slammed into me.
Before yesterday, there was the day before...our conversation.
Also, yesterday was when I told him...
A cold wave crept up my spine, and before I could think twice, I grabbed Diana by the arm.
"What do you mean she hasn't been seen? Like...she didn't come to school?"
Diana's gaze dropped to my hand that was gripping hers. I realised then and instantly let go, stepping back.
My lips parted to explain, but she was already speaking.
"No, she didn't go home. They said she has been missing for more than a full day now, but her parents only just reported it this morning."
"No one has heard from her, and her phone has been switched off. No one knows where she is either."
"Not even Vanessa?"
Diana nodded, "Not even Vanessa."
Okay, that was really frightening.
My fingers curled into my palm, digging while my mind spun in circles, trying to make sense of everything.
Missing.
The word echoed in my head like a curse. The loud thump of my heart made it seem even more so.
"No," I whispered, more to myself than Diana. "This doesn't make any sense."
That statement didn't come from a place of denial; it came from a place of fear.
Fear of what could have gone wrong and the reason behind it.
I was shaken, and it didn't go unnoticed.
Diana tilted her head slightly, watching me, but I wasn't really paying attention to her.
However, she snagged my attention when she said, "You seem really affected by this."
I stiffened, then sputtered, "What?"
An unamused laughter made its way out of my throat, "I'm not.... It's...It's just really shocking."
"Is it?" Diana began to nod in a way that left me really unsettled.
I couldn't tell what she was thinking, or if it had anything to do with me.
"Yes," I forced myself to say, running my clammy hands against my clothes furtively.
For a moment, neither of us spoke, and the air between us thickened, stretching unbearably.
Then, Diana looked away.
"They are trying to track her trails to the last place she was seen and the people she talked to before her disappearance."
I gulped at that.
If they were really counting the people she was last seen talking to, wouldn't I be one of them?
At least, if the people she had spoken to within the school were considered, I certainly would be an unusual suspect.
For one, we weren't friends, and I was one of the people she had the least reason to be talking to.
It would have been understandable if it were Vanessa in place of me.
That made more sense.
"Nancy," Vanessa called suddenly, and I stiffened again.
"Yes?" I responded cautiously.
"Tell me the truth, what did Lily say to you yesterday?"
My heart slammed against my ribs.
The question I had been dreading all along had finally been posed to me.
In an instant, my body was drenched in cold sweat.
"Me?"
A chuckle that sounded painful, grating to my ears, wracked my body. "Nothing, she didn't say anything to me."
"That's a lie," Diana answered with a measure of certainty, gaze hardening.
"Someone said they saw you talking to her yesterday."
Her gaze deepened on me, and then she took a step closer.
"It doesn't make any sense that Lily randomly came up to you, talked to you, and now, she's missing."
"Are you suspecting me?"
I stared searchingly at her, hoping that wasn't the case.
"No, I'm only asking because someone said she looked angry when she was talking to you."
"And you think that's enough ground to question me?" I said, now feeling indignant.
Initially, I was feeling guilty about hiding things from her, but now that there was a possibility that Diana suspected me, anger began to replace my guilt.
I mean, all I had done was talk to Lily. Even if the content of our conversation wasn't something that could be publicized.
It didn't occur to me that it was enough reason to be suspected of her disappearance by Diana.
Even if we didn't go home together, at least we'd slept in the same house last night.
Where could I have found the time to find Lily and do something to her?
Diana's prolonged silence made the feeling of hurt that had welled up within me deepen, and when I blinked, I realised that there were tears in my eyes.
Moreover, Diana's silence to my question hurt more than anything she could have said.
"I don't know what you're hiding, Nancy, but I sure hope it has nothing to do with whatever the fuck is going on with Lily."
Those were the last words Diana left me with, and more than I cared to admit, it hurt.
Although I was still concerned about Lily's disappearance, Diana's mistrust held even more weight in my mind.