Where Lost Things Go

*Beep* *Beep* William sleepily swung his arm around his nightstand, in search of his alarm clock. Eventually he found it and slammed his hand down on the off button and begrudgingly got out of bed. But before getting dressed, William found himself staring at his baby blue bedroom walls. They’ve been that way ever since he moved in with Mary at ten years old. He reminisced on the day he walked into that room for the very first time. The once empty shelves that adorned the walls, the navy blue dinosaur bedding and the closet filled with brand new clothes. But most of all, he remembered the way it didn’t feel like his room and the way that sometimes it still doesn’t .He wants to get his walls repainted, but moving all of the furniture out of his room would be too much of a hassle. Though it wouldn’t really matter what color the walls were when he moved out anyways, so it doesn’t matter.

After getting dressed, William looked back at his alarm clock and realized that the school bus would arrive in a few minutes. He immediately rushed downstairs, swung himself into the kitchen and practically skidded to the fridge to get something to eat before he missed the bus. He flung open the refrigerator door and grabbed a cold slice of leftover pizza. Just as he puts it in the microwave, Mary descends from the stairs and walks into the kitchen.

“ Willy,shouldn’t you eat something a little healthier for breakfast than pizza? “ Mary said.

“ It’s William, and I don’t have enough time for anything else, “ William said coldly, and scarfed down the pizza. Mary frowned a little, but Willam didn’t notice while he was putting on his shoes and heading for the door.

“ Wait! “ Mary yells to William as he opens the door. “ Do you need me to pick you up from track? “

“ I left my bike at school, so I’ll ride it back home, “ William replied, and quickly left before Mary could object.

William didn’t actually like track, but he would take any excuse to stay away from home longer. It’s not like he had a bad home-life, in fact it was probably a lot better than most, he just didn’t like having to stay for a while. His mother died when he was 9 years old and he got adopted by Mary a year later. Mary was always a kind and caring woman, but William hasn’t really accepted her as his mom yet. Maybe he’s still upset about his biological mother and doesn’t want to replace her, or maybe he somehow blames Mary for everything. Sometimes he doesn’t really know either, but whatever the case, he’s kept his distance with Mary and hasn’t bothered trying to get close to her.

William managed to get outside just as the bus was about to leave and quickly got on. The bus driver told him to try and catch the bus on time and then he made his way to the very back seat where no one would sit next to him. He spent the ride like he normally would, wearing headphones and drowning out the rest of the world with music.

Eventually the bus arrived at school and William started making his way to class when he heard someone calling his name.

“ William! Hey William! C’mon man, wait up! “ William looked over to see Jax running towards him, but before William could pretend he didn’t see them, Jax had already caught up.

“ Hey man, did you see the news today? It was wild! Apparently a couple guys went missing last week,” Jax said, a little too enthusiastically. Jax was always interested in mysteries and true crime and would often stick their head in where it wasn’t supposed to be. William met Jax on the first day of freshman year and hasn’t been able to shake them off since. Jax continued to elaborate on the news story and talked about all the possibilities.

“...So maybe, hey William, are you even paying attention? Jax asked, a little annoyed.

“ Sorry, I don’t feel like talking right now, “ William replied.

“ but you never feel like talking, “

“ goodbyyyyye, “ William said, waving his hand and continued walking to class. Jax just stood there for a few minutes, scoffed, and walked to their first class. This wasn’t an unusual reaction from William. He preferred to be by himself and barely socialized. He only had three friends and Jax was the only one he talked to regularly.

Throughout the day storm clouds started to gather and by the time the dismissal bell rang it had started pouring. Track was canceled because of the heavy rain, but William still decided to take his bike because he didn’t feel like being home just yet and decided to ride over to the donut shop. He didn’t tell Mary that he was going, he didn’t even tell her that track was canceled. He only needed himself in his mind. As he rode, his hood soaked up water which seeped down onto his head, and the wind blew raindrops onto his chest and sleeves. His bottom half wasn’t doing any better. The wheels splashed puddles and kicked up water, drenching the cuffs of Williams pants and the pedals of the bike. Suddenly, the bike hit a pothole in the road, causing Williams feet to fall off of the pedals and his hands started slipping from the handlebars. William wobbled around on the bike and tried to grab ahold of the handlebars again, but in his panic the bike swerved off the road and into the brush. Leaves and twigs smacked into Williams face and mud splashed onto his pants. At some point amongst the chaos, the wheels got caught on a root sticking out from the ground and the next thing William knew, he was sent flying over his bike and right into a tree.