The Unsent Appeal Chapter 04
My parents must have felt they’d gone too far the night before, and they probably didn’t want me holding a grudge against Allison, either.
Early the next morning, they put together a full breakfast spread and called me.
In the past, I would have picked up right away.
This time, I let it ring.
Mom, thinking I was still angry, told Tyler to call me.
He dialed reluctantly. It went to voicemail.
“What’s going on?” Tyler frowned.
“If we don’t answer, she usually calls back a dozen times.”
“But today she’s not answering at all.”
He looked at our parents.
“I can’t reach her either.”
“Did she get into another fight with Allie?”
My parents immediately turned to Allison.
She shook her head, raising a hand as if taking an oath.
“No.”
“I swear, after Chloe left last night, I didn’t contact her.”
After throwing me out, my parents had given Allison her first-ever serious talking-to.
“We already give you first priority, but Chloe is our daughter, too.”
“You have enough. You shouldn’t have kept provoking her.”
With her head lowered, Allison had even offered to share the pink room with me.
Once they confirmed we hadn’t fought again, a sense of unease settled over the family.
They drove to my apartment in Cambridge, the one I rented for my commute, but no matter how much they knocked, there was no answer.
The next-door neighbor stuck his head out.
“Are you looking for the previous tenant?”
“I think she moved out.”
My parents both turned.
“Moved out? When?”
The neighbor shrugged.
“No idea.”
“The landlord just showed the place to a new couple, so she must have ended her lease.”