A week had passed with no word from Peggy.

I had tried to talk to Mr.Maye - her dad, but he wouldn't even look up from his work to talk to me. Did he even notice that Peggy was missing?

I sigh as I flop onto my bed. I gather my ratted blanket around myself and curl into a ball. I bring the blanket to my nose and sniff the flowery linen smell that seems to hang onto anything we wash.

At this point I don't know what to do anymore. How much longer can I keep lying to everyone about her being sick? I don't want to stop telling that to everyone and have them all freak out about it and then go to the police. I know I shouldn't be lying about this, but Peggy's a superhero, and if a villain was the one who kidnapped her how would we explain that?

I run a hand over my eyes and turn to face my desk. As my eyes start to close a bright purple catches my gaze.

I sit up as realization falls on me.

It's the label that was on the robot.

I scramble over to my desk. My legs get caught in the blanket but I kick them off and fly into my chair. I grab the label and power up my laptop.

I'd never followed up on looking into them.

Sure Peggy didn't want me to. But with no clues as to where or what happened to her, this might just help.

I hold my breath as I try to not get my hopes up.

Once my laptop is booted up I open the search and type in the name. I navigate down to the last link and into the website. Once in there I head over to the contact page.

This time it gives me options besides the message box. It's still there plus a green phone icon with a number under it, and an envelope with an email address beside it.

I stare at my screen.

Which would be the better option to do?

Calling would give me an answer right away - if they even pick up. But I would have to talk on the phone and sometimes that's just too awkward. If I emailed then I'd have to figure out what to write, and who knows how long it would take to get a response.

I can't waste anymore time. I can't keep lying about Peggy being sick.

I sigh and pick up my phone.

I enter the number and hit dial. I bring it up to my ear right as the first ring stops. The screen is cold against my ear. I wait with held breath as the second set of rings pass.

What if no one picks up? Will I have to email them? What if they don't answer the email either? What if they don't have any answers? What if-

"Hello! This is Maxine's Cosplay! I'm Maxine, what can I do for you today?"

The held breath I was holding releases slowly. "Hi.. um... I was actually, um." I glup. Why is this so hard? "I was actually wondering about this, um, thing you made. That had your label on it?"

"Sure. What was it?" Her voice is soft.

"Well, I, uh..." Do I tell her how I found it? Or just what I found. "It was a robot," I spit out before I can overthink.

"I believe I know what- oh!" Her voice gets far away as she says something I can't hear. Then she's back. "Sorry. Can you hold please?"

Before I can say anything else a beep echos from the phone.

I rip it away. Did she just hang up on me? But no, the caller ID is still there. I sigh in relief as I bring my phone back up to my ear.

It feels like forever before she picks up the phone and speaks again. "Hi! Sorry about that," she says in an out-of-breath way. "You said you found a robot with my logo on it?"

I nod before remembering she can't see me. "Yes. I did."

She's silent for a moment. "I believe I had an order for one last week. Is that all you wanted to know? Or were you wanting to order one as well?"

"Oh! No thank you! I was actually wondering if you could tell me who ordered it?" I drum my fingers on my desk as I wait for the answer.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I can't give out any information about my clients."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything else I could do for you?"

My vision starts to blur as something starts to form in my eyes. "No. Thank you anyways," I say, trying not to let my voice waver.

"Have a good day," she says.

"You too," I whisper before she hangs. I barely manage to get the words out without my voice cracking.

I let my phone fall from my limp hand onto my desk.

That's it. The one possible tiny lead I had is gone. Now I have no clue as to what happened to Peggy.

As my hands come back from being limp I wipe the tear streaks from my face.

I hadn't realized that they had left my eyes. God. What is wrong with me? I shouldn't be crying over this.

I'm sure there's another way to find out about what happened to Peggy. Hopefully one that doesn't involve telling anyone.

I slam my head down on the desk.

Who am I kidding?

I have to say something. I'll never be able to find her on my own.

The tears start to fall faster.

I won't be able to save her on my own. Which could lead to people finding out her secret identity. For all I know she could be dead!

I push myself away from my desk and flop onto my bed. I grab my pillow to pull it closer to my face.

Once all the hot boiling anger and sadness have piled in my chest to the point that I can barely breath I release it all in a primal scream. The pillow muffles my scream. But barely.

It takes a few rounds of screaming until the tension that was in my chest melts away. All I'm left with is a tear soaked and spit soaked pillow. I can't find it in myself to care right now.

When the tears die down I sit up.

I reach over to my nightside for the kleenex box. But instead of grabbing one I knock the whole thing off.

A scream builds in my throat again. If I had more tears to cry I'm sure I would be bawling again. Why can't I do anything right?

If Peggy was here then nothing would be going wrong. It would all be going right. But she's not here and I am and that means everything goes wrong!

Deep breaths.

I lay my hands on my stomach as I inhale.

One, two, three... exhale.

I repeat the process over again until my thoughts have slowed and I no longer have tears threatening to escape.

I stand up on shaky legs and make my way over to my door. I poke my head out. When I see the coast is clear I make a dash for the bathroom.

Once in there I shut the door behind me and turn to the sink. I look into the mirror. My eyes are all red and puffy. I turn the faucet on and wait until it's cold before splashing water on my face. Once I'm satisfied that it doesn't look like I've been crying up a storm I head downstairs.

Did mom hear me crying? Does she even know I'm home this time?

I turn and find her standing before the open cabinet.

"What are you looking for?" I ask as I try to keep my voice normal and not scratchy.

Mom jumps and turns to face me. "I didn't hear you come down!"

"Sorry," I mumble.

"I'm trying to figure out what we should have for supper."

I walk over to her. I peek over her shoulder trying to see what we have. "What about pasta?" I suggest.

She hums. "That sounds good. But we don't have any sauce, or garlic bread if you want some."

I back away as she spins around again. "I can run to the store quickly."

She smiles. "That would be great. There's money in my purse."

I nod.

I grab the money, get my shoes on and leave the house.

We don't live far from the store, but there's a shortcut through an alley that leads to a street close to the store and maybe shaves off about ten minutes.

The only downside is that it stops right across from Cam's parents store.

I sigh and duck into the alley. I'd rather get the food faster and risk seeing them then having to walk for longer.

When I reach the end of the alley I duck my head and put my hand up to block my face from their store.

Please don't see me. Please don't see me. I chant.

With a sigh of relief I make it to the store without being spotted by them.

As the automatic sliding doors open the air-conditioning hits me like a wave. I stand there and cool off for a second before walking the rest of the way in and making my way towards the pasta aisle.

I walk past shelves of noodles before making it to the other side of the aisle and finding the sauce.

As I'm about to reach up and get the usual kind a chill shudders through my body. It's not the typical cold chill but more like someone is watching you chill.

I bring my hand down and look around. There's no one else here.

I try to shrug the feeling off as I grab the sauce but it doesn't leave even as I grab the garlic bread and make my way over to the check-out.

I head to the only one open and dump my two items on the till. The cashier is a lady about my moms age who looks like she'd rather be anywhere else. She reaches out and grabs my two items before swiping them. "Is that all?" she asks.

I nod. "That'll be eleven dollars and twenty cents. Cash or debit?"

"Cash." I reach into my pocket and pull out the wad of cash I grabbed. As I'm about to hand it to her I notice a white piece of folded paper sticking out. I quickly retract my arm, grab the paper and hand the money to her.

She doesn't even bat an eye.

"Have a good day," she says as she hands the change back.

"You too." I grab the items and make my way out.

The sun glares down at me. Making me miss the air-conditioning from the store. Piling the items into my one arm I reach into my pocket and grab the piece of paper. I really wish I had grabbed a bag.

The piece of paper is folded four times. I don't remember this being here when I grabbed the money but, maybe it was.

I stare at the piece of paper in my hand. Should I open it? What if it's for mom? Maybe it's bad news and I'd be doing her a favor by opening it. But I can't shake this feeling in my gut that it's meant for me.

Before I can think about it any further I open the note. And almost drop the items I'm holding.

𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝑀𝒶𝑔𝑔𝒾𝑒,𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝒫𝑒𝑔𝑔𝓎. 𝐼𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝐼 𝓈𝓊𝑔𝑔𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝑒𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓉? 𝒜𝓃 𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊.