“So,” I say between bites of Chinese food, “How’s Tony? I know you guys haven’t been dating for long, but still. How is it?”

“‘It’ is not a thing anymore. We broke up.” Violet answered.

”Why?” I asked.

“He was just really attached and always got jealous so I decided he wasn’t right for me. I mean, life is hard enough, I don’t need my personal relationships to be hard too.” said Violet.

“Makes sense. So how did he take it?” I asked.

“Terrible! He got all mad and stormed off.  At first I was worried, but then I looked back at our short relationship and thought he threatened me so many times and never did anything so I just let his madness go.” Violet replied with a shrug.

“He is a loud mouth.” I chuckled. “What about your birth parents? Didn’t you say you were going to try to find them. How’s that going?”

“I found their names on a foster care form at my old foster home back when I lived there and I kept it ever since. The form said that my mom was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic in 1999, when I was one. When she was diagnosed, my father left her, and according to the forms, my mom was ‘unfit to be a motherly figure’ so I was put in the foster care system.” As she told me this, I felt a tug at my heartstrings. Violet was such a nice girl. She didn’t deserve this. She’s also very strong, and she acts like she can handle it, but as she is telling me this, I can see the pain and sadness in her eyes. All I want to do is make her feel better, but I’m not sure how to do that.

“Viol-” I started to say.

“That’s not the whole story,” she said, interrupting me.

“Are you sure you want to-” I asked.

“I’m fine. Anyways, The form also said some stuff about my father’s personality. It used words such as ‘violent’ and aggressive’ and ‘possessive over his belongings’.”  Violet said.

“I have a serious question for you. Do they know where you are now?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Form said they lived in a nearby city at the time, so possibly. Wherever they are, though, I don’t know who they are” Violet said apathetically.

“Oh, well okay. You want to talk about it?” I said

”Not really. Listen I know you’re just a concerned best friend, but seriously, I’m okay. Life throws you a curveball, turn it into lemonade or whatever.”Violet said.

I laughed. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it goes.” I replied.

“Whatever. Let’s go to sleep, I’m tired.” said Violet.

“Okay,” I said as we both got under the covers of our separate beds, “Goodnight. Love you.”

“Love you too.”  Violet replied.  We fell asleep then. We woke up, watched some TV the rest of the day,and also went on a short hike. After the hike, we went straight to the park.
 

“So,” I say between bites of popcorn and dialogue in the movie, “What do you think of the movie so far?”

“I must say, this romance is unreal. I mean, who rides a horse into a ballroom?” Violet gestures toward the screen.

“Good question,” I laughed “So what-”

“Hey, I love you, but I want to see how this unrealistic romance movie ends. Plus, we did buy popcorn so..” Violet laughed.

“Yeah” I laughed, “fair enough.”

So we watched the rest of I Can’t Live Without You (terrible movie by the way), then headed to my car. I went to throw my trash away so it wouldn’t clutter my car. As I got in, I realized that Violet was nowhere to be seen.

”Violet? VIOLET!” I screamed through the empty parking lot. I was starting to get worried. Then I heard a distant scream that sounded like Violet faintly yelling “AMBER! HELP” but then the voice disappeared and the only thing I heard was a car speeding away. NO! I thought. This can’t be happening! NO!

“Hey, you okay?” A voice startled me. I turned around to see Jason standing there.

“No, I’m not. Violet’s gone! Someone took her!” I exclaimed.

“Now, calm down, her parents probably just picked her up.” Jason tried to assure me.

“She doesn’t have parents, Jason! She was a foster kid. She barely even has a room of her own!.” I say as I pull out my phone to call 911.

I call 911, and within minutes the police are in the park. They take my statements and Jason’s, and then started quietly whispering to each other.

”What?! What are you guys whispering about?!” I ask in frustration.

The antsy cop tells me:
      “Amber, we aren’t going to look for Violet. Because she was a foster kid, the possibility of her being kidnapped is unlikely. She probably just ran away. She is in college after all. She’s a young adult, she can do what she wants. Therefore, the investigation is conclu-”

”No! You can’t do that! You guys are the police you need to do something! Look for tire marks, search for footprints, SOMETHING!”  I said in a panic.

But before I even finished, the police started packing up and getting ready to leave.

The policeman said through his window “So sorry to hear about your friend leaving. Hope she stays in contact with you, you seem like a nice friend.”

The police, one by one, left the parking lot in their cars, leaving me in the park, shocked to see that they wouldn’t even do anything. I ran to my car and was about to get in it when Jason asked
“Where are you going?”

“To find Violet. If the police will not help her, then I will!” I shouted.

“Woah, hold on. Okay, so if Violet was kidnapped, going after her would just be dangerous.” Jason said.

”Her life is at stake! I need clues, or something to help me.”  I replied.

“Okay, well if you’re going, so am I.” Jason said.

“Why?” I asked.

“The world is a scary place. Plus, I’m guessing you could use some company.” Jason replied.

“Okay, just hurry up!” I said as I gestured toward the front seat. “I don’t want to lose any clues.”

”Okay, okay.”  Jason said.  We both got into my car and drove off in the direction that I heard the car speed off in.
 

As we were coasting along the highway, we were both searching for clues along the way, such as something that could’ve fallen out a window, or a boot print that looked like Violet’s boots, while I simultaneously told Jason about what happened and what I saw that night, and then we started brainstorming who would do this. At this point, we were looking for anything. Tire tracks, disrupted objects on the side of the road, something. As I was stopped at a gas station, I saw a black jacket hanging on a pole next to Jason.

”Hey Jason can you hand me that jacket?” I asked.

”Sure.” He handed me the jacket.

I realized that the jacket was Violet’s. I remember because I helped her pick it out at the mall one time. I immediately walked inside the gas station mini-market to ask the cashier about the jacket and if he saw anyone with it, while Jason filled the rest of the tank.

”Um excuse me,” I said to the cashier standing behind the counter “Did you by any chance see a car that pulled up here with a girl in it? Medium sized black hair, green eyes, white, and skinny? Oh and wearing this jacket?” I held up the jacket in the view of the cashier.

“Yo no hablo ingles. Solo Español, chica.” The cashier said.

”Oh, bueno. Has visto a una chica venir con alguien? La chica tiene ojos verdes, pelo negro, y blanca piel. Y ella estaba llevando esta chaqueta.”  I said.

“Yo no sé quien entra y sale de aquí.” The cashier said as Jason walked in.

”Um, what did he just say? Yo no what?” Jason asked.

I chuckled at Jason’s dumb comment.

”Do you take Spanish?” I said with a laugh.

”Nah, too common. I went with German. Nobody takes German.” He said.

”When is German ever going to be helpful in America?” I said matter-of-factly.

”Hey, when Germany takes over the world with their language, don’t come to me to be your translator.” He said sarcastically. 

”Qué?” said the cashier confusingly.

”Lo sentimos, señor,” I said as I shot Jason a glare. “Jason, hold on a second. “estás seguro?” I said to the cashier.

“El único carro que vino aquí esta noche fue una furgoneta negra. No sé quién estaba en la furgoneta, pero dejaron esa chaqueta.”

“Eso me ayuda, gracias. Adios!” I said as Jason and I walked out of the gas station market.

“De nada. Buena suerte a ambos!” the cashier said as we walked out.

“Okay, so that cashier gave me some useful information.” I said as I sat in the driver’s seat of  my car.

“Oh, your Spanish friend, there? Yeah, what did he say ‘chica’?” Jason said with a smile across his face.

“Haha, very funny, Jason,” I said as I nudged him. “My parents are both from Spain, so sue me if they wanted me to learn Spanish.”

“Okay, okay,” he said with a laugh, “what did he say?”

“He said that the only car to come into this gas station tonight was a black van, and that he did not know who was in the van, but one of them was wearing Violet’s jacket. So either that was Violet in that black van, or-”

“Someone bought the same jacket as Violet, but decided it didn’t match their gas station outfit, so they left it.” Jason exclaimed.

“Exactly” I said with a laugh. One thing I noticed at this moment was how much I’d laughed that night. I was very sad and upset at the situation, but somehow Jason had made me feel better throughout the night. I was so grateful for that. I don’t know how upset I would have been going on this journey by myself. “Okay, I think we should stop at a motel for the night, I’m beat.”

“Sure,” he said calmly, “There was a sign at the gas station of a hotel just down the street. Let’s go.”

When we got to the motel, I got my phone out of the car and called my parents to let them know where I was. I’m really close to them, as you can probably guess. After that, I put it on the night table in case anyone tried to contact me.

“Oh, shoot, we don’t have any clothes.” I sighed.

“Let’s go to the gift shop here. I saw some clothes there. I also saw a restaurant near there.” Jason said.

“Jason, it’s one in the morning.” I said.

“It had a sign on the door. Open twenty-four/seven.” Jason replied.

“Let’s go” I said, “I’m starved.” We went to the restaurant and took a seat. We ordered a large pizza, half cheese, half pepperoni.

“So,” he said as he took a bite of pizza, “what’s the next step here? I mean the cashier didn’t see which way the van went, and we didn’t see anything either. What’s next?”

“I found the jacket at the right exit of the gas station, so the van must’ve went east. So, we’ll just go that way and see if we run by any clues. Something tells me this person is not very stealthy.” I ate my first slice of pizza and was about to start my second when Jason stopped me.

“Hold on, there,” he said while laughing, “You have pizza sauce on your cheek. Here, let me get it.” Before I could say anything, he grabbed a napkin, leaned across the table, and wiped my cheek with the napkin.

“Thanks.” I said nervously. Why is my heart beating so fast? I thought. I took a deep breath and finished my pizza. We went to the gift shop, bought a few days’ worth of clothes, then went back to our motel room and went to sleep. I never knew that I could wake up, and see such a horrifying thing on my phone.
I woke up to a text from an unknown number. The text read:
Violet is mine. Come to the abandoned warehouse in Bucksville to say your goodbyes. Don’t you dare try anything, Amber.
The  text immediately made me cry. Jason was still asleep, so I tried my best to be quiet. I was startled with a hand touching my shoulder.

“You okay? What happened?” Jason sat down next to me on the bed. I gave him my phone, and he grabbed it wearily. After he read the text, he put my phone on the night table. He looked at me sadly, as if he felt bad for me. “Hey,” he said, “this is a good thing. We can go and get her back.”

“This person is probably dangerous. What if we can’t?” I continued to cry.

“Hey, hey,” Jason lifted my chin up, “We’ll be fine. I’ll bling this person with my amazing German skills, and then he/she will be so impressed they’ll hand over Violet, and go turn themselves in.” I laughed softly and that made him laugh too. He leaned in and gave me a hug. When he hugged me, it felt as if nothing was wrong, that I was safe. That we would all be okay and live happily ever after. He  pulled away and nervously said “Okay, let’s go. We got a kidnapper to find.” We went out to the car, and got back on the road on our Journey to Return.

About three hours into the car ride, we arrived at the abandoned warehouse. As we were driving up we saw a black van parked on the side of the dirt road. I parked on the other side of the road and got out of the car nervously. I took a shaky breath and started to walk towards the warehouse. Jason followed behind me. As I was walking, he had a cautious, worried look on his face, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. ”Something bothering you? Other than the whole kidnaper-has-our-friend situation.” I chuckled nervously.

“I- I don’t know how to say-” he stammered.

“Oh come on, Jas. Just out with it. We might not be up for talking later, what with the risking-our-lives that’s about to happen.” I said.

“Okay, look there’s been something kind of bothering me lately.It’s just that-” Jason stammered.

”Okay dude, seriously, out with it. We have some saving to do, and this is not helping.” I interrupted him. He nodded his head back and forth while chuckling. “Okay, Jason, there is  no time for this. Tell me lat-”. Before I could finish, Jason planted his lips on mine. I was reluctant at first, but slowly kissed him back. I won’t go into gross details, so I’ll just skip over them. It was unexpected and romantic. Even if it was outside an abandoned warehouse with my kidnapped friend in it, it was the first kiss of many.

“That’s what I wanted to say. I’ve had a crush on you for like ever and I just never got the chance to tell you. I know, right now’s probably not the best time to tell you, but if our lives are at risk right now,, I didn’t want you to die not knowing. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, I know I should’ve it’s just-”

“Jason,” I smiled, “Stop. I’ve liked you for a while now too. And I didn’t say anything for the same reason. But now,” I breathed heavily, “is not the time to talk about this.” I put my hand in his. “Let’s go get Violet.” He smiled back at me and we walked into the warehouse hand in hand.
The warehouse was old, and made of wood. Each sound echoed throughout, and there were many hallways. The ceiling was lined  with cobwebs and the wood floors had grass growing through them. We navigated through the hallways, then we heard a female voice scream.

“That’s Violet’s voice.” I said through gritted teeth. Throughout this journey, I have had mixed emotions, ranging from happy to sad to scared, but all I could feel right now was anger. Anger toward this kidnapper who had the nerve to kidnap my friend. Anger toward myself for letting Violet go. Anger toward the world for letting such bad things happen to such good people. Anger. Jason must’ve noticed because he held my hand tighter and rubbed my shoulder in reassurance. He didn’t say it out loud, but I could tell what he meant. Stay focused, now. Anger won’t help get her back right now. I took a deep breath and Jason lead the way toward the sounds. As we walked in, a gun was pointed straight at us.

“Stop right there.” he said angrily. “You stay there, and say your goodbyes. NOW!”
Jason slowly pushed me behind him, and gestured secretly to where Violet was sitting. She was tied up in a chair in the corner with duct tape around her mouth, hands and feet. She had puffy eyes, so anybody could tell she had been crying. Her shirt had some blood on it, and she had a cut on the side of her cheek. Seeing her like this made feel angry. Angrier, actually. At him, this man who decided he was allowed to take her for himself. Angry at the world for letting this happen to her. Angry.

“Woah, woah, Tony. Easy with the gun. We just came to say goodbye. That’s all.” Jason said. He gently tapped my leg, trying to get my attention off of Violet. I looked back at Tony, then down at my leg  where Jason touched me. I knew what he was telling me. He was giving me a code. A code for this unspoken plan. I immediately knew the plan, but I was not happy with it. I nodded to Jason, while Tony was mumbling to himself.

“If I can’t have her, no one can. If I can’t have her, no one can.” He  kept muttering to himself as he looked over towards Violet and started pacing back and forth, putting the gun in his jacket. “Well go on,” he said, “Say goodbye.”

“Okay, okay.” Jason said calmly. We walked a few steps toward Violet before being told to stop by Tony. Behind his back,Jason counted to three with his hand. One, two, three.
Jason lunged toward Tony, and  tackled  him to the ground. I ran over to Violet, and cut her ties and duct tape off with a piece of glass I found on the floor. As soon as she was untied, I ran her towards the car. The whole run, I was worried about Jason. When we ran out he was still on top of Tony. He seemed to be winning, but with Tony’s mindset, I never knew what power he held within. I put Violet in the back seat of the car,, and hugged her really tight. She hugged me back, and we both started crying tears of joy. But, despite me not wanting to leave her, I stopped the hug and told her I was going back. She nodded gravely and snuggled in the corner of the backseat with a blanket I had given her. As I was getting out of the car, I heard a gunshot. My heart started racing, and I ran at a sprint through the doors, and back into the room that the boys were fighting in.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Jason standing over Tony, with Tony’s gun in hand. He had shot Tony in the thigh, so he couldn’t walk. I ran over to Jason, and gave him a big hug. We called 911.
The police came within minutes and took Tony away. They were very apologetic towards us and took Violet to the hospital to be checked for any serious injuries after asking us some questions. The police allowed us to ride in the ambulance with her. The whole ride I held Jason’s hand with one of my hands, and Violet’s with the other. I was so relieved that this whole journey was over. We could live our lives in peace, finally.
 

Now, it’s  been roughly two and a half years since this happened. Violet, Jason,and I moved into an apartment together near school. Now, how is Jason and my relationship going you may ask? Well the answer to that is very well.
We have been together ever since the incident. We have been there for each other for so long, and this tragedy only made us stronger. Shortly after we moved in, Jason gave me a promise ring. We both agreed on no marriage for now, so this was our compromise.
Violet has not dated since Tony, but it’s not because of Tony. She doesn’t want to be “tied down in a relationship” as she puts it. She is a “strong independent woman who doesn’t need a romantic relationship”. We have all been living happily ever after. Not like a fairy tale, I mean. But we are all in good places  in our lives. The Journey to Return only made us stronger, and I can’t wait to continue this journey for our whole lives.
Okay, now that that’s over with, I have to take a test. Wish me luck!