One bitter cold and rainy morning, Tori and Shae walked briskly to school. They knew something was wrong because Paige, their best friend, had not shown up to school in four days. All three of the girls attended Constance Billard, a private school in Manhattan, New York. “She might have caught a cold,” Shae said concerned. 

“Maybe, but the Paige I know would never miss this much school.” Answered Tori.

“We should walk to her house after school, and find out where she’s been.” Shae replied.

“I hope she is alright it’s not like Paige to miss this much school like you said.” Tori said.

As Tori and Shae walked into their first hour, they noticed Paige was gone again. All three friends had chemistry, and would always sit together. They asked other students, however they had not seen Paige either.

*****************

After school, Tori and Shae walked to Paige’s house. It was a numbingly cold Wednesday afternoon. The sun began to set on the west side of Manhattan, New York. Tori raised her right hand, clenching her hand, as she struck her fist against the cold hard wooden door.  They waited impatiently for someone to answer the door. Soon they heard the loud, flat footed steps approaching the door. It was Mary (Paige’s mom), looking very depressed and worried. “Are you here looking for Paige?” asked Mary.

“Yes, is she here?” asked Tori. Tori sensed the overly worried tone in Mary’s voice; something that even she had not heard before, and one that was by far worse than she had ever heard.

“No, Paige left to hang out with her friends around 8:00pm on Saturday on the East side of town, and she never returned.” Mary said in a worried voice. “I think she met some people in Central Park.”

“We are going to ask around to see what we can come up with.” Shae replied. Tori and Shae decided to walk back to Tori’s house, on the upper East side of the city. Tori lived on the corner of 5th Avenue and 95th Street. It was a long and tedious two-mile walk in effect of the wintry cold wind that swept across the streets of the city. On the way there, they saw Caitlin who lived about two blocks away from Tori, who also lived on the upper East side of the city. 

“Hey guys!” Caitlin yelled.

“Hi,” replied Shae. Shae could sense tension in Caitlin’s voice, however Caitlin always seemed to act strange.

“I was just on my way home,” Caitlin said.

“We are too, have you seen Paige lately?” asked Shae.

“Uh… um…no,” replied Caitlin.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what were you doing on Saturday night?” Shae questioned.

“I was on my way back from the library; I had to read The Great Gatsby in my American Literature class. I have Mrs. Henry. She's a great teacher!” Caitlin replied. Caitlin always rambled when she either had nothing to say, or was nervous about something.

“Can we see the book?” Tori questioned. Without another word said, Caitlin pulled out nonetheless The Great Gatsby. Tori ran her fingers along the crisp pages of the novel. It had a hard cover, and the binding of the book hardly kept the pages of the novel together.

“Well, I have to get going; I have a huge dinner party that I have to attend with some of my family who lives out-of-town.” Caitlin said. She grabbed the book out of Tori’s hands and ran until all they could see was a tiny hot pink jacket in the distance. There on the ground, which must have fallen out of Caitlin’s book, Tori noticed a library receipt. It had The Great Gatsby on it, and the date, Saturday at 7:45pm; which was when the library consistently closed on every weekday. They weren't sure where Caitlin was headed though. She said she was going to her house, but she was walking in the opposite direction of where Tori and Shae were headed. All three of the girls lived on the same side of the city.

 On their way to Tori’s house, both of the girls stopped off at Karie’s house. This time Shae knocked forcefully on the bright red door, and Karie, and her two yapping dogs came running. “Hey guys!” Karie shouted.

“Hi, we were just wondering if you saw Paige lately?” Asked Tori.

“Nope sorry, I will keep an eye out for her though,” answered Karie. “I must really be going; I have to unpack and clean up from my family vacation to Alaska. Tori knew that Karie was well known for traveling with her parents; since her parents travel all over the world for business. The only thing was the house was sparkling clean from what she could see, so it didn’t appear as if a family of four had just arrived from a week-long trip to Alaska.

-----“When did you leave to go?” Tori questioned.

“About 7:00am on Saturday morning.” Karie answered. “I really must be going; sorry we can talk at school tomorrow.” Karie said as she closed the door. It did make some sense, but they still thought she may have been holding back from telling them information that she knew.

Since Samantha lived two houses down from Karie, Tori and Shae decided to stop over at her house. Samantha was one of Paige’s arch-enemies; after Samantha punched Paige in freshman year. Samantha found Paige with her boyfriend, and suspected something was happening. They rang the door bell and Samantha slowly walked toward the door approaching it seconds later. She glanced through the translucent glass and her expression quickly changed to one that was unpleasant.

“What are you guys doing here?” Samantha asked.

“Where is Paige? We know you don’t like her, and we think you have something to do with why she has disappeared.”

“I didn’t do whatever your accusing me of!” Samantha said angrily. 

“One question, where were you Saturday night?” Shae asked.

“I was walking my dog. You know something that any normal person would do on a Saturday night. I don't see why my location should have anything to do with Paige.” Samantha said sounding annoyed.

“Which part of town were you on?” Tori questioned.

“I find this is very ridiculous and information that's none of you business, but the East side of town.” Samantha answered. This was where Paige went and never returned. Before they decided to accuse Samantha, they wanted to ask some of Samantha’s neighbors tomorrow. Before Tori and Shae could say goodbye, Samantha slammed the door shut with great force in both of their faces.

*****************

The following morning Shae and Tori jolted out of bed and dashed down the stairs. They ate a bowl of cereal, and some orange juice. Very quickly they threw on some clothes, and were out the door. They sprinted to Mr. and Mrs. Berkley’s house, Samantha’s neighbor. They knocked, and soon Mrs. Berkley came to the door. “Good morning Mrs. Berkley,” the girls greeted her politely.

“Hello girls,” she answered.

“We were wondering if you saw or heard anything last Saturday.” Shae asked. 

“Well, I did see Samantha walking her dog, and I did hear what appeared to be a lot of commotion down at the park, but I figured it was just some of those boys from Constance playing a late night lacrosse game. However I did see someone else walking the same way farther down the street. It was very dark, I couldn’t see very well. They had a small bag, and they were walking towards the park. 

*****************

Later that afternoon, after Tori and Shae arrived home from school, they heard on the news of a dead body found, a young girl found in Central Park. The news reported that there was no identification of the young girl, however a description that described Paige perfectly was provided. Weeks later, the killer was defined as someone who was supposedly out to get Paige, and sought vengeance. Her description: a young teen who attended Constance, had long beach-like blonde wavy hair, and wore a bright neon pink jacket; Caitlin. The girls never figured out what possessed Caitlin to go after Paige. The only explanation that they had was that Paige was the it girl who had everything at her fingertips. She had an early acceptance to the schools of her dreams, and everything that Caitlin wanted and couldn't have. But how could it have ever gotten to this point, the girls would never know. It was an unknown mystery to all.