I’m not terribly disappointed to miss the party but watching my sister as she gets ready has me feeling kinda bummed out.

“You still sending pics to Dustin?” I ask as she snaps selfie after selfie with her puckered lips and winky eyes. She turns to look at me, assessing if I’m teasing or not.

“He still texts me you know.” She defends with a mumbled ‘sometimes’ under her breath. I don’t know why she hasn’t given up. The guy was a toad to begin with.

“BUT, I fully intend to meet some NEW boys at the party tonight.” She flashes me a smile and I get a nervous feeling in my stomach.


“You know, Anthony says those guys are jerks.” I know full well she won’t listen but I feel obligated to try anyway.

“You said he told you that about Harry too.” She quips back at me. “And apparently you didn’t listen.”

I open my mouth to argue. She has no idea what she’s talking about but she’s also clearly not in the mood to LISTEN to me. I shrug back at her. “Just be careful.”


Violet goes over the list of rules with Angela before she heads out. Mostly it’s just don’t drink, be home by 1am, call if you need to. Angela nods and smiles. Violet glances upstairs, almost wishing the girls were going together but trying to stick with her set consequences.

“I’ll be fine.” Angela assures her with a smile.

Violet nods but still feels apprehensive. Angela gives her a quick squeeze and zips out the door before anyone can change their minds.


I lay in my room staring at the ceiling. I’m not in the mood for tv or reading but I’m antsy. I want to DO something. Most Friday nights I’ve spent hanging out with Anthony or Angela. I glance at my phone. I’d pestered my sister about Dustin but I’m guilty myself, having texted Dirk more than the few agreed upon times. I reach for my phone but put it back. Lately I’ve developed the fear that I’ll text him...and find out he’s seeing someone else. We’re not together. Eventually we’ll both move on. I just hadn’t yet.

“Ugh.” I grumble.


Sometime around midnight I wake up with a racing heart. The anxiousness from earlier significantly worse. I can feel it thrumming through my body. I look around the dark room. Angela isn’t home. It’s not past curfew yet, but something is off.


I glance at my phone. No messages. I shoot Angela a text and wait. No answer. I’m not sure what my problem is but after 10 minutes with no response, I become worried. I KNOW she’s likely just having fun. I KNOW she with her friends and not worried about her stupid grounded sister but I still feel unsettled. I pace around the room a bit before heading downstairs.


I don’t know what I expect to see but I go stand outside for a moment taking in a few deep breaths of fresh air. It doesn’t calm me down, it makes things worse. I check my phone again. Still nothing. My fingers are drumming my leg and I begin to feel frantic.


I walk back into the house and find myself staring at the empty easel that Ang had set up for me when we moved in. Logic says everything is fine. Angela is fine. My brain is screaming that it’s not fine. Something is wrong but I can’t wake Violet up just because I feel weird.


I grab a brush and mess around with the paint pallette. It’s been awhile but it will distract me until curfew when my sister will walk in the door and laugh at my foolishness. I don’t really pay attention and schlop the colours onto the canvas. It takes all of half an hour before I can’t even focus on this. Curfew is in a few minutes. No sign of Angela. I text her again, surely she’s on her way home and would be paying attention to her phone now.


Nothing. Damn it.


At exactly 1:01am, I wake up Violet. I’m embarrassed because it feels like I’m ratting out my sister for being late but Vi picks up on my anxiousness right away.

“Has this happened before?” She asks.

“Angela being late?” I ask to clarify. Angela was late half her life. Violet shakes her head.

“This feeling? Your worry. About your sister. Isn’t there like a … twin thing?” She looks a bit embarrassed herself at the suggestion but she’s right. Maybe that’s what this was. Once when we were 4, Angela had fallen off her bike and broken her arm. I’d been in my room reading but I’d instantly had a feeling of panic and remember running outside yelling. My dad had been quite surprised. It had happened other times too.

I look back at Violet and nod but my worry has worsened. I’d hoped she’d just reassure me that I was losing my mind. What if something really was wrong?


We’re dressed quickly and Violet drives over to the Ghasem family house where the party is taking place. She doesn’t comment when there are no vehicles in the driveway, despite being told that a parent would have been home. I give her a lot of credit for that. She glances at me as we park.

“You go in.” She says. “No need make a scene. Just grab your sister. I’ll be here.” She seems sure that it will be that easy and I feel a bit better now that we’re out of the house.

I walk up to the door and don’t bother knocking. The music is loud and I can see people from the window. The party is still full swing. I already feel better. Angela likely just lost track of time. I’m grateful Violet was reasonable and had waited outside.


I spot Anthony attached to some girl whose name I don’t know but recall it sounding like a subdivision. Sparkle Water or something absurd. I’d seen her around and had no idea he was into her. I look around for Angela and don’t see her but I hear music from upstairs as well.


“Hey! Lilith” Harper comes over to me. “You made it!” She’s smiling.

“A bit late but nice to see you. I figured you went with your sister.” She states. The knot in my stomach returns. I survey the room again. She’s not here. I already knew she wouldn’t be. I’d just hoped I was being ridiculous.

“I actually came to get her. She’s past curfew.” I explain. Harper makes a face.


“Well, she ditched me for her new friends. Apparently THEY were having a party tonight as well.” She rolls her eyes. “But you’re welcome to stay.”

She clearly hadn’t registered the part about curfew.

“I actually need to find her. Do you have an address or something of where she went?”


“An address?” She laughs. “She’s with those idiots from the island. It’s the bigger house.”

The island? How the hell did she get to an ISLAND? I’m starting to feel nauseous. I’m thanking Harper when Harry saunters over with a smirk on his face. I don’t have time for him. I glance over at Anthony who has unattached from his makeout buddy and I try to catch his attention with a wave. If I walk out of here without my sister, I need to be able to tell Violet WHERE to find her.


Anthony catches my eye and heads my way but when I turn back Harry has stepped closer and places a hand on my hip, pulling me closer. I’m startled and give him a shove back and his sister snorts with laughter. I don’t take the time to tell him off. I need to find my sister.


I give Anthony the quick version but he’s been drinking and he just keeps repeating what I’ve said only slower. And mostly he’s looking at Harry. After a moment I just walk away. My god drunk teenagers are irritating.


Violet is waiting when I come back out and when she doesn’t see Angela she looks as anxious as I feel but she swallows it quickly.

“Not here?” She asks.

“She’s with these rich kids, Ken and Kinz?” I tell her. “I don’t know. Harper says they live on an island?” I’m trying not to go into full blown panic mode. Violet nods as if she knows exactly who I’m talking about and for the first time, I’m grateful everyone here knows everyone else.


“She’ll be fine.” Violet says. “She just ended up somewhere else tonight. We’ll find her.” She assures me and pulls me in for a hug.

“Are you sure that’s where she ended up?” She asks. I’m not completely sure but I tell her that’s what a friend had said. Another nod and she pulls out her phone.


It’s the middle of the night and she starts the conversation with an apology. I have no idea who she’d be calling. Maybe she knows the twins’ parents.

I hang on to her every word but am not sure I follow what’s happening. I watch Violet in awe as she talks calmly into the phone, giving instructions? I’m not even sure. When she hangs up, she looks at me.

“We’ve got a lift but we have to get home first.” She says. A lift? To the island? Were we getting on a boat?


She drives home a lot faster than she’d driven to the Ghasem house and once we’re parked we stand out front for a few minutes. I’m too anxious to even ask what’s going on. When I hear the whirring of a helicopter, I look up to find that it’s not way off in the distance but lowering itself in front of our house.


Violet jogs towards it and waves me over.

“Thanks, Jay. I didn’t think my boating skills were up for a night ride.” She says getting in with a smile.

“Anything for you, Vi. Hop in.” The pilot says. I manage to pick my jaw up off the floor and climb in behind her. He takes off immediately and we’re landing again in less than 10 minutes.


“You need me to wait?” He asks as we’re hopping out. Violet nods and thanks him again as he shuts the copter off.

When we get out, I’m wondering how many people we’ve now woken up with the helicopter when I turn around and for the second time this evening, my jaw drops. THIS was where my sister was? This was a HOUSE? The entire structure doesn’t even fit into my peripheral vision.

Who were these people?

“Come on.” Violet says and she leads me to the front doors. At least one of us has confidence.