It was… quiet. Too quiet.
For LA, for Cash & Maverick, for my "building chaos squad," quiet meant something terrible was happening.
I stared at my phone for the fourth time in ten minutes. Notifications: still blowing up from yesterday's viral disaster. Comments, DMs, even a random "We stan Cypriana" from some account I didn't recognize.
But there was one thing missing.
"Where the hell is Kate?" I muttered aloud.
Paige, who was currently balancing a chair on one leg while scrolling through memes, froze. "Wait… she's actually missing?"
"Missing?" Cailee echoed, her voice pitch-perfect horror. "Like… did someone kidnap her?"
Harper, sitting cross-legged with a notebook, raised a brow. "She's been gone three days. That counts as missing by my standards."
I blinked. "Three days?!"
"Yes," Harper said, flipping pages for dramatic effect. "She left Monday morning. No texts. No calls. No social media updates. NOTHING. Suspicious. Very suspicious."
Cash, lounging with a half-eaten bagel, perked up. "Wait, what? Kate's gone? And nobody told me?"
Maverick groaned, running a hand through his hair. "She probably just went somewhere normal and forgot to announce it. Kate does that. Calm down, chaos detectives."
"Oh, calm down?" Paige gasped. "She's gone three days, Cash. THREE DAYS. That's like… an eternity in building drama time."
Cailee nodded furiously. "Exactly! She could be plotting. Or creating a side hustle. Or… I don't know… secretly replacing us."
Harper scribbled furiously. "Possible motives: A) Personal errands. B) Investigative espionage. C) She's hiding from the chaos. D) All of the above. Probability: 92%."
Cash choked on his bagel. "WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But she's been gone. And I feel like someone should… check?"
Maverick groaned again. "You sound like one of the YouTube comments. 'Check her!'"
"Exactly," I said. "We need answers. And maybe… snacks. Definitely snacks."
The Squad's Investigation Begins
So the chaos squad did what any responsible group of teens would do:
Gather evidence (aka scroll through Kate's last social media posts).
Make theories (all extremely dramatic).
Assign roles (Paige = spokesperson, Cailee = hype queen, Harper = analyst, me = reluctant assistant, Cash & Maverick = chaos enforcers, Mychael = "filming everything just in case").
Harper started first. "Okay, we need a timeline. Monday morning, Kate leaves. Nothing reported. Tuesday, Wednesday — nada. Today: we notice her absence. Gap: three days. Analysis: critical."
Cailee waved her hands. "She's clearly hiding something! Maybe she found the secret TikTok vault. Or the building's hidden basement. Or maybe she's secretly a superhero."
Cash rolled his eyes. "Or maybe she just wanted peace and quiet away from us."
Maverick snorted. "Highly unlikely."
Paige sighed dramatically. "We can't ignore this. The internet would explode if she disappeared in real life too."
I raised an eyebrow. "We're literally the internet right now."
"Exactly," Harper said grimly. "We need an official statement. Or at least snacks while we brainstorm."
Speculations, Gossip, and Accusations
By noon, the apartment looked like a detective scene crossed with a meme convention.
Cailee had built a "Missing Kate" wall with sticky notes, highlighters, and doodles of Kate's face.
Paige had her laptop open to track her last online activity.
Harper had charts. Multiple charts.
Cash was bouncing between pacing and dramatic sighing.
Maverick was leaning against the wall, pretending not to care, but every time I mentioned Kate, his eyebrows twitched.
Mychael filmed everything for posterity.
The theories were… wild:
Cailee: "Maybe she's gone to start a rival TikTok account. She's probably plotting a takeover."
Paige: "She's probably kidnapped by influencers demanding her secrets. Or the LA squirrels finally got her."
Harper: "Too many variables. Probability of danger: medium-high. Probability of betrayal: low-medium."
Cash: "She's fine. She's fine. I refuse to panic."
Maverick: mutters "She'd better be fine."
I laughed nervously. "Should we… try calling her?"
Everyone froze.
"BRILLIANT IDEA," Cailee screamed.
Cash grabbed his phone. "I'll call. Don't panic."
Maverick muttered, "We're panicking anyway."
The First Clues
We all huddled around Cash's phone as it rang… once, twice, three times…
No answer.
Voicemail.
"Uh… she didn't pick up," Cash said, swallowing.
I felt a small twist in my stomach. Harper wrote: "Confirmed: human silence. 3-day gap. Alert level rising."
Cailee clutched my arm. "This is like a mystery movie but we're also stuck in it and the soundtrack is terrifying!"
Paige added, "I feel like we need a plan. Or snacks. Definitely snacks."
Maverick finally spoke. "We're going to find her. Calmly. Or at least locate her before she creates chaos somewhere else."
Cash groaned. "Why do we all have to be responsible? I just want pancakes and TikTok fame."
Harper muttered: "Responsibility is now mandatory. Kate's absence = crisis mode."
I rolled my eyes but inwardly agreed. Kate has been gone too long. Something's up.
Foreshadowing + Comedy Moment
Just as we were forming our plan, the elevator dinged.All heads turned.
It wasn't Kate.It was an old neighbor holding a package.
Paige groaned. "Not helpful."Cailee whined, "Why is everything normal except Kate?"Cash muttered, "I feel like she's judging us from afar."Maverick leaned back, smirking faintly, but I could see it in his eyes — he's worried.
Harper closed her notebook with a snap. "Mark my words: Kate Marie will return. And when she does… the building will never be the same."
I shivered. Not because of fear… because I already knew she was about to shake everything up.