May was just returning from school with her father Tyler, they were taking the long route home so they could stop by their favorite Bakery. The smell of freshly baked bread hung throughout the air. May loved this Bakery the most because she and her father would go there often. Plus May's Bestfriend, Kaylin was the granddaughter of the owner. As May and her father walked in May retreated to the back of the store to go find Kaylin. May's father stayed behind to discuss with Greg, Kaylin's Grandfather.  May sat next to Kaylin and they rambled on about school. May would often help out with baking bread for the bakery but before she could start her father entered into the back and told her they must go. May said goodbye to Kaylin and the two of them quickly left. When they returned home her dinner was already on the table and as soon as she finished eating her mom sent her to her room. May quickly obeyed but couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, her parents were acting weird today. It was a Tuesday night, and for their family that meant game night. May understood that plans change but their family has never cancelled game night, not even when her brother was sick. May, confused, went into her little brother, Chase's room.

" Chase, hey chase wakeup" May said as she lightly shook him.

" Wha--, I'm sleeping." Chase replied drowsily.

" I know, just wake up." May replied.

" Okay, I'm awake now." the little boy replied, sitting up slowly.

" Mom and dad are being weird, huh?" May said.

"Mom? whaddya mean. I'm so tired May." Chase replied.

"C'mon Chase, listen to me, today's family game night remember?" May replied.

"Ohh, we're gonna play now?!" Chase asked excitedly.

"No, we are not doing it tonight, do you know why?"

"Nuhuh" Chase replied. "Kay night nig-"

May left his room. knowing he was too tired to actually listen, plus she didn't think he even knew what was going on. He was five after all. May then proceeded to sneak into the hallway, she knew something was up, her parents were always happy- go- lucky. They had never been this serious before, at least not around her. She heard her parents whispering about work or something as she leaned her head against the wall.

Click, click, click the sound of Mays father, Tyler, flipping his pocket knife open and closed echoed in Mays ears, starting to sound like a quiet beat of a drum, it was a nervous habit of his, but May didn't mind. She guessed he was nervous because of something her mom had said, because when she went into the living room a little earlier  she saw her parents arguing about something, but her mom saw her and quickly escorted her to her room and told her to stay there. Before her mom had her leave she heard her whispering “No, I won't do it,” in a harsh tone, which made sense because her mother never agreed with him. A few days later her father went missing, and no one really knew what happened to him, but that was that and no one brought it up anymore. That was five years ago.

It was like any other day, May, sixteen years of age now, and her brother, Chase, who was only twelve, were sitting on the couch waiting for their mom to return from work. May was diligently reading a book her teacher handed out for a class assignment, though she thought it was pointless to learn about the four seasons, considering it was 72 degrees year round. Though, she did wish to experience such a thing. As May read on she felt the warmth of the sun on her back from the living room window. She wished to be outside but she knew her mother would get mad. May and her brother weren't allowed to go outside unless their mom was home or if they had to leave for school or groceries, because another person had gone missing; mom was being paranoid. Which reminded May that she didn't think she saw much in the fridge this morning. 

“Chase, what do we have in the fridge? I'm hungry.” Said May

“ I don't know, but i'm hungry too. When will mom get back?” replied Chase

“Soon, I think.” said May as she put her book down. “Now will you please check the fridge.”

“Alright” said Chase as he walked over to the fridge. “Empty.” he said with a sigh.

“Then we should go to the store,” said May with a hint of excitement.

“You can, but I'm not coming, I don't want to face moms wrath.” Case said.

“Fine then” said May as she grabbed her purse and the house keys off the counter. “Tell mom where I went when she returns.

May walked out the door swiftly, making sure she could leave before her mom got home, May knew her mom would try to go out herself but May liked to go out. She took the path that Dad used to walk with her when they were getting groceries, she missed hanging out with him. She remembered the first time she walked this way, the streets seemed so long and the buildings seemed to tower over her for miles, it was different now, everything seemed different. A few years ago her father's favorite bakery closed and she could no longer smell the freshly baked bread that was on the window display. Thinking about the bakery made May wonder whatever happened to the owner, he was a sweet old man who would always give their family discounts on the baked goods, and in return her father would tutor his granddaughter, for she had no father of her own to tutor her. His granddughter was named Kaylin, but May didn’t talk to her anymore. They used to be friends but after the bakery closed down she was very sad and she started skipping classes, and May's Mother, Rebecca, didn’t want her to get involved with Kaylin because if her parents don't care enough for her to go to school, imagine what type of household she must be living in. That wasn't the first time her mother ruined one of her friendships and May knew it would certainly not be the last.

May spent the rest of the week thinking about her dad, it didn’t make sense to May, why did he just disappear, and what was the connection between her dad and Kaylins Grandpa? She knew they were friends but could there be more. Everything seemed to confuse May. Why has her mom been acting so weird since her dad went missing, why did she hate her being friends with Kaylin so much? May knew one thing though, she wasn’t going to dive in to her mom anymore, she didn’t know what caused this sudden change for her, but she knew she couldn't listen to what her mother said anymore. She had to find out things for herself, she had to make her own decisions, no matter what her mom thought.

           Memories of that day five years ago filled May's head, she couldn't stop thinking about Kaylin, and how confused she must've been. Kaylin was always there for her, and when they were little the two of them were inseparable, what had happened to bring them to such a state. May had an overwhelming feeling of guilt built inside her chest, it was suffocating. Kaylin was her best friend, and May realized how terrible she must've felt, May was her only friend at the time, without her she had no one.

Two weeks had passed and May decided that she would talk to Kaylin and catch up with her despite what her mom said. May was thinking about what ways to greet Kaylin, for they haven’t talked in almost three years, when she heard her teacher trying to gain her attention.

“May, pay attention!” Mrs. Rights, May's history teacher, said with an annoyed tone.

May shot her head up in a blurr, feeling embarrassed and she saw some of her classmates giggling at the disruption she had caused.

“I’m sorry” said May in a quiet tone as if ashamed of losing her focus. As her teacher walked back to the board May realized just how behind she was and she quickly started her work. 

It was the end of the day and as May walked past the cafeteria she saw Kaylin talking to the guidance counselor across the hall. This is my chance… May thought, and she walked up behind Kaylin And waited for them to finish their conversation. Kaylin turned around as the counselor walked away, and jumped back as if startled by the sight of May which caused her to drop the books that she held in her hands. 

“Let me help you with that,” said May as she picked up Kaylins books.

“Why are you helping me?” Kaylin said, looking confused.

“Because I wanted to talk to you,” said May with a joyful tone.

“May, you haven’t talked to me in three years, what do you want.” She said in a rude tone. Which had really surprised May.

“I’m sorry, I know I wasn’t the best friend, but I want to fix that.” May replied solemnly.

“No thanks,” Kaylin retorted as she walked away angrily.

Before May could catch up to Kaylin, she was confronted by her friends from her science class, listening to them ask her what her plans were for the weekend, this had to be the only time May didn’t like being surrounded by friends. Why now… May thought with annoyance. After a while she came back to reality and parted with her friends, but it was too late, and she was unable to find Kaylin.

A week had passed before May decided to try to talk to Kaylin again, but when she went to her, she told her to get out of her way, and pushed her aside. The way Kaylin treated her made her ache with sorrow, May knew she probably deserved it for cutting Kaylin out of her life for all those years, but she was determined to fix things between them.