She's gone.

[Charlie Hudson]

Charlie didnt know what to think about all of this. If this was Ellie, then I guess becoming friends with 'Sophia' wouldn't be so bad. At least she sort of had her friend back. "I'm Charlie." she tried to smile. It was awkward reintroducing herself to a person who looked just like her best friend. "Nice to meet you." those words were strange.

[Ellie Mankelow]

"There's my boyfriend there." She said pointing the first boy she saw outside. "It was nice meeting you, Charlie." Sophia said, nodding then her towards her and then exiting Starbucks to avoid any more interactions. She approached the random as she felt the gaze on her group upon her. She told the random guy she would pay him if he played along and acted like her boyfriend. He agreed and then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a kiss, making it seem as natural as possible. If the group were convinced the guy was really Sophia's boyfriend, hopefully that would make them doubt the whole 'Ellie is actually Sophia' theory that she knew was planted in Charlie's head.

[Charlie Hudson]

Charlie watched as Ellie, or Sophia, waltzed away to her so-called boyfriend. Alex looked out the window to see her kissing someone, and looked unbelievably hurt. Either by the fact that that girl looked just like Ellie and it reminded him of her, or that was Ellie and she was kissing another guy. "That was too weird." she said to the group and opened Ellie's lap top again. Maybe she shouldn't cancel this meeting with the guy. Maybe she could get him to stop so 'Ellie' could come home.

[Jade Brooks]

Jade looked over as she watched the girl kiss this other guy. Her eyes went back to Charlie. "So, what did she say? That she's not Ellie?". Was that even possible? For a girl to look so similar?

[Chris Blight]

"There's no way that it can't be her!" Chris almost yelled. Two months of this. Two months of this shit and they were still no closer to finding out where she really was. "If that isn't her, what are we supposed to do? Just go on with our lives while there's this girl who's a constant reminder that our friend is more than likely dead?" He groaned.

[Charlie Hudson]

Charlie was still so confused about this. "She told me her name was Sophia..that was it." she sighed. Charlie watched the guy outside closely..'Sophia' walked away from him.. Charlie ran outside. "Hey, uhm excuse me, I know this is weird, but who was that girl?" "Uh my girlfriend?" he responded rather harshly. "Right but what's her name?" she asked. His face looked blank, and that's all she needed to know. She walked back inside to Chris and Jade. "That's not her boyfriend. That is Ellie, I know it is." she explained. She looked at Chris. "She's not dead." Charlie told him. "She can't be." she said.

[Chris Blight]

Chris wanted to believe that she wasn't dead. "Why would she pretend to be this girl? It doesn't get her anywhere. Is her stalker still out there going after her or something.". He sighed. "I say.. we get to know her. Talk to her. Break her until she lets off that it's her."

[Charlie Hudson]

"Possibly..." charlie bit her lip and sighed. This was absolutely crazy. "Well, I mean i would say that's a good idea. If she lets you in... this 'Ellie' seems a little distant." she admitted. "But it's worth a shot." she told him.

[Ellie Mankelow]

Lying to all of her friends was killing Ellie/Sophia. She knew that they would see right through her act but she just hoped that if Sophia was distant enough, they'd think they were crazy, they'd mourn the loss and move on.

Sophia walked towards the park, coffee in hand. How did things get so screwed up?. A year ago she'd had her father, she was in a happy father. Now, he was gone and his killer was after herself and her friends. This wasn't fair. Her friends were good people. She sighed and took a seat on of the benches by the fountain, staring into the distance.

[Charlie Hudson]

Charlie, Chris and Alex all planned to talk to Ellie...or, Sophia. They saw her sit by a bench by the fountain, and Charlie & Alex looked at Chris to go talk to her, cause it was his plan. "Alright, go talk to her." she said and was about to push him over there, when Alex and Chris did that exact thing to her.

Charlie took a deep breathe knowing Sophia would be annoyed. She walked up to her. "Hey..Sophia, right?" she asked, pretending like she was just getting to know this person. Charlie realized that it might actually work if she just went along with the whole Sophia thing. "I just wanted to apologize the stares earlier...we all were just super confused. But, I wanted to properly introduce you to some of my friends." she said. "This is Alex, and this is Chris." she smiled, introducing them.

[Ellie Mankelow]

Charlie, Alex and Chris followed her to the park. When they approached her, she felt as if her heart weighed a ton. Here they were, her best friends standing in front of her. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around them and tell them how much she had missed them.. but she couldn't. Sophia locked eyes with Alex and she felt like her throat had been replaced with razor blades. "I'm sorry about your friend.." She said, looking them all in the eye, "But I'm not going to be your replacement just because I look like her, okay?". Sophia was acting much more bitchy than how Ellie had been. It was part of the act. They needed to buy it.. for their safety. Sophia's eyes fell on the fountain, watching the water trickle down peacefully. "What happened to her?" She dared to ask, wondering what they thought had happened.

[Chris Blight]

Chris finally found the courage to speak to Ellie, ..Sophia.. the girl in front of them, who ever she may be. "W-We don't know." He looked at the ground, shuffling around the gravel underneath his feet. "Two months ago, she just.. disappeared. Left, got taken.. we don't know. All we know is that she's gone and no one has heard from her since that night.". He sat down on the bench beside her now trying to get through to the Ellie that was hiding enough, or so they thought. Chris spoke looking her right in the eyes. 'What we don't get is.. that if she did leave, why has she never called or wrote to us? Just telling us that she's okay.. I thought we would have deserved at least that.". He watched on as he saw Sophia's facial expression change. The sadness was very apparent. This was ether a sympathetic stranger.. or, Ellie bubbling to the surface.

[Charlie Hudson]

Alex felt his heart ache when "Sophia" looked him directly in the eyes. The connection between them was obvious..or so he thought. He looked down and sighed.

Charlie listened to Chris explain how Ellie's been missing. She almost started crying, but realized she probably shouldn't in front of 'sophia.' She watched as Sophia's eyes filled up, but she quickly composed herself. Charlie knew Chris would be able to get through Sophia's rough exterior. "We just miss her. It's hard going on knowing that she could be out there, and also that there's nothing we can do. We're just sitting..and waiting." Charlie admitted. She looked over at Alex. He was absolutely heartbroken all over again.

[Ellie Mankelow]

Her eyes moved from Chris to Charlie as she spoke. "You guys can't sit around all your life waiting.. hoping that she might not come back.". She spoke softly, trying to tread carefully. "Because what if she doesn't? If in a years time she's not back, what are you going to do?" "You can only be waiting so long, you guys."

[Alex Reed]

Alex finally got the guts to speak. "If it's a year long, then maybe we can accept it. But right now, it's barely been two months. And when you love someone, it's hard to let them go...just like that." he said. Charlie looked at him basically admitting his love for Ellie and could see the hurt in his eyes. "So..we just can't lose hope right now."