Aggro - CoraLee June Page 0,13

being quite so intimidating when I was a kid, but then again, my childhood innocence hadn’t yet been crushed by the cruel realities of the world.

I heard yelling off in the distance, and it snapped me back to the present. I couldn’t make out what the voices were bellowing until they got closer. After a minute, I could finally make out my own name being shouted along with Violet’s.

“Kai! Chase! I’m this way,” I hollered back.

We yelled back and forth until they eventually found my secluded spot. I filled them in on what Celeste had told me back at the house about Violet coming out here to try to find me. They looked at each other and then back at me, clearly worried. Worried enough that they were here—together—and not ripping each other to shreds.

“I called the cops, but they said they couldn’t do anything until it had been a full twenty-four hours. They didn’t take it seriously at all,” Chase growled while running his hand through his hair. “They said that especially with her history, she would probably be home with a funny story by dinnertime.”

Kai looked stoic, standing beside him with his feet planted in the ground and his arms crossed over his chest. “It’ll be dark in a couple of hours.”

I checked my phone again, noting that my phone was about to die. “Should we split up?” I asked.

“No,” Chase and Kai replied together. They snapped their necks to look at one another, and I let out a sigh. Time was wasting, and my chest felt like someone was sitting on it.

“Let’s make a line and walk. We can yell for her until it’s dark, then try the police again. Violet grew up in these groves. It’s not like her to get lost.”

I swallowed. I preferred her being lost to being anything else.

We wordlessly fanned out and started walking through the wooded area, calling out Violet’s name and letting the forest swallow our pleas. Chase kept close to me, and I swatted at Ceratopogonidae or, as Mom called them, No-See-Ums, at my neck. Sweat dripped down my body, and dirt covered my sandals. I tied up my hair while stepping over a fallen log. Gasping when I saw a flash of pink on the ground, I crouched.

“Chase,” I called, my voice broken and choked with emotion. “Chase, come look.”

I felt a heavy presence at my back and knew it was Kai based on the angry energy rolling over my skin. I reached down and picked up the pink scrunchie, immediately recognizing it. “It’s Violet’s,” I whispered, as if my voice would break the spell of despair caging me in.

“Fuck,” Kai grunted. “We’re going back to the police. We need a search team.”

Chase jogged over to us and stared at the scrunchie in my hand. “I’m not leaving these woods until we find my sister,” he replied, his voice dark.

I didn’t want to leave either, but this just confirmed that Violet was here somewhere.

“You go back, Chase and I will keep looking,” I whispered before standing and pocketing the scrunchie. “We need to mark that we found it here for reference.”

Chase tore off a strip of his neon surfing tank and tied it to a nearby branch. “There. Let’s keep looking. She’s got to be close.”

Kai shook his head and kicked the ground. “We need the police. It’s going to be dark soon. You have no flashlights. Breeze is in sandals. It’s not safe.”

“I don’t give a fuck!” Chase yelled. “If you don’t care about my sister, you can just waltz back the way you came. I’m not leaving until we find her.”

Kai clenched his fist. “Of course I care about Violet. I’m just trying to be smart about this.”

“Like you were smart last night? Where were you anyway?”

“I was driving Breeze home!” Kai yelled back.

I pinched the bridge of my nose while listening to them argue. Time was wasting, and I didn’t have time for their fucking pissing contest. Kai was right, it would be nighttime soon, but I didn’t want Chase exploring the woods alone. We needed more people to comb through the trees and search for Violet. We needed flashlights and water and maybe police dogs. Holy fuck, Violet. Where are you?

The boys continued to yell at one another while I gathered my thoughts, but movement in the distance caught my eye. “Violet?” I whispered, taking a step forward. Kai’s and Chase’s voices droned on as I walked. My legs moved forward with heavy trepidation