Forever Looking for Her Bright Smile

I still remember that day as vividly as if it were just yesterday, that horrid day I was bereft of my best friend. Unusually, as if in mourning, August twenty-fifth was a frigid day. It felt as if autumn immediately wanted to come out and make an early appearance.

         “Can you believe it? Tomorrow we’ll be seniors,” Laurie said, stepping out of her Volkswagen bug.

“Time sure did fly by,” I replied as we began walking towards the outside shopping center, “Can you believe it’s been nine years since we met?”

 “Oh, gosh, no. It’s been that long?”

                I nodded. “It sure has.”

  We shopped and tried on multiple outfits for the upcoming school year.  We worked all summer, saving money just for today. We already knew what we wanted. We looked in multiple issues of Seventeen Magazine for outfit ideas.

   The dark clouds covered the sun, blocking the sunny rays from coming down and warming our skin. The cold wind blew against our bare legs, making goosebumps cover our bodies. We wore different flower print summer dresses matched with sweaters for fighting off the breeze. My outfit was matched with cowgirl boots and chunky bangles. Laurie styled brown wedges and large earrings.

   If you looked at us together you could see that we were like exact opposites.  Laurie’s dark brown hair with big curls flowed gracefully down her back. Her kind chocolate brown iris’s could make for the best puppy dog eyes. Her short stature and skinny frame made her seem innocent and defenseless. Her white, perfect smile resembled that of a movie star's.

I, on the other hand, had always sported my straight blond hair in a high ponytail. My ice-blue gaze, mistaken for a glare, wouldn’t seem kind at all. Plus, being taller than most and having more meat on my bones made people intimidated by me.

People walked by us, giving Laurie affectionate smiles and gaping at her beauty, but giving me only hesitant stares. We were a queer friendship, indeed, from an outside view. Both of us looked as though we were from separate worlds. No one understood why we were such close friends. Sometimes even we couldn’t believe it, she the popularity queen and I the geek?

We shopped for hours, finding the cutest clothes and accessories. While we shopped, we talked of latest summer relationships and the Pretty Little Liars episode that had aired the night before. Hours passed in what seemed like only minutes.  The air became colder as the sun began to descend, leaving the cloudy sky in an array of gold and orange. Our stomachs began to growl loudly.  With our arms full of bags, we began to walk towards our favorite restaurant.

Zoey’s Kitchen was the perfect college girl restaurant. The menu was full of only healthy salads and foods. It was cute and comfortable inside. As always, we ordered the Greek salad and tomato bisque. We paid and sat down in the small booth by the window. It was our favorite seat where you could look down at the city, Downtown’s beautiful lights reflecting against the clouds.

As we ate, we talked about our spoils and what outfit would look good with our accessories.  After a long talk about colleges and which ones we were going to apply to, we stood to leave. Once out the door, we quickly realized that it was later than we’d expected. All the cars in the mall parking lot had disappeared. There wasn’t a single person or car in sight.

A chill went down my spine, and it wasn’t because of the cold. I felt as though we were being watched. I felt as if we were in jeopardy. My frightened eyes met Laurie’s and I noticed that her’s mirrored mine. Without a word we began to quickly walk down the dark sidewalk. It was about a ten minute walk to Laurie’s car.

The wind began to pick up and rain started to sprinkle down on us. Our pace quickened. With my heart pounding fast, something felt terribly off. Looking for any signs of danger, I scrutinized the area around us. The only sounds were the click of our shoes against the sidewalk and the wind blowing the leaves on the trees.

Then we heard the rev of an engine behind us. We stopped dead in our tracks and turned slowly around. My heart began beating furiously fast. There, in the middle of the road, was a white van, its headlights blinding us. The van began to rev up again, making us stumble backwards, dropping our bags.

Then it took off high speed towards us, swerving over onto the sidewalk.  For a second I knew what I felt like to be an animal caught staring into the bright headlights, unable to move. Laurie screamed and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the way. Panic surrounded me. My brain wasn’t working. Run, was all I thought.

 With buildings on either side of us, we began to race down the slippery, uneven cobblestone street.  There wasn’t anywhere to go, but straight. There weren’t any alleyways or unlocked doors. There wasn’t anywhere to hide from out pursuer. I, being on the track team, was obviously faster than Laurie. I hadn’t realized that a distance had begun stretching between the two of us.

Lightning struck down in the distance lighting up the sky. Loud, shaking thunder followed immediately after. The rain began to pound down on us, even harder now, almost as if the sky was crying. The buckets of rain forced my clothes to cling to my body. Blisters formed and scrubbed painfully against the heel of my soaked boots.

 Suddenly Laurie slipped on the street, and with a loud gasp, fell to the ground. I stumbled to a stop. Turning around to help her, I saw the van roll slowly beside her.  The side door slid open and a large man with a mask reached out. Gasping she tried desperately crawling away on her hands and knees, her leg was obviously injured. He roughly grabbed Laurie by her hair, easily pulling her into the van. Screams, both hers and mine, pierced the ice cold air. I raced towards them, but I was too late.

She and the van were gone, almost like they were never there to begin with. 

The image of her scared, wide eyes and her mouth open in a terrified scream is stuck in my mind even today. Thirty-five years later, and still, my best friend hasn't been found. The police gave up the case three years after the kidnapping, but I never gave up looking. I never give up looking for her bright, unmistakable smile.