Chapter 2: Piper Sparks

 

Chapter 2: Piper Sparks

 

 

"I'm sorry to tell you this, Ma'am, but the burglar managed to get away with your TV." The officer said, a look of sympathy washed over his face.

 

My heart sank, I spent most of my savings on that TV, and now it was all a waste. "That's okay officer, you tried." I managed to squeak out, trying not to sound too upset.

 

The officer smiled a little, "Oh, do you mind if I give this to you?" He asked, handing me a piece of paper.

 

 

It was a missing person poster, apparently one of the students at the school went missing. I didn't recognize her at first glance, but she began to look more and more familiar. I figured that maybe I'd seen her at the mall or grocery store or something.

 

"Could you keep an eye out for her? She went missing yesterday...Such a shame," He uttered the last part under his breath, leading me to believe he knew her in some way.

 

I decided not to ask questions, I simply smiled a little and nodded, "Will do," I replied.

 

For breakfast the girls and I went to the most beautiful café down the road at the top of the hill, we sat at a cute little table outside with our food.

 

"I'm really sorry about your TV," Sofia said, "I know how hard you worked for it."

 

"Thanks, Sofia, but it's just a TV," I said, pretending not to care. "We have more important things to talk about, like what we're going to do today!" I exclaimed, a grin appeared on my face. "I'm thinking we take a little trip across town to this cute little bar I know - it doesn't look like much, but boy do they have some good drinks!"

 

"You know me, bring the drinks and I'm-" Erika began to choke on her food mid-sentence, she was making hysterical noises and faces.

 

"Are you okay?" Sofia asked, giggling a little, "How many times do we have to tell you not to talk with your mouth full?" She teased, and I laughed with her.

 

"I'm fine," Erika muttered in a dry tone, sipping on her water. "I've learned my lesson," She added, a small grin appeared on her face.

 

"Girls, I need your advice, Carl keeps calling me," Sofia said with a sigh.

 

Carl is Sofia's ex-fiancé, she broke it off with him after she caught him cheating on her. Sofia is the sweetest girl so this affected her emotionally for the longest time, she has only recently gotten over it. Erika and I always knew he was wrong for her, but we never wanted her to find out like that.

 

"Girl, give me your phone! I'm going to tell that sorry mother-" Erika started furiously, but I gave her a look and she knew to tone it down, "I'll just tell him to back off..."

 

"No, no, don't do that - he isn't a terrible guy. He knows what he did was a mistake, and now he wants me back... I don't know what to do," She said, we could tell she had been stressing over this.

 

 

"Just give it some time, Sof, maybe he'll lay off," I suggested, losing my train of thought at the sight of the cute guy behind us.

 

"Who is that?" Erika asked, her cheeks turning red.

 

"No idea...I wish I knew though," I said, admiring him subtly.

 

"Watch and learn," Erika said, getting up before I had a chance to stop her.

 

 

The guy threw on a jacket like he was about to leave, but Erika stopped him.

 

"Excuse me, Sir, I'm not from around here. Do you think some time you could give me a private tour?" She asked, smiling flirtatiously.

 

The guy frowned a little, looking her up and down. "Uhh...No, sorry, babe."

 

Erika frowned, "Who are you calling 'babe', jerk? You better watch it before I-"

 

"Erika!" I called, and she rolled her eyes and came back over to where we sat, leaving the guy alone and confused.

 

 

We arrived at The Sandy Place, an adorable little bar in the rundown area across town. It was surprisingly busy that night, but we decided to go in anyways - the girls just had to try out the amazing drinks!

 

We piled into the place and as we were about to order, Sofia noticed something. "Hey, Lil, isn't that the girl from the poster you showed us?"

 

I raised an eyebrow, surprised that she remembered - then it came back to me that Sofia had a photographic memory.

 

"I don't know, maybe..." I said, but Sofia was convinced, so she called her over.

 

"Excuse me," She started, "What's your name, Sweetie?"

 

"I'm not you're sweetie, Lady," The girl said, her voice was filled with hostility, "but my name's Piper. Piper Sparks."

 

"It's you!" Sofia shouted, the girl raised an eyebrow at her. "You're the missing girl from the poster!" Sofia took out her phone to call the number that she had remembered from the poster.

 

"What the hell are you doing!" Piper shouted, everyone turned and looked at her. Piper turned to them and smiled, to get them to stop looking. "Who are you calling?" She asked, the panic in her voice was evident.

 

 

"I'm calling the number on the poster, so you can go home..." She said, realizing that the girl probably didn't want to go wherever 'home' was.

 

"Please don't! My dad doesn't care about me - he didn't even make those posters, my art teacher did!" She exclaimed, tears began to form in her eyes.

 

"You can't just say here all night though," Said Sofia, she began to feel bad for the poor little girl. "Do you want to stay with us for the night? I can sleep on the couch and you can have my bed," Sofia suggested.

 

This caught my attention and I swirled around and looked at the girl, then back at Sofia. No way was I letting some stranger sleep in my house!

 

 

"Are you sure there's nowhere else for you to go?" I asked, "Oh, I'm Lil-"

 

"Lillian Grace! I used to watch The Nerd Diaries when I was younger, it was my favourite! My last name is Sparks just like Summer's! Too bad it got canceled, eh?" She said, sighing a little.

 

"Yes, too bad indeed..." I agreed, blushing from her compliments. "Well, I guess one night wouldn't hurt..."

 

"Thank you so much!" She said, smiling gratefully.

 

It was only then that I realized the cup of alcohol in the sixteen-year-old's hand, "You're too young for that!" I scolded, taking it from her.

 

She opened her mouth to reply, but stopped herself, most likely because she knew I would turn her in if she didn't comply with my rules. 

 

"Almost done in there?" I asked, still a little uncomfortable with the thought of having a strange person in my house.

 

I managed to hear an "Mhm..." coming from the bathroom, so I tried to relax a little.

 

She came out of the bathroom in the nightgown I leant her, "Thanks, again...For everything," She said, fighting the smile that inevitably appeared on her face.

 

"No problem, Piper," I said, smiling at the girl.

 

I noticed her look down to a ring on her finger, and a look of sadness came over her. "What's that?" I asked.

 

"It's a ring that belonged to my mother...I haven't seen her in ages, but-" She stopped, "Never mind, it's dumb."

 

 

"Oh come on, tell me," I urged, "I won't judge you."

 

"I think I know where she is, I just...I just can't get there," She said, looking down at the ground in sorrow.

 

"I'll take you. Wherever it is, no matter what, I promise you I'll take you." I said, which probably wasn't the smartest thing to say, judging by what came next. "Where is she?"

 

Piper took a deep breath before giving her answer, "Egypt."