Clues.

I rush to Wren’s house right after Naomi hangs up on me. I scrape at the door until a hidden key falls out and I used it to get into his house. His house looked fine as if nothing had happened. Everything organized and in place, just like how he is.

I rush to his room and look on his study table. There are stacks of books and novels but only one book catches my eye. It’s a purple covered book with a lock that requires coordinates. I curse under my breath and wreck my brain, thinking of what the coordinated might be.

I try his birthday (June 9^th), the first four numbers of his phone number and the year of his graduation. None of them worked and by now I was yelling in anger at his diary as if it were him.

“Wren?! Do you know how much mess you’re putting me through? Imogen through? Do you know how much I’m worried about you? How worried Imogen is? Do you know how much I love you? I know you love me too so goddamn it Wren, tell me what the coordinates are!” I slam the diary on the table and that’s when it hits me.

31 Dec, 2010.

I grab the diary and enter the code. 3112.

It opens.

I flip through the pages, skimming everything I pass by, looking for clues as to where he might be. Most of his diary entries are about Imogen and him and the more pages I look through, the more jealousy eats me up. I remind myself that I’m doing this for Imogen as she’s worried sick about her fiancé.

Finally, I come to the last diary entry of his that writes ‘September 17^th, 2014’. I read this page carefully, reading the words one by one in fear of missing any important details.

September 17^th, 2014.

Naomi and I went to the beach a few hours ago (its night right now). You can’t believe how much I fell in love with her again. We quoted our past sentences and star gazed together on the beach, listening to the rhythmic sound of waves gracefully washing up on the shore and going back into the sea.

If only I’d told her what I felt. If only I’d confess bravely and confidently. Maybe, just maybe, we’d be together. But no, I was too much of a coward, embarrassing.

I’ve always loved Naomi. I don’t know why I went to Imogen, honestly. The lock on this diary proves how much I love her.

This might be my last entry, diary. I’ll be forever star gazing at the beach, being one with the rhythmic waves.

-Wren McCarty.

I gasp, my voice quavering. A tear rolls down my cheek and I’m heartbroken. I knew exactly what the last sentence meant.

I’ll be forever star gazing at the beach, being one with the rhythmic waves.

I drop the diary without locking it and run out of the house, remembering to lock the door behind me. I drive speedily to Imogen’s house, thinking of how to break the news to her. My heart aches and I’m crying throughout the drive, telling myself that I’d been stupid, that I should’ve just told Wren.

Once I got to Imogen’s house, I pounded on the door and Imogen opens it right away. She takes one look at my face and asks in a shivering tone, “You know where he is?”

A tear rolls down my cheek without my control. She gasps and I whisper, “He’s gone. It’s my fault. I-I’m sorry.”

Imogen sobs violently and I take her into my arms, letting her sob her heart out. It isn’t long before a few cars show up at her house. A man comes out from one of the cars and says, “Imogen Winslet?”

Imogen stands in front of him with puffy eyes and says, “Yes?”

But we didn’t need to ask what he was here for.

Imogen collapses to the ground in front of the man without a word, crying once more.

To be continued in: Epilogue.