I fell back onto my bed, like usual. It was Saturday, five days since the picnic. I had been hanging out with Kai, Crystal, and Mia a lot lately, but whenever I tried to get ahold of Audre, she was busy. It was odd, considering she loved to spend time with me. At least, I hoped she did, we are best friends, after all.

I let out a quiet sigh and picked up my phone, scrolling through our previous messages. I missed her, but just as I was about to text her, Kai texted me. 'Heyyyy.' he had sent.

'Hey. :)' I sent back, wanting to tell him all my troubles.

'Something wrong? You didn't send a silly emoji or a heart.' His attention to detail made me smile absentmindedly. He noticed I was upset.

'Yea, can you come over?' I sent quickly, hoping that he would say yes.

'Of course, be there in five.' I smiled a little too brightly. I felt giddy waiting for him, so I decided that I had to do something to keep myself occupied. I pulled out a notebook and began writing a quick, short story.

'DING DONG' Staying true to his words, the doorbell rang exactly five minutes after our texts. I ran to the door, opening it and tackling him in a hug.

"You have no idea how much I need to talk to you," I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him up the steps and to my room, ignoring the weird stares I was getting from my family.

He chuckled,"Yeah, yeah, okay. What happened?"

I pushed him into my room and locked the door. I let out an exasperated sigh and fell into the leather chair by my desk. "It's Audre. Have you seen her lately?"

"I saw her at school, but she seemed kind of closed off. She was hugging a book to her chest." He shrugged. "Why? Did something happen between you guys?"

"No," she paused,"well, I don't think so."

"Then what?" He asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

I sighed quietly,"I texted her a couple times over the past week, but she isn't responding. When I ask if she want's to go somewhere, she always says she's busy." I looked at him, not realizing how terrible I really felt about this until tears started falling.

He hurried over and hugged me close,"Hey, hey, don't cry. I'm sure it's fine. She'll talk to you soon." He whispered softly, running his fingers through my hair comfortingly.

I sniffled into his chest,"But, what if something happened? I don't know what's wrong!" My voice died into a whisper,"What if she doesn't want to be friends with me anymore?"

He grabbed my shoulders and held me at arm's length, locking eyes with me. "Don't say that, don't you dare say that, Sophia. She would never, ever do that to you."

I smiled softly at his reaction,"Yeah, you're right." I whispered as he pulled me back into a hug. "You're right." I repeated in a whisper.

After that, we talked for a while. We just sat around, eventually calling Crystal and Mia. We all agreed to meet at the bookstore. I was already dressed in a loose white tank-top and woolen grey cardigan, along with black jeans, so I just had to grab my purse and phone. Kai and I blasted music in the car, while he drove us to the store.

We found both girls sitting in a secluded corner of the store, chatting up a storm. I told them everything about Audre and they listened carefully. "Maybe, just maybe, she's doing something really important." Crystal proposed.

"Yea, that sounds like it." Mia nodded, popping a stick of gum in her mouth.

"Wha-? Hey! I want one!" We all tackled Mia, fighting for the pack of gum.

"Hey! No! Let go!" Mia pouted, holding the gum close to her chest. Once we all got a piece, we sat up, laughing hard.

The owner of the store stood by the end of the small corner, by an aisle of books. She was a young woman, but she had wrinkles on her face and silvery hair like she had been through a lot of stress. She put her hands on her hips, tapping her foot in annoyance. As soon as we saw her, we shut up and waited for her to speak.

She had kicked us out three days in a row. The bookstore had become our hangout place, but she never approved of it. As we walked out, we all burst out laughing again. "She's gonna have to warm up to us at some point!" Crystal laughed.

"Or ban us," Kai added, his beautiful green eyes glittering as he laughed.

I was just about to say something when my phone went off. I glanced at the name.
It was Audre.

A/N What's your favorite color?

Answer: Gray and Pink