lost love by elizabeth fritz (the lemonade war series TXT) 📕

my place and looked at me. “I’ll wait here.”

“Um sure, if you want to.” I said, smiling at him. “I’ll try not to be long.” And then I rushed into the house, bumping into Paul.

“Hey sis.” He said. “Back from breakfast?” He smirked.

“Actually, no. I’m going to get changed, we’re going out for pizza. Michael’s waiting outside.” I said and rushed up the stairs and into my room, ripping off my dirty clothes and tossing them in the hamper. I had accidentally left the door open. And my brother Justin just happened to be walking passed my room.

“Eww!” He yelled and ran back to his room, obviously scarred for life.

I blushed. I wasn’t even completely naked. “Grow up!” I yelled, shutting the door. I changed into a dress and s[rayed some perfume on and washed my face and put on some makeup and did my hair so it looked neat, grabbed my bag and headed downstairs, and outside.

Paul was talking to Michael. Great I thought and smiled joining them.

Michael broke away from the conversation then stole a glance at me. “Ready to go?” He asked softly.

“Yeah. Lets go.” I said ONE word

 he night had ended pretty soon. We left the restaurant at about eleven pm and he dropped me back home. But that wasn't the end of it really.

I got home and everyone was fast asleep. So i sprinted up to my room and changed into my pj's. Then as i got into bed I checked my phone for messages, then I replied to Emily. I saw one from Luke too. I quickly read it and replied to it, and he sent an instant reply back, I was just about to reply when I recieved a text from Michael. 

I talked to Michael until I fell asleep.

And you better remember that bit or you'll be wondering later on...

The next morning was Sunday.

Sunday morning. The best time of the week. As I woke up a smelt freshly cooked eggs and cinnamon rolls and pancakes and french toast. 
"Yummy." I said and jumped out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. I showered and bla bla the usual and went downstairs.

"Good morning pumpkin." My dad greeted me with a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning dad." I replied and sat down at the table. "Good morning mom, Paul, Justin." I sighed, and they replied.

So yeah, Breakfast went well.

I picked up my cell phone but it was out of charge. "Damn it." i muttered and went to search for the charger, and when I found it (at the last place I looked) I put it on charge.

When it had charged I saw an unread message from Luke. He had sent it to me the night before and I didnt even bother to read it. Feeling bad I opened it and read it.

It said to meet him at starbucks for breakfast. I felt bad because i had already had breakfast and it was now almost noon. I decided to give him a call.

"Shannon." He answered when I dialed his number.

"Luke! I'm so sorry. I didn't read your text until now. My battery was out of charge. But maybe we could hang out later.." I bit my lip.

"Uhh yeah sure. It's okay, I just thought maybe we could chill this morning but its okay. I'm with Kelly at the moment instead." he said.

"Oh.." i said, not knowing how to feel. I guess I didn't feel anything. "Thats good."

"So... You and Michael are really close and stuff now right?"

I smiled slightly at that. "Yeah I guess so."

Then we talked for a short moment before awkwardly ending the conversation.

The way Luke had talked to me wasn't the same. He seemed more distant. But it didn't matter anymore to me. I mean yeah, I did like Luke. But now I know he's just a friend. And I was getting along with Michael now, so I was happy.

Later that day as I was doing some homework I got a message from Luke again. I opened it and it said:

Hey Shannon. I'm going out of town for a while and I don't know when I'll be back. My grandma is very sick and we have to go be with her. I'm leaving first thing tomorrow. Sorry for short notice. Will miss you. Luke.

I gasped and called him but his phone seemed to be off. I then ran to his house and knocked on the door but no one was home. I went back home, extremely upset. I went up to the study and looked through the window, hoping to see Luke. His curtains were drawn. I sighed and got a piece of paper and wrote: Luke. Where are you? Call me as soon as you read this. I want to meet you. Shannon.

I waited for a really long time in that room, sitting by the window, doing homework and reading to pass time. Yeah, I texted Michael a couple of times as well. And I also kept trying to reach Luke but it was not working. Where was he?

It came to me that I should call Kelly. I quickly found her number in my contacts list and gave her a call, nervously waiting for her to pick up.

"Hello?" she answered after a few rings.

"Hey Kelly! Do you know where Luke is?" I blurted.

"Uhh, no. He left here a while ago. He's not picking up his phone. Why?" she asked curiously.

"Did he tell you he was going out of town?" I asked frowning.

"What? No! He's not going out of town!" She exclaimed.

"He sent me a message saying that."

"Oh my God! Is he? How could he not tell me! And tell YOU? Whats wrong with him!" she cried.

"Sorry.." i murmured. "If you hear anything from him, please tell me. I can't believe he's leaving like that."

"Yeah, you too." she sighed and hung up.

I bit my lip, thinking of what to do. What was wrong with him? Where was he?

I hadn't heard from him for the next few days either. It worried me sick. Like really really much. I couldn't do anything properly. Why wasnt he contacting me? he has my number. he has my email address. he knows where I live. And on the other hand I dont know where he is, and when He'll be back. His phone still hasnt been picked up.

School has been so boring. Kelly has been so not worried! And I have been so miserable. And for that Michael is kind of mad at me. Why doesn't anyone understand? What was his problem? Emily and Dan have been very intimate, but supportive. At least I have them. But I know I'm being a little distant to everyone. And I feel really guilty. But I just need to hear from him. One word.
 

Michael sucks.

 Shannon. Shaaaaaannon. Helloo? EARTH TO SHANNON." Emily banged my head with the book I was reading.

"Ow! Em! I can hear you." I rubbed my head where she hit me.

"Well yeah, you're hearing me, but you're not listening! Where are you?!" she leaned back, taking the book with her.

I sighed. We were at school now and it was lunch time. I was sitting on the table alone with Emily. It had been two weeks now and I still hadn't heard from Luke. My parents had not heard from his parents either. Nobody that I could ask knew where he was. And the worst part was that it seemed like I was the only one worried about him. Worried sick. Like even more than I was before. Emily keeps saying that he will come back, Dan keeps saying that he's okay and that he will contact us soon, my parents say that they're going to have to come back because their things are still here, Kelly has moved on from him and Michael says that he probably won't come back but "it'll be okay" and I should just "forget about him for now". As much as I love Michael(which I think I do) he's starting to act not himself lately. Whenever I go to him he tenses up and doesn't even look at me. And when I talk to him now he wont even talk back properly. But I guess it's still just me. After all, I'm obviously not myself these days. How can I not worry about my friend who just disappeared?

"I was reading that..." I murmured, ducking my head down, feeling guilty for not listening to Emily.

"You know what? Nevermind. I was going to tell you what an amazing day I had yesterday but I guess you don't want to hear it." Emily got up.

"Noooooo, Em. I do! I'm just not... okay." I said.

Emily sighed and sat down. "I know. You should go talk to Michael. I think you're leaving him out a bit now, always worrying about Luke."

I gave her a look. "Seriously."

She rolled her eyes. "Just go. Here comes Dan." She waved at him.

"Fine." I said and waved at Dan before getting up to go to Michael.


"Hey." I said slipping in next to him where he was sitting with a few other people. They were all doing their own stuff, not even talking to eachother. Michael was texting.

He put his phone in his pocket as I sat. "Oh. Hey."

"What were you doing..?" I asked.

"Nothing, just texting." he shrugged, picking up his soda from the table.

"Okay..." I nodded "So..."

He glanced at me.

"Okay. Look, I'm sorry for being kind of distant to you lately. I promise this ends now. I really like you Michael." I said.

Michael smiled. "Don't worry about it. How about we go out tonight for dinner or something. Anything you want."

I smiled happily. "Really?" This was a serious change of attitude. Like yesterday he was so different. I guess he just wanted an apology. Psh, guys.

"Yeah. Okay I'll pick you up at like... errr sixish Kay? Okay gottagoseeyalaterbye." He said and got up, leaving after looking down at his watch and then he rushed out the door.

"Ummm... Okay." I said, watching him leave. There were ten minutes left for lunch and I wondered where he had to go.

So after school that day I informed everyone at home that I was going out with Michael. I was actually pretty excited. We hadn't gone out in a while, and I missed this. I'm just gonna set aside my worries for a while and just have a good time.

I went upstairs and got dressed, taking nearly an hour and a half. By the time it was six, I had already done last minute checking and was waiting