The basement felt different tonight. The usual buzz of conversation that had always bounced off the walls now felt hollow, as if the air itself had thickened. Maya sat there, her eyes flickering from the half-empty bags of chips on the table to the blank screen of her phone. Elena's absence weighed on her—heavier than the quiet, heavier than anything she'd experienced before.
Riley was flipping through her notebook, tapping her pen absently against the page. She'd suggested the game of secrets to ease the tension, but Maya didn't feel like playing anymore.
They all had their secrets, of course. It was the one unspoken rule of the "Last Day Club"—no one ever said the things they really meant, the things that kept them awake at night. They only whispered the surface-level stuff, the easy ones that didn't hurt too much. But tonight, none of that seemed to matter.
Leo was leaning back in his chair, his leg bouncing with nervous energy. "So... uh, Riley, you're next," he said, glancing over at her.
Riley snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at them, forcing a smile. "Right. My turn." She stared at the page in her notebook for a moment, like the words were dancing just out of her reach.
"If tomorrow was my last day," Riley started, "I think I'd just... disappear. No one would ever know where I went. No goodbyes. Just… poof."
It was meant to be a joke, a ridiculous one at that, but the way Riley said it sent an icy shiver through Maya. The words cut through the air, thin and sharp, like a threat.
Maya cleared her throat, trying to shake off the unsettling feeling that had settled over her. "I don't think I'd do that," she said, forcing a smile. "But maybe I'd just leave. Skip school, go to the city, take a day for myself. You know, like—"
Leo interrupted her, his voice lighter than before, but his eyes were still too serious. "What, like 'run away from your problems' kind of thing?"
Maya stiffened. She hadn't expected him to call her out so easily. The truth stung more than she wanted to admit.
"Maybe," she muttered, looking away. "Isn't that what everyone wants? To just get away sometimes?"
There was a long silence as Leo and Riley exchanged uneasy glances. Maya shifted in her seat, trying to ignore the growing discomfort in her chest.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, a sharp ping echoed through the room—Elena's message. Maya grabbed her phone quickly, her heart leaping into her throat as she unlocked it.
I can't do this anymore. Not for you. Not for anyone.
The words were cold, distant—so unlike anything Elena had ever said to her.
Riley leaned forward, her expression faltering as she looked at the message. "That's... that's from Elena, right?"
Maya nodded, her throat tight. "I don't understand... Why would she say that? Where is she?"
"Maybe it's just a joke," Leo offered weakly, but his voice cracked.
Maya felt something inside of her snap. "It's not a joke. I don't think it is." She stared at the message again, her eyes scanning the words, trying to make sense of them, but they didn't add up. What was Elena trying to say?
Riley's hands were shaking as she reached for the phone. "We need to find her. This isn't—" She stopped, her voice catching. "We need to know what's going on."
Maya's heart hammered in her chest. What had Elena been hiding?
"You guys don't get it," Maya said, her voice trembling. "She's not just disappearing. She's telling us something. She's been telling us for weeks. All those stories we've been hearing in the club... they were more than just games. She was trying to tell us, and we didn't listen."
Leo frowned. "You're saying that last day thing wasn't just some... dramatic rant?"
"No," Maya whispered. "It wasn't." The weight of it all hit her at once, the realization that they'd been blind to the truth, that they had all missed the warning signs.
Riley stood up abruptly, pacing the room. "We need to find her. Now."
The words burned in Maya's chest. There was no going back from this. They couldn't unsee what they'd ignored. Elena wasn't just a missing person—she was a puzzle they'd failed to solve.
And now, they had to live with the consequences.