Chapter 1

1 Month Later

"APRIL! APRIL YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE! APRIL! APRIL MAI JUNE JULY CLIFFORD!"

"July?!" April shouted, sticking her head around the door. "Where'd you get the July from?!"

"Umm, never mind dear!"

"Mum? You're acting weirder than normal"

"You know what, it's time."

"Wha-time for what? Seriously mum, you are being super weird."

"I'll tell you later, after school. Basically, I may or may not be a quadruplet"

"WHAT?!" April shouted. Her mum looked upstairs nervously.

"Carson! Come downstairs! you're going to be late! And take your sister with you! CARSON!"

"MUM?!" April yelled. Her mum sighed.

"I've wanted to tell you for a really long time, but I made a promise to someone I wouldn't tell you until I was 100% sure you could handle it. But your breathing problems have gotten worse recently so I didn't want to tell you! But I trust you! So, I'll tell you after school"

"Okay, no. If you don't tell me now I'm going to be thinking about it all day long! And I have a Science test first thing today! Not to mention PE!"

"Darling I'm sorry. I promise I will tell you when you get home from school. I do have an important reason for not telling you, I swear. And I wanted to, but I couldn't. Also, don't mention this to your brother. I'll tell you both tonight, but for now..." her mother moved to shout up the stairs again, but April stopped her angrily.

"Is it about June?! What did you do that caused her to go missing? I heard you say you and dad did something around June, that resulted in her disappearing! what was it?"

Her mum looked shocked for a second and then whispered.

"All will be revealed tonight. Come into my room the moment you get home from school. I want to show you something. And don't be late, I also need to show you something in the garden."

"CARSON! COME ON! YOU KNOW YOU AND YOUR SISTER HAVE TO WALK TO SCHOOL TOGETHER, AND YOU'VE GOT A SCIENCE TEST FIRST THING! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming" Carson said quietly, interrupting the conversation. He quickly picked up a bowl of cereal and sat down. April stared at him in shock. He was acting normal, did nobody know what today was. April sighed and sat down at the table. She ate a bowl of coco pops in 2 minutes and then went to get her bag, which had a picture of her and June on the front. She walked around the room and stopped at the fireplace.

There was a picture of her, Carson, Jackson and June on it from Sports Day when they were 7 placed on top, and it had a shiny blue frame in the shape of a heart. June and April were wearing matching pink and dark blue outfits, saying 'best friends' while Carlos was wearing a t-shirt that said 'I'm a twin, but I may as well have been a triplet'. June and April had their hair tied back and them and Carson were wearing sports headbands. June was in the middle, with her arms around Carson and April's shoulders, hugging them close. The three of them were grinning ear-to-ear, with a trophy in front of them, while Jackson was standing next to them with his arms folded looking wistfully at the three of them, wearing all black.

April looked at it, then picked it up and put it in her bag. She stormed out of the house angrily and sat on the pavement outside. She and June had used to meet there everyday, but now she waited for Jackson and Carson.

After a few minutes, Jackson appeared. He looked at April nervously, unsure if she remembered. She sighed in relief, it was his sister, of course he would remember. Thank god.

April stood up and faced him, then sniffed. She ran into his arms and started crying.

"Of course I remember what today is. I know you were going to ask, it was so obvious. did you really think I would forget the 1 month anniversary of my best friend and cousins disappearance?"

Jackson sighed as April buried her head in his shoulder and started sobbing.

"No, Apes. Of course I didn't. But mum still worries you may develop that coping mechanism where you forget anniversaries and stuff like that. She told me to ask before I showed any emotion. But I'm so glad you do, cuz, I'm so glad you do"

At these words, Jackson started to cry harder and closed his eyes as he hugged his cousin harder. Just then, there was the noise of someone clearing their throat. April frowned as she realised who it was and pulled away from Jackson.

Standing on the pavement opposite them was an 11-year old boy with short black hair. He had green eyes, wore black squared glasses and was wearing a dark blue T-shirt and navy jeans. He was staring at her in shock, as if she'd just killed someone. April sighed, this was the last thing she wanted to happen, today of all days!

"Hello David"

David took a step towards her and smiled slightly.

"Hey, April-lea"

Jackson stared at the two of them, confused.

"April-Lea?!" He asked, laughing slightly against his will. He was trying so hard not to cry. April sighed again, this was going to be a long day.

"It's a nickname Dave gave to me at Camp"

"Oh so this boy is from Camp"

"Yes. And who are you by the way? Why were you hugging my girlfriend? I'm a bit confused. AJ?"

"AJ??" Jackson asked, laughing loudly.

"Oh, right. Introductions. Jack, this is my boyfriend David. David, this is my cousin Jackson."

"Boyfriend?!" Jackson stopped laughing and stared at her in shock. April sighed once again.

"Oh, this is one of the many cousins you have" David said happily. "There's a J at the beginning of his name, so I'm guessing you're JC's brother? The one she was talking about all summer. Hey, where is JC? Is she nearby?"

"JC?"

"June Clifford. Listen, Dave, this isn't a great time. I don't know what you're doing here, but maybe come back in a month. Or a year. Or never. HA-HA, just kidding. Or not. BYE!" April shouted, turning away. She grabbed Jackson and they ran back to April's house. Carson was just walking out the door when they got there. He looked surprised to see them and April glared at him.

"If we're late, it's your fault"

Carson looked at her and nodded before saying quietly.

"Apes, why did you take that photo and run out of the house with it. . ."

April sighed, so her brother had forgotten.

How could he! He said he was going to always remember June and never give up hope. Seems like he's pretty much given up hope-

She was interrupted by her brother continuing

"There were so many pictures of June you could have taken, but you took that one. Why? And which photo even was it?"

April laughed quietly.

"It was the one of us at Sports Day when we were 7, where we look like triplets and Jacks is there looking depressed."

The three of them laughed, but then April stopped suddenly and sighed in relief, then threw her arms around Carson. Jackson smiled sadly and then joined in with the hug.

"Oh thank god you remembered! I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't remembered Cars!" April whispered sadly, sniffing. Carson chuckled sadly.

"I'm not giving up hope until I see a body Apes, that's what I told you a month ago and I'm sticking by that. Until I see concrete-proof that J is gone, I'm not giving up on her."

The 3 of them stood apart, in a circle, and smiled at each other sadly. After a few seconds, April threw her arms around the boys again and started sobbing.

"I really miss her"

Carson buried his head in his sisters shoulder and started crying.

"Me too. She doesn't even know about us being friends again, but I'm sure she would be happy."

"I was never a good brother to her. I owe her a huge apology and I may never get to give it to her."

April and Carson looked at their cousin sadly. When they were younger, Jackson had never admitted defeat, he'd acted like he was too good to be friends with them. But over the past month, it was like he'd broken down. He always put himself down, the three of them were inseparable, and he spent most of his time crying. Then again, they all did.

"Don't, Jacks. June is still alive, remember? And we are going to find her, okay? We haven't made any progress yet, but June's been missing a month too long. It's time we do something. We've done nothing in a month, we need to start investigating. Its time to find June and bring her back home to Anglia. She's close, I just know she is. But she's not dead. She's probably been kidnapped or something. My mum said she'll tell me what she did to cause June to go missing later, after school. Here's my plan; We corner her, and we make her tell us. We are not taking no for an answer. We are going to find out what my mother did that caused June to go missing."