The 17-year-old brunette stood on the sidewalk, inspecting the cozy exterior of the Harlequin Restaurant. The wind blew her long hair past her face. She swept it back with her hand, only to have it be blown back.

"Is this where you work?" she asked, turning contrary to the wind so it would push her hair back.

"Yes," Britney answered.

"Pfft. That explains the getup," Naomi teased. She'd waited a long time to make a remark over her new friend's ancient-looking (not to mention modest) Victorian-era maid outfit.

Britney rolled her eyes when Naomi burst out laughing,

"Believe me, this isn't the craziest outfit in town," Britney spoke truthfully.

"Oh, you mean the strippers?" Naomi said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Britney took quite a shock. "Wait- What did you just say?!"

Naomi coughed and covered her mouth.

"Aren't you a little too young for clubs?" Britney speculated.

"Uh, I didn't say anything! Anyway... We should continue looking for my sister," she reminded her with a more serious expression.

"Right," Britney smirked. "I have my eyes on you."

The teen looked up and to the right in a facade of innocence.

"Naomi, we'll need all the clues we can get. Where do you suggest we go?"

"The last time I saw her was in her shop in the mall. Maybe she dropped something there!"

"Good thinking. To the mall we go!"

***

Fern's legs threatened to tremble. When asked by Marissa what was wrong, she simply blamed it on the cold weather. Luna eyed her suspiciously, which only made her shake more.

Eventually, her nerves could hardly take any more of it. She decided to admit to Luna her act of insubordination.

"Luna, I have something to tell you," she began meekly.

"Yes?" Luna and Marissa turned their complete attention to her.

Marissa raised an eyebrow. "This better be good," she sneered.

"Here goes nothing," she whispered to herself. "I'm really sorry don't fire me but yesterday I interviewed Miranda Dika without your permission!"

Luna stared at her, with no expression whatsoever. The three stood in silence.

At last, Marissa broke it. "You're so fired!" she jeered. Fern felt a sting in her heart. Would she..?

"Actually," Luna interjected, "I'm rather glad you did that, Fern."

Marissa and Fern gasped loudly.

"If it wasn't for you, our ratings would have gone down. Luckily you found Miranda Dika!"

Here, Fern let out a breath of relief.

"I'll admit, I'm surprised at how you handled the whole situation with Miranda being..."

Marissa and Fern waited expectantly.

"How should I say... hectic?" Luna continued.

Marissa subtly rolled her eyes and Fern laughed.

"That's putting it lightly!" Fern responded.

***

Britney narrowly avoided stepping on a shard of glass with her sleek black flats. "Is this your sister's shop?" She looked up and around, taking in the somber sight.

"Yeah," Naomi answered simply.

"How old is your sister? I assume she's older, having owned a shop."

"Whatever, she's only three minutes older. Seventeen. And she doesn't own it, she works here."

"That would make you twins," Britney observed.

"No shit, Sherlock."

"So why don't you have a job?"

"What can I say, I'm the rebellious one in the family."

"I don't have a sister. As a matter of fact, I don't have any sisters OR brothers."

"Must be lonely."

"Not really," Britney smiled. "My coworkers are really great friends."

Friends. Such a common word, but to Naomi, it might as well have been spoken in a foreign language.

"Can we please just look for clues about my sister?"

"Sure," Britney obliged, not noticing Naomi's sudden melancholy mood. And if she did, she pretended not to notice it.

They searched throughout the store for anything that might reveal a clue about Ashley's captor. Britney walked through every aisle. Naomi moved aside discarded clothing racks. They rummaged through piles of brand new clothes, now dirty after having been tossed on the ground.

"Find anything yet?" Britney asked after a solid ten minutes of investigating.

"No, you?" Naomi's voice answered from a distance.

Pause.

"Nope."

A minute passed. A gasp echoed through the room.

"What is it?" Britney turned.

"I found Ashley's cell phone!" Naomi cheered.

Britney came running. "You should check her data."

"Yeah, that's what I'm doing," Naomi said while scrolling through the phone. Luckily, Naomi had her sister's passcode memorized.

After a minute, Naomi reported, "I looked at her text messages but there's nothing out of the ordinary."

"Try checking her phone calls."

Naomi's face contorted into one of horror.

"What? What is it?"

"There's a call from an unknown caller ID!"

Britney clapped. "Aye, we've got a clue!"

"It shows the location from where the person called Ashley."

"Let me see."

The phone was handed to Britney.

"Hmm... I'd say that area looks about five hours away."

"Five hours away?! That's far!" Naomi put her palms to her temples in dismay. Immediately, she shook her head and dropped her arms. "Whatever. I'll do anything to get my sister back."

Britney cocked her head and smiled. "That's the spirit."

"We're going to need others to come with us," Britney thought aloud. "We don't know who or what we'll come across when we go to that location."

"Ok, but who are we going to bring?" Naomi shrugged. She threw her head back. "Please don't say the police."

Britney crossed her arms and raised a shoulder. "I was going to say my coworkers, but what's wrong with the police?"

Naomi shook her hand as if to wave the idea away. "Nothing you should be concerned about, so let's just go get your people."

***

"Hey everyone!" Britney called as soon as she stepped into the Harlequin Restaurant- well, the bakery portion (a.k.a. the entrance).

Mary, Ted, and Maya were delighted at Britney's arrival- be it a late one, but an arrival indeed.

"Yay Britney you're back!" Maya cheered brightly.

Mary couldn't help but stare at the girl behind Britney. Why? Because that girl was giving her a very judgemental stare.

Naomi didn't notice Mary looking at her, all she noticed was the crazy and skimpy work uniform the two teen girls were wearing. The dude was dressed as semi-formal as can be... but them? Heck, they looked like they came out of a lolita anime! NOW she knew what Britney had meant.

At last, the darkest of the two spoke up. "Britney, I think there's a customer behind you," she said nervously.

"WHAT?!" Naomi shrieked. "I'm not one of your lowly costumers, thank you very much."

Mary's eyes widened, Ted's jaw dropped, and Maya covered her mouth in shock.

Naomi tossed her long hair to the side and crossed her arms, looking away from the weird waiters.

"I think it'd be best if we all talk somewhere more private," Britney declared.

"We could go to the break room if you want," Ted suggested.

"Perfect," Britney nodded.

Once the group of five assembled in the break room, Mary, Ted, and Maya sat in chairs while Naomi and Britney took their place in front of the room.

"Ok guys, listen up," Britney raised her voice, and at last the room was silent.

She and Naomi explained Naomi's dire situation. They began at the moment where they ran into each other, what Naomi had seen before, and ended with them finding Ashley's cellular device.

"And that's the gist of it," Naomi finished.

Maya sniffed and blinked back the tears forming delicately on her dark eyelashes. "I can't believe your sister got kidnapped. That's insane!"

"Yeah," Ted ran a hand anxiously through his hair. "I'm so sorry that happened."

Mary tried her best to shift the mood. "Don't worry, she'll be found!"

"Thanks, everyone," Naomi said in a monotone. Like she needed their pity. "Let's go back, it's getting stuffy in here."

Back they went, out of the break room and into the bakery where daylight illuminated the room instead of dim artificial light.

"Wait..." Maya said slowly. "Why did you guys tell us that? Do you want us to help or what..."

Britney smacked her forehead. "Oh right, I almost forgot. We're going to need some backup!"

"We want to help!" Maya grinned. Ted and Mary nodded eagerly.

Britney turned to Naomi. "See? I told you they'd want to help."

Truthfully, Naomi was touched by their willingness to help. She couldn't help but smile. Britney chuckled softly when she saw how Naomi failed to hold back that smile.

Naomi ahemed and licked her lips, refitting herself into that silhouette of an expressionless soul.

"So far we've found a call from an unknown on my sister's cell phone," she informed them. "We found the location, so the next thing we have to do is actually go there. We wanted your help because we thought it would be safer if more of us are there."

"We'd love to help," Ted smiled.

"Totally!" Mary added enthusiastically.

"When do we leave?" Maya wanted to know.

"It's five hours away, so we'll leave tomorrow in the morning," said Britney. "Let's all meet here, but don't open the shop (obviously). We'll go in my car. Hopefully, there are enough seats though."

Naomi gave a wry smile. "People, pack your bags. We're going on a road trip!"

The group cheered.

***

The sun had long since set. With it had gone Britney and Naomi.

"That was some day huh?" Maya sighed.

"Yup," agreed Mary. "I sure hope nothing bad happens to any of us tomorrow."

Maya nodded.

"Yeah, me too," Ted said nervously. "Does anybody else see the danger in heading straight for the kidnapper's place?"

"Well, what if it's not the kidnapper's hiding place?" Maya thought aloud.

Mary thought about it for a second. "That would be too easy... Wouldn't it?"

Maya covered her face with her hands. "I think I need some sleep," her voice came out muffled. Then, she released her face to wave goodbye. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye Maya," Ted and Mary said simultaneously. They glimpsed at each other shyly, then back away. Maya, however, did not notice.

Mary felt her heart beat fast. It was just her and Ted, alone in the dimly lit bakery. She still hadn't asked if he and Maya were together!

"Mary, is something wrong?" Ted inquired, observing her anxious expression.

"Ted," she gulped, "You know that thing I asked you like, three days ago?"

Ted laughed at her ridiculous question. "No, how would I remember three entire days ago?"

Mary stayed quiet. Suddenly, Ted's eyes grew big. "Oh. THAT question."

"Yeah..." Mary giggled nervously.

"Well Mary, if you really want to know..."

She resisted the urge to yell, "Yes! Tell me NOW, I'm dying to know!" Instead, she nodded.

Ted took a deep breath and sighed. "No. Maya and I aren't dating. In fact," he smiled, "she's like a sister to me."

"I'm not sure she sees you the same way," Mary mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Anyways... why did you want to know?"

Mary's heart beat faster than ever before. She couldn't tell him... could she? After all, she wasn't absolutely sure he'd been giving her signs all this time or if it was all in her head. How was a girl to know?

Nope nope nope. He'd have to wait a while longer before she could tell him the truth.

"I was just curious," she lied. Well, partly. She yawned. "Can we go home now? I'm super tired."

"Sure thing," he smiled kindly.