Reagan's POV:

We heard Skylar scream from the bathroom, and I immediately knew there was trouble. While Skylar freaks out most of the time – check that, all the time – but the way she was screaming – plus what she was screaming; “Piper? Piper? What was that? Oh God, Piper!” – made it clear to me that something was definitely wrong.
Skylar came running into the kitchen, tears in her eyes, her face scrunched with worry.
“Oh my God, something happened to Piper!” she cried, a tear slipping down her face. “I don’t know what to do?”
“What happened?” asked Lucy calmly, putting a hand on Skylar’s arm. Without Piper here, she was the one who would handle the situation.
“I was talking to her, and she was saying something, and then there was this loud bang, then static, and then the line went dead,” sniffled Skylar. “She should have never gone out by herself. We should have brought her along!”
“It’s okay, Skylar. She probably got a flat,” said Liam next to me. We all turned to look at him.
“From what it sounds like, her tire probably blew, and she must have hung up and pulled over. A flat tire’s nothing to worry about. She’ll probably call you back any second now so that one of us can pick her up,” he said calmly.
The atmosphere in the room calmed down as we processed that information. Liam was probably right; she probably just had gotten a flat. She’d call any minute now.
But what if she hadn’t gotten a flat? What if she had gotten into an accident? What if she had crashed her car into a tree? There were so many possibilities that I thought we shouldn’t take chances.
“Why don’t we call her? If she doesn’t pick up after three tries, we should go out looking for her,” I suggested.
“I’m sure Liam’s right,” said Louis. “She’ll call.”
I shot a glare at Louis. At first, I thought he was being sarcastic, but from the look on his face, you could tell he was feeling conflicted and worried under that mask of his.
“It doesn’t hurt to try,” said Scarlett, narrowing her eyes at Louis. Unlike me, I don’t think Scar could tell he was actually worried. As soon as she said that, the curtains fell back over his face and he resumed his laid-back approach to the entire situation.
“She’ll call,” he said simply, shrugging. He leaned back in the booth and looked away.
The rest of us stood there in silence, not sure how we were going to do things.
“Um…maybe we should call?” said Skylar nervously.
“Yeah, let me do that,” I said, taking my phone out and dialing Piper’s number. I put the phone up to my ear as everyone waited anxiously.
“’Hey this is Piper Prescott. Leave a detailed message and your number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can’.”
I sighed and pressed the end button.
“Try again,” urged Lucy. I looked up at her to see her holding on to Skylar, rubbing her shoulder encouragingly, but with an anxious look on her face. She smiled quickly when our eyes met, but it fell quickly, and her gaze diverted.
I tried again. I listened as it rang once, twice, thrice, four times, then voice mail again.
“One more, maybe?” said Zayn, standing unusually close to Scarlett. I noted that, and filed it away for later examination as I dialed once more.
Four rings, voice mail again. I sighed and looked at Liam for advice.
He shrugged.
“I don’t know what to think,” he said, worry spreading to his face. “Maybe she did get into a crash.”
“Or, maybe she did get a flat, and something might have happened to her phone, like it broke or something,” suggested Harry.
“Or, she could be too injured and hurt to pick up the phone!” said Skylar, her eyes widening at the thought. “We have to find her!”
“Calm down,” said Lucy, holding her down before she started crying. “I’m sure she’s okay, and if she’s not, we are going to find her. First, let’s take the two cars and drive around, see if we can find her. If that doesn’t work, we’ll call the police, but if I know Piper, she’ll be fine.”
“So should we split up then?” asked Scar, standing next to Zayn.
“Yes, so we can cover more ground. Everyone has their phones on them?” asked Lucy.
We all nodded.
“Okay, Niall, Skylar, Zayn, Scar will take the SUV,” said Lucy, grabbing the keys from the jar and handing them to Scar before grabbing the Sedan’s keys.
“Here, Liam, Harry, Reagan, and Louis. You guys take the other car,” she said, handing the keys to me.
“Wait, what are you going to do?” I asked, taking the keys.
“In case Piper calls the landline or somehow returns to the house on her own, someone needs to be here to alert the others,” she said. “We’ll make a group message and communicate that way, but we need someone here to coordinate.”
“Are you sure you want me to go?” asked Louis, standing up from the booth. We all turned to look at him.
“What do you mean, Louis?” asked Scar a little accusingly.
“I mean, don’t you want someone here with you?” he asked, grinning just a tad. “You know, in case anything happens to you.”
Lucy blushed.
“I can take care of myself,” she said haughtily.
“If you’re so worried about her, Lou, then I’ll stay with her,” Harry volunteered, stepping next to Lucy. I saw Lucy blush even redder when he put a hand on her shoulder. “That way, there’s two of us here.”
Louis looked more than a little annoyed with Harry and shrugged.
“Okay, whatever. But Reagan’s all by herself. Don’t you think someone from your band should go with her?” he asked slyly.
Lucy looked at him strangely.
“She’ll be fine, plus one of us needs to stay here. I doubt you or Harry would be able to handle yourselves here alone in case there was a real emergency,” said Lucy. She meant it in a teasing way – and Harry laughed when she said that – but Louis clenched his jaw and looked away.
“O-kay. Um, Liam? We should go. Which way do you want us to go?” I asked.
“Head to Glen Lake. She likes driving up that way,” suggested Scarlett. “We’ll go around Crystal Lake.”
“Okay, well we should get going then. Glen Lake’s far,” I said. Liam followed me towards the garage door, but I stopped and looked at Louis.
“Are you going to come?” I asked.
He scowled at me.
“Yeah,” he grumbled, pushing past me and getting in the back seat of the car.
“Okay, we’ll call you guys if we find anything,” I said, closing the door behind me. I got in the car, Liam got in the passenger seat, and I pushed the garage door opener. As the door opened and I turned on the car, Liam asked, “Louis, why are you so against looking for her?”
I glanced at Louis in the rearview mirror. He looked sour as he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.