'Why did you ever convince me to minor in psychology?' Laura complained.

'I don't think I ever did,' Jess said, breathing in the fresh air after their three hour lecture.

Friday was always a bitch, and with Professor Tilder at the helm, fresh off another argument with her husband about his smoking, it was more torturous than usual.

'Yes, you did,' Laura retorted. 'You said, "Laura, come join me in psychology. It'll be easy and we'll just bullshit our way through". I remember it distinctly.'

'Then your memory must be awful.'

'But seriously, three hours of listening to personality types, and the thinly veiled barbs at her inept husband.'

'He does sound pretty inept.'

Laura snorted. 'Anyone compared to Professor Tilder would be considered inept. The woman is a borderline genius, but my God, she needs to take a chill pill.'

'Just think it'll all be worth it when you're some hotshot lawyer,' teased Jess.

'Damn straight, ain't no one gonna wanna mess with this chick.' Laura pretended to karate chop an invisible person, and Jess laughed.

'Alright. Alright. Don't hurt yourself, Jacki Chan.'

Laura grinned and put her hands down, stuffing them into her coat. 'Strange that Charity wasn't in class. Do you think Miss Church Choir ditched?'

Jess frowned. She'd been thinking the same thing when she hadn't spotted her in her usual seat at the front of the class.

'Maybe she's sick. I didn't see her at breakfast either.'

'Me either. Though it was nice not to have her judging my cereal.'

'If you didn't want her to judge your cereal, then why did you get the one where all the wheaties are shaped like dicks?'

Laura's smile was wide. 'Because life's too short not to have your wheaties shaped like dicks.'

'And you knew it would irritate her.'

'I don't know what you're talking about?'

'Ever since she said you looked slutty in your Halloween costume, you've gone out of your way to annoy her,' Jess reminded her.

'I was Hilary Clinton,' defended Laura.

'Yeah, a democrat. And you have to admit, it wasn't as conservative as the woman herself.'

'I am allowed to express myself.'

'You dressed up as Hilary Clinton if Hilary Clinton was a dominatrix.' Jess deadpaned.

'It was satire. An expression of how powerful women are demonised by the media.' Laura sniffed.

'I don't think Charity shares your vision.'

'And that's my fault?' Laura argued.

'We all have to live in the war between you two, you know?'

'In my defence, I never start anything with her.'

'But it's not like you hold back.'

'I'm not holding back just because her daddy is a preacher. The rest of you may tiptoe around her, but I don't have to.'

'We don't tiptoe around her.' Laura threw her a withering look and Jess looked away, thinking of what she'd done this morning. 'We avoid her if we can. That's not tiptoeing. That's just being cautious,' she clarified.

'Call it what you want, chicken.'

'I just don't want to waste my time arguing with her. I don't think there's anything that'll change the way she sees things,' Jess said.

'Bet she'd throw a fit if she knew Daryl stays in your room when I'm out.' Laura waggled her eyebrows.

'If you ever mention that, I promise I will bury you,' Jess threatened. 'The last thing I want is another lecture on my virtue.'

'I noticed that he walked you to class. He's such a gentleman.'

'He was apologising for last night. Given how much he drank, I'm surprised how much he could remember.'

'All those sports people can handle their liquor like beasts. So you two are definitely getting serious?' Laura asked, determined to find out if there was any gossip to be had.

'I don't know. Maybe,' Jess replied vaguely.

'Are you blind? He's seriously into you.'

'It's just weird. In the beginning, it was just about the sex, and now it feels like it's more.'

'Damn straight, it's more. The boy walks you to class, buys you flowers, and looks out for you. That's a relationship in the making if I ever saw one.'

'But it just came out of nowhere,' Jess admitted.

'They are the best kind,' Laura squealed into Jess' ear, making her wince.

'And what about you and this mystery boy you've been dating?' Jess quickly changed the subject. 'Do I ever get to meet him?'

Laura's skin darkened as she hid her smile. 'Maybe, but we're still testing the waters?'

'Do I at least get to know his name?'

Laura opened her mouth to argue but instead her smile vanished. 'What the fuck is happening?'

Jess turned to see multiple cop cars parked outside their sorority, and in front of that, Pastor Jim's car was parked on the drive.

'What's Pastor Jim doing here on a Friday? Charity's family only visit on a Saturday,' Jess complained.

'I think you're missing the three squad cars, Jess,' criticised Laura.

They hurried into the house to find police officers searching the place, and their housemates sitting anxiously in the communal living area.

'What's going on?' Jess asked, making everyone's heads snap to them.

'Ah girls, we're glad you're here.' The Sheriff stepped forward, pulling up his sagging trousers and piercing them with a hard stare.

'Have you seen her? Have you seen my daughter?' Pastor Jim demanded, the spit flying from his mouth as he advanced on them.

The Sheriff placed a hand on his chest. 'Now Jim, we'll get to the bottom of this.'

'One of them must know something.'

'And we'll ask them, but I need you to remain calm. This could be nothing.'

Pastor Jim's nose flared, and he stepped back from the Sheriff as if he'd been tasered.

'Nothing? We haven't heard from her since yesterday morning. My Charity wouldn't do that. We speak every night. And then today she didn't go to help at the church like she usually does on a Friday afternoon. She's missing, I tell you.'

'Jim. Calm,' the Sheriff commanded. 'We'll sort this out, I promise.'

Pastor Jim looked far from appeased, but he turned and walked back to where his wife was huddled on a kitchen chair, a chipped mug held between her hands.

'What the hell is going on?' Laura demanded.

The Sheriff turned back to her, his lips pressed into a firm line.

'When was the last time either of you saw Charity?'

'Yesterday,' Laura replied promptly.

'And what time would that be?'

'I saw her leaving the house about 7pm ish.'

'Can you be any more specific on time?'

'Not really.'

'It was just after 7,' one of the other girls piped up. 'I heard her tell Laura she was going to the same frat party at Cappa Cappa Pye.'

The Sheriff fixed Jess and another girl with a hard look. 'I believe that was where my two officers arrested you?'

Jess felt her skin crawl as her housemates traded whispers between themselves.

'I never saw her,' Jess' housemate said in a rush.

'And did you see her?' the Sheriff barked at Jess.

'N-no. I never saw her at the party. I didn't even know she was there, but there were a lot of people. I could have missed her.'

'So the last time anyone saw her was yesterday?'

All the girls nodded, except for Jess, who looked away.

'I saw her in her room this morning,' she said.

'And she was alone?'

'Of course she was alone,' Pastor Jim exploded. 'My daughter wouldn't be carrying on like those other jezabels.'

'I simply meant that there was no one else with her, male or female, that could collaborate Miss Hawthorne's story.'

'She was alone,' Jess said quickly.

'What time was this?'

'5am.'

'Awfully early to be getting up, especially considering you spent most of the night in the station.'

More whispers broke out, and Jess wanted the floor to swallow her.

'I had a nightmare, so I went to get some milk. When I passed, her door was open, and I saw her sitting on her bed.'

'Was she doing anything?'

'I'm not sure. She wasn't looking at me. She was looking at her headboard.'

The Sheriff flicked his tongue against his teeth in disapproval. 'Did anyone see her leave this morning?'

All the girls looked at each other, waiting for someone to say something, but nobody did.

'None of you saw her?' the Sheriff asked again.

'She wasn't at breakfast. And she didn't show for our psychology class this afternoon,' Jess added.

The Sheriff pulled out a notepad and took the pen from behind his ear. 'What time do you have class?'

'3pm till 6pm,' answered Laura.

'Sir.' The Deputy descended the stairs. 'Searched the whole property, and she's not here.'

'And what about her room?'

'Clothes are still in the wardrobe. Suitcase and laptop still there. No sign of a phone, but I did find this.' He handed over a small purse, which the Sheriff opened, taking out Charity's ID and a few banknotes. 'Going to be pretty hard to get out of town without her purse.'

The Sheriff pulled out her bank card and studied it like it would give him all the answers.

'No credit card?'

'Our daughter didn't have one,' Pastor Jim responded grimly. 'They're the devil's trap into greed.'

The Sheriff shared a look with his Deputy who nodded. 'I'll check the records, see if she has one.'

'I'm telling you that she doesn't,' growled Pastor Jim.

'I understand, Jim, but we got to tick all the boxes. If your daughter has a way to get out of town, then we have to consider that as a possibility.'

'My daughter isn't a runaway. She's missing,' he roared.

'She was seen less than 24hr ago. Under state law, we can't classify her as missing. So all we can do is look at each possibility.'

'Our daughter is missing,' Mrs Artridge weeped. 'There must be more you can do?'

'We'll do everything we can,' the Sheriff promised. 'But we have to get some things straight first. Would you and your wife come to the station with us and answer some questions?'

'No,' Pastor Jim argued. 'I'm going out to look for my daughter.'

'Please Jim. There are questions we need to ask.'

'We can go out and start looking for Charity, Mr Artridge,' offered Mira, their sorority mother. 'She's one of us. We'll ask around. See if anyone has seen her.'

'That's a nice offer Miss-' But Pastor Jim cut the Sheriff off quickly.

'We'll join you as soon as we can.'

'This really isn't a good idea-' But again the Sheriff was cut off by the Pastor.

'You wanted us at the station so let's go.' Pastor Jim helped his wife to stand, and then they headed to the door with the resigned Sheriff following after him.

'Elijah, get the details of this party that Charity went to and... stick around, keep an eye on things,' the Sheriff commanded, making sure his deputy understood.

'Will do Sir.'

Satisfied that his last order would be followed, the Sheriff and the rest of his officers left with the Artridges in tow.

'Come on, girls. Let's get to work,' Mira said, getting to her feet.

'Now hold on there,' the Deputy said.

'We promised Mr Artridge that we'd go looking, and that's what we're going to do.'

'I appreciate that, ma'am. But caution should be stressed. You should go in groups of three at least. Keep in regular contact with each other. And have a photo to pass around. Does this place have CCTV?'

Mira looked slightly more appeased, as the other girls headed upstairs to get their things. 'Electrical storm fried the circuits last month when we had the power cut. Pretty much every neighbourhood around the university is waiting to get reconnected.'

The Deputy's lips thinned. 'I still need to take the girls' statement.' He thumbed in Jess' direction.

'Jess. Laura. Stay here. Help the Deputy out. And keep an eye out for Charity in case she comes back.'

'Of course,' Laura agreed.

Jess watched as the rest of their housemates got their stuff and left, leaving just her, Laura and the Deputy who paced the living room.

'I'm going to need the names of all those at the party, and your whereabouts from yesterday afternoon at 7pm.'

Jess' mouth opened and closed. 'There were over a hundred people at the party. I don't know all their names.'

The Deputy grimaced but still pulled out his phone.

'Give me as many names and phone numbers as you can. We need to track down if anyone saw her. It might explain why she took off today.'

'You think she did a runner?' Laura asked, surprised.

'I think we have to consider all possibilities, and we can't do that until we pin down her movements. Now if you'd be so kind.' The Deputy pointed to the settee and the two girls sat, resigned to retelling their every decision since last night.