The summer before college is one of the essential summers in a young and new adult's life. It’s this summer that makes them adults. Four teens decide to take a camping trip to celebrate their newfound freedom, and it turns for the worst. Once one of their own goes missing, it’s up to the other three to find their friend before it’s too late.
Two weeks ago
Graduation day. The day has finally come for the students of Brickwoods High to leave the terrors of high school and jump into the real world. All the students have received their diplomas and are mingling in the commons. The sound of proud parents congratulating their graduates is echoing through the halls. Paige Tucker is standing by her locker with her best friend, Emma.
“So, we leave tomorrow, right?” Paige asks.
“Yeah, do you have all your stuff packed?” Emma says, excitedly.
She shakes her head and looks around the lockers at all of the people who have been her peers for the last 12 years of her life. Their friends, Zach and Kaleb, walk over to them with bright smiles on their faces.
“You guys ready to party all week at my cabin?” Kaleb says high-fiving Zach while the girls roll their eyes.
“Whatever you say, Kaleb, I’m going swimming as soon as we get there.” Paige states while looking at her watch, “Well, I better go home. I still need to pack.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow. You’re picking us up, right, Zach?” Emma questions. He nods, waves, and begins walking outside.
“Bye, guys!” Kaleb yells, running to catch up with Zach.
The next day is the “perfect day.” The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky, and it is the perfect temperature. Not too hot, but not too cold. As for Paige, she’s running around her house, trying to pack the necessities because she forgot last night. She hears a honk outside meaning, Zach, Kaleb, and Emma are here. Instead of going outside, she decides that she needs to re-brush her long blonde hair and change into a tank-top and shorts.
Kaleb rolls down his window, and Zach yells from the driver’s seat, “Paige! Are you ready yet?”
“Yeah, hurry up! I want to be there already!” Emma yells from the backseat.
Paige grabs her purse and phone off the counter and her bag from by the door as she rushes out to the car. She throws her bag in the trunk and jumps in the back by Emma. Zach begins pulling away before she even has a chance to buckle her seatbelt.
The ride to the cabin is a long but fun one. The friends make jokes and talk the entire way there. A few miles before they get to the cabin, they stop at a gas station. Paige walks inside to look for some snacks and drinks for while they’re at the cabin. Emma grabs some chips and a package of water bottles, while Paige collects candy and a few Gatorades. Zach is getting gas, but Kaleb is nowhere to be seen. The girls pay for their items and walk back outside. Paige goes to say something to Kaleb, but he isn’t there. She sees his dark brown hair sticking up over a cooler outside the store. He is standing outside the gas station talking to a guy she’d never seen before. The man is tall, a few inches taller than Kaleb, and is wearing a large sweatshirt and jeans, whereas Kaleb looks composed wearing a nice shirt and shorts.
“Who is that guy Kaleb is talking to?” Paige asks.
“I don’t know, but it looks like he knows him. I haven’t seen him anywhere. What about you, Emma, do you know who it is?” Zach says.
Emma shakes her head and says, “Should we go over there? We should get to the cabin before it gets dark out.” Before anyone can answer, Kaleb shakes the guy's hand and starts walking back to the car. He doesn’t say a word and gets into the passenger seat. The three outside all look at each other with confusion, but don’t say anything and get in the car.
As soon as the car comes to a stop at the cabin, Emma throws open the door of the car and rushes outside. Everyone else laughs and follows her out.
“Ugh, we’ve been in the car for so long, and I just want to sleep!” Paige exclaims.
They all laugh, and then the guys start bringing in everyone’s bags. After everything is inside, they all sit down in the living room and start playing games to pass the time. Sometime later, they decide it’s time for bed. Emma starts looking through her bags and around the room.
“What are you looking for, Em?” Zach questions.
“I can’t find my phone.” She answers, “Do you see it anywhere?”
“No, when was the last time you had it?” Kaleb asks.
Emma stops to think for a moment before answering, “I haven’t had it since we were at the gas station.”
“Emma! That was hours ago!” Zach exclaims.
“I know. I know. I haven’t been on it all day!” She retorts.
They all shake their heads at her, but still, get up to help her look. Paige offers to call her, but she can’t find her phone either. They all empty their pockets looking for them, but nobody has their phones. Everyone starts searching around the house looking for them, but they’re nowhere to be found.
“How are we supposed to call anyone, or do anything without them?” Kaleb asks.
“I don’t understand how we all lost our phones at the same time.” Paige questions.
“Zach if this is some prank you’re playing, I don’t want to play anymore, please just give me my phone back,” Emma retorts.
“Guys, I didn’t do anything. My phone is gone too.” Zach says, defending himself.
Paige angrily sits down on the couch and thinks about where they could’ve disappeared to and how they could have lost them.
Kaleb stands in front of her and offers her his hand, “I think we should go to bed and look in the morning. It’ll be easier to see with the sunlight.”
Paige grabs his hand, and as he pulls her up off the couch, she says, “Yeah, I guess that’s true. Night, guys.”
During the night, Emma hears a noise outside, and she gets up to investigate the sound. She walks outside to try and figure out what it is, but she can’t find the cause of the ruckus. The next morning everyone goes into the kitchen for breakfast.
“Morning, guys.” Grumbles Zach.
Kaleb and Paige just groan in response.
“Where’s Emma?” Paige asks.
The guys shrug their shoulders, and Kaleb says, “She’s probably still sleeping, just leave her be.”
“No, she can’t be sleeping still. When I got up, she wasn’t in her bed.” Paige says worriedly.
Zach looks up from his bowl of cereal and says, “Where is she if she’s not sleeping? Is she outside?”
Paige looks at Zach with confusion. Instead of continuing to wonder, Paige walks outside to look for Emma. She yells her name, but there is no response. While Paige is out looking for Emma, she finds a patch that goes on a lettermen’s jacket. A very specific lettermen’s jacket. Paige storms back into the cabin with the object, and she throws it down onto the counter in front of Kaleb.
“What is this?” She says.
“My lettermen’s patch, where did you find it?” He answers, confused.
“In the woods. Why were you outside in the woods? It's damp from dew, too, which means that it has been out there all night!” Paige yells angrily.
Kaleb’s expression goes from a faux confused to scared very quickly. He gets up from the table and runs outside, only to get caught by Zach.
“Kaleb. Where is she?” Zach says, grabbing Kaleb’s shirt.
“I-uh, I don’t know. What do you mean?” he stutters, struggling against Zach’s grip.
“Where is she?” Paige screams.
“Why do you think I did something?” Kaleb yells back.
Paige stares at him with a look of sheer anger on her face. Zach can’t bring himself to even look at Kaleb, because he knows that Kaleb must have something to do with the disappearance of Emma.
“Why was your patch on the ground outside?” Zach finally says.
“It must have gotten caught on one of the trees while I was out here,” Kaleb mutters quietly.
“Why were you out here?” Paige says.
“Because Emma was out here.” He says, staring at the ground with shame.
Paige and Zach look at each other and then at Kaleb.
Zach finally says, “What did she ever do to you?”
Kaleb doesn’t respond; instead, he continues to stare at the ground. Without making eye contact, he tries to get out of Zach hold on his shirt but can’t escape.
“She stole my scholarship, okay?” He finally answers.
He slowly looks up at Zach, but still doesn’t dare look into his eyes.
“She stole your scholarship. Does that justify kidnapping her? Where did you take her?” Paige finally juts into the conversation.
“No, and I didn’t do it by myself. Jake helped.” Kaleb whispers.
“Who is Jake? How did he help?” Zach asks while running his hands through his jet-black hair.
Kaleb finally meets Zach’s eyes and says, “He’s the guy I was talking to at the gas station. I met him at a college visit, and we started talking. I brought up the fact that she stole my scholarship, and he offered to help me. We were trying to scare her. She’s fine. She’s in a cave not too far from here.”
Zach shoves him forward and says, “Well, let’s go. Hurry up.”
Kaleb starts walking into the woods. After they had been walking for a few minutes, they arrive at a cave in the middle of the woods. Paige runs into it to look for her friend.
“Emma? Are you in here?” she yells.
They hear a weak “Yeah” from the back of the cave. Zach and Paige rush to her side to make sure she’s okay. They help her to her feet, and they bring her out of the cave, while Paige asks her about a hundred questions.
“I’m fine, I swear. I heard a noise last night, and I went outside to see what it was, and I got hit over the head by something. It knocked me out, and I woke up when you yelled my name.” Emma says quietly. Zach looks at Kaleb with disgust.
Kaleb stares at the ground and says nothing. Paige decides that they need to call the police. Zach uses a home phone they found in one of the old rooms to call them. The four of them walk back to the cabin to wait for the police. Nobody speaks a word to Kaleb. They are all too angry and disgusted to even look at him. When the police arrive, they ask everyone a bunch of questions and then take Emma to the hospital so she can get checked out, and they take Kaleb to the police department. Paige and Zach decide to end the trip, and they pack up all their things, and they drop it off at Paige’s house and then go to the hospital with Emma. When they get to the hospital, Paige stays by Emma’s side the entire time. Zach goes and gets her food while they are waiting for some results to come back. The doctors determine that she is okay and that she can go home that night. Instead of Emma going back to her own house, she stays at Paige’s house. The police found Kaleb’s friend, Jake, after Kaleb told them where to find him. Kaleb pleaded guilty and told the police everything. That Jake had stolen their phones while they weren’t looking at the gas station, that the two of them had taken Emma, and that they were the reason she was in the cave. They both are going to stay in jail, and Jake lost his scholarship to college.
Two Years Later
Jake and Kaleb are still in jail. Emma, Paige, and Zach are in their second year of college and thriving. Everything has gone well for the three of them since the incident, and Emma is okay. Kaleb will never be able to attend his dream college because of having a criminal record, and neither will Jake. Paige, Emma, and Zach don’t have to worry about Kaleb anymore.