Erin sat in class the day after prom, it was super weird that they held it on a Wednesday she thought to herself. Matthew didn't show up to their first hour class together, math. She reasoned with herself that maybe he slept in...she nearly had!
When Erin headed towards lunch, he wasn't there either. She waited for him to show up but he never did. She pulled out her smart phone and laughed to herself. Matt didn't have a smart phone much less a telephone how would he even attempt to contact her? She tapped her feet in anxiousness and barely paid any attention to the conversations around her.
"Erin? Erin? ERIN!"
"Huh?" Erin blinked a couple of times snapping out her thoughts. "yeah, sorry can you repeat what you said?" Erin asked unsure of what they were even talking about.
"I asked you about the Junior - Senior Prom, it was amazing! And Matt was a perfect gentlemen!!!" the girl squealed. "Where is he? Did he do what all the Seniors did? Senior skip day?"
Erin shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know maybe, I know he was complaining about a headache towards the end of the night. He may just be home sick today." She was convincing herself as much as the other girls.
The girls at the lunch table were visibly disappointed, they were hoping that she would provide all the details about how their night had ended! But they were all sadly disappointed as they noticed that Erin's attention had already left the table. Erin rested her chin on her palm and stared out the window her eyes loosing focus on the here and now.
Erin was considering heading to the Octagon House later in the day. But she had practice and it was possible that he was just sick and not feeling well. Something felt off, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was just a gut feeling!? More likely it wasn't and it was just nerves or something, she thought.
Erin continued the rest of her day as normal. She went to soccer practice. Afterwards she headed home. She did her homework. It had never really bothered her that he didn't have a phone until this very moment. She couldn't just shoot him a quick message and ask him. Tomorrow, if he wasn't at school she would definitely go to his house and check on him! Maybe she was being too clingy? She shook her head turning off the lights and after her mind finally settled she fell asleep.
The next day she had half expected him to show up. When he didn't she was upset. The feeling of uneasiness in the pit of her stomach grew and she couldn't just brush it off. She was half attempted to skip the soccer game after school, but she couldn't. Her parents and coach would flip.
Erin didn't even bother going to lunch, she went to the library instead. She didn't want to hold up the façade that everything was okay when it wasn't. She shook her head. Why was she being like this? Stupid and boy crazy! She let out an exasperated sigh, 100% aimed at herself.
Even though she attempted to not think about him or where he was Erin's mind kept circling back to thoughts of him. Something seemed off. This wasn't like him. To miss school, even if he was sick, his papa would come and grab the work that he had missed. When she had asked about it, the teacher was less than helpful. Nobody had come to pick up his assignments.
She let out another sigh. Definitely tomorrow. It was Saturday and she would just head over there and check. No. Big. Deal.
Erin played in the soccer game and for the 90 minutes she could stay focused on the task at hand...just barely. Since it was an away game she didn't get home until late. Too late to stop by the house.
On Saturday, Erin awoke early. Too early to head over to Matt's house. Definitely not a reasonable time. She watched the time tick slowly. Trying anything to keep her mind occupied. When her phone went off at 10 (yes, she set a timer), she scooped up her bag and keys and made her way over to the Octagon House. Finally!!
As Erin drove over to Matt's house she was unsure of what she felt. There was something bubbling under her skin. Most likely anxiety she attempted to rationalize with herself. She was definitely overreacting she told herself out loud. Definitely over-reacting!
As Erin drove through the gates, it seemed normal. Nothing out of the ordinary.
As she drove down the drive, something seemed off. As she pulled into the circle drive she realized why the drive up to the house had been odd. The Octagon House was nothing but smoldering ash. She slammed on the breaks of her beetle. Her eyes darted to and fro. She turned off the car and hopped out.
Erin spotted the Packard in the drive...where it always was. Her heart began to sink, there was nothing about this on the news. There were no fire trucks to put out the fire. There were no calls to 911, the emergency services.
OH MY her heart sank through her chest falling to the floor. All her limbs felt too heavy. She could barely hold herself up. Her mind was running a million miles a minute making herself dizzy and lightheaded.
The Octagon House wasn't there anymore. All that remained was ash. Were they in there? Erin's knees began to weaken as she thought, were they in there when the house caught fire? Did they all perish in the fire?
No. No. No. Erin shook her head, this isn't possible. This is the 21st century. They couldn't die from a house fire. Sure you might lose your belongings...but your life? That wasn't a thing, was it? She thought naively.
Erin collapsed to the ground. Her body no longer able to support her weight or the weight that they all perished, Matt, Mr. Casper, Emmeline, or Ania. Tears began to stream down her face. How was this fair? What should she do?
???So many questions??? and no answers...
Erin wanted to take a quick look around the estate, but she knew they wouldn't be there. They surely would have used the vehicle to leave and contact a fire station if they were alive, right?
Erin turned her head when she heard a car flying down the drive. She squinted her eyes and put her hand up to her face to shield the sun. It can't be them, the Packard is here. As the vehicle got closer she definitely knew it wasn't them, it wasn't a car they would drive. It was a sleek red mustang convertible. The top town on the unseasonably warm day.
There were two women siting upfront and even from here she could tell that neither of them were Emmeline.
Erin slowly go up and stood near her car. Who were they?