Jacob

This class had been running for almost an hour. I felt nothing during it but boredom. The professor kept talking and talking and I didn't even understand a single word. I couldn't focus as I was thinking about Sally and her friends. They hadn't been attending their classes for a whole week. I tried to text Sally for almost twenty times, but she didn't respond. Whenever I tried to call her, her phone was always unavailable. I was so anxious and worried about her. I didn't see her around by chance for a while. The last time I saw her was when we were at the nightclub together, and she suddenly left with her friends without telling me. I wondered what I did wrong. Maybe I offended her somehow without meaning to? I had to go and ask the security guard of her dorm about her and check on her by myself.

Finally, our class ended and it was time to go home. I went to her dorm to ask about Sally and her friends. It never came to my mind to ask her about her dorm. I hoped that the security guard would tell me which room was theirs.

"Hello, I want to ask you about five roommates who live here. Three guys and two girls. Their names are Sally, Julia, Nick, Daniel and Josh," I asked the security guard.

"Yes, those assholes. I know them," The security guard replied coldly.

"Excuse me? Why are you talking about them like this? Watch your language!" I shouted.

"These people were the reason for putting me in jail for four days without doing anything to them!" The security guard hissed.

What? Did they really report their security guard to the police unjustly?

"I really don't understand what you're talking about. Why would they do this?" I frowned.

"I don't fucking know!" The security guard shouted and I could see that he became angrier, so I just decided not to talk about this anymore.

"Could you please tell me where their room is? I need to check on them."

"I already did it a couple of times. They aren't here," The security guard shrugged.

"Please just give me any spare key and I'll try to open their room and find any clue about their current place," I said. "When was the last time you saw them?"

"When they called the police and arrested me. I haven't seen them since that day."

"Isn't it your job to ask about them and try to find where they went?" I arched my eyebrows.

"They are not kids. My job is to guard this place and to protect the students from any assault or violence, but it's not my damn job to ask each one where they would go and why they were late."

"Okay, fine. Just tell me where their room is," I waved my hand in front of his face to shut him up.

"It's on the fifth floor. The room is at the end of the corridor."

"Thank you."

I quickly said as he handed me a spare key for their dorm. I rushed to the elevator and went up to the fifth floor. I had no clue what I was going to search for, but I hoped that I could find anything that would help me discover their current location. I opened the door and entered their room. It was empty. The kitchen was messy and the sitting room was messy too. I saw a large bookshelf that was full of different books and fantasy novels. Their beds weren't neat and video games were scattered everywhere. I tried to open every drawer in the room, but found nothing useful. Only a couple of phone chargers and some old papers. I huffed in confusion as I opened their closet. It was full of clothes and I saw a small bag lying on the shelf. I snatched it and held it upside down to see what was inside, maybe I would find anything useful. A wallet, lipsticks, and a diary fell on the floor. I bent down to grab that diary. It wasn't big, but I needed to search for anything helpful written inside. I opened it and flipped through the pages. There were plenty of phone numbers written inside it. Great! Now, I could call anyone and see if they heard from them lately. I wasn't sure whose diary it was though. I just fished my phone out of my back pocket and dialed the number which had (Dad) written beside it.

"Hello?" A male's voice answered me.

"Hello, are you Sally's father?" I nervously asked after clearing my throat and hoping that I didn't sound like an idiot.

"No, I'm Julia's father, her best friend. Who are you?" The man asked.

"I'm Jacob. Her friend from university. I just wanted to ask if you heard from Julia or any of her friends lately. They haven't been attending their classes for a whole week. I can't find them anywhere," I explained.

"What? How come you don't know where are they? Didn't they tell you anything?" Julia's father panicked.

"Actually, no. We were hanging out together last week, but they suddenly left me and disappeared. I haven't seen them anywhere since then."

"Oh my God! This is terrible. I have to report them missing to the police. Are you sure that they aren't in their dorm?"

"I'm in their room right now. Nobody is here. I entered their room using a spare key. I needed to know anything about them," I stated.

"Can you tell me when you know anything new about them? I will report them missing to the police of San Francisco now. I hope they can help."

"Sure. I will inform you as soon as I find out any news about them."

"Thank you, son. I really appreciate your effort."

"No problem. They are my friends and this is my duty."

"I will call you again, Jacob. Thank you once again," Julia's father said before hanging up.

I felt relieved and a little hopeful after calling him. He would help me a lot and we could try our best together to find my friends. I felt a bit guilty though. I was the reason why he felt worried about his daughter, especially that he was living in another state far away from her, but I had no other choice. I needed someone to help me.

I closed the closet again and took the dial book with me just in case. I went back to the first floor and handed the spare key to the security guard.

"Thanks a lot. I'm going to go now," I said.

"No problem. I hope you can find your friends," The security guard replied.

I gave him a small smile, then made an exit. I climbed into my car. I wasn't sure if I could attend my classes these days or not. I couldn't keep calm while my friends were missing. Where would they go? It was so weird that they just left me at the nightclub and haven't showed up since then. There was something wrong. My brain couldn't stop overthinking all the way long.

I arrived at my house and rang the doorbell. My mother opened the door and her face dropped as soon as she saw me pale and worried.

"Jacob, are you okay? You don't seem well," She asked in a soft tone.

"I'm fine," I lied, scuffing my feet to my bedroom.

I didn't want to talk about this. I wanted to find my friends as soon as possible. I jumped on my bed without even bothering to change my clothes. I was too tired and overwhelmed. I kept staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours. I wondered where they were.

"Where are you now, Sally?" The same question kept repeating itself in my head over and over until I fell asleep.