The heartstopper

Chapter 19

The teachers ended up sending the boys back to their room, marking all eight of them present for attendance, before heading on to the next room. The rest of the night was spent with the group sending messages back and forth in their group chat as they were bored, the boys having no TV or space to sit, other than on the beds in their room.

"Tomorrow's Tara's birthday, right?" Charlie asked.

"Tomorrow? Is it already July second?" Nick questioned in astonishment. The week had gone by so quickly, Tara's birthday was on the third of July, the sixth day of their trip, it hadn't felt like it's been five days already.

"Are we doing anything? I mean I know Darcy suggested throwing a party but I don't know how that'll work anymore," Tao commented

"Darcy also suggested getting drunk, so we really shouldn't listen to her ideas," Isaac inputted.

"Tara said that she'd be fine with something small, we could have a small celebration between our group," Charlie offered.

"Let's ask the others, I'll create a group chat," Nick claimed, pulling out his phone which he had just plugged in a few minutes ago when it had died so now it was only at five percent.

Nick started a new group chat with his friends - minus Tara.

[Tara's Birthday 🎂]

[Nick 🐶 : What're the plans for tomorrow?]

[Darcy 🐭 : Boos!]

[Elle 🐘: NO DARCY!]

[Darcy 🐭 : fine.]
[we should order pizza]

[Tao 🐧: I second that]

That was the first decision to be made, they'd have pizza.

[Charlie 🧸 : Do they sell pizza in the hotel?] Charlie questioned. They couldn't leave, nor could they order from outside companies.

[Darcy 🐭: damn]

[Elle 🐘 : I'll check the menu!]

Elle checked the menu and it turns out they had a signature deep dish pizza. They would have been fine with a regular pizza, they had preferred one, it would have been cheaper.

[Nick 🐶: How are we paying for it?]
None of them had much money left, what they hadn't spent on previous meals and souvenirs, they'd spent at the arcade. Saturday, Tara's birthday was supposed to be their last full day in Paris so they hadn't planned ahead of then.

[Tao 🐧 : maybe we could convince them that we were meant to go home today so we don't have to money] Tao offered. Any expenses in the hotel after the days they had paid for when they made their reservation were free. It could work.

[Darcy 🐭 : leave that part up to me, I'll talk my way out of paying]

Darcy was incharge of food. Now they had other plans to be made. They ended up continuing to go back and forth for hours and Tara had no clue. They figured they needed a cake. A cake might be harder to get for free, if they could find one. Tao offered that he could try to convince the kitchen staff to make them a cake with the bribe of one of his interpretive dances, Elle told him to go ahead.

Decorations would be a hard one to cover. An idea that passed the group chat was using bed sheets to make a fort of some sorts, they'd just have to get Tara out of the room long enough to do this. Darcy had packed fairy lights in her bag so those would be hung in their room, where the party would take place. Drinks such as pop/water/tea could be bought from the restaurant, Elle said she'd cover those things.

They had their plan set, mostly. It was a messy plan but they'd try their best. It was common knowledge that everyone would want to be invited if they were to hear of their celebration so they had hoped most would forget about her birthday so they wouldn't be bothered, they wouldn't be able to pull enough off for more people than themselves.

It wasn't until midnight when they decided to abandon the group chat and head to sleep for the night.

---

Morning came with another Email from Mr. Farouq and Mr. Ajayi. This time it was just a small update on things such as what had happened the day before when they were directed into the restaurant. The Email had been sent at two in the morning, Mr. Farouq and Mr. Ajayi had stayed up the entire night, Mr. Ajayi was on the phone most of the time with his coworker, Mrs. Singh. He'd kept her up the entire time as he rambled on and she contributed to their conversation. They talked about their students, the parents, their concerns and anything they could think of.

Mr. Farouq was typing on his laptop, making new plans in a spreadsheet and deleting old plans that they had to cancel.

The two teachers laid in the same bed that night as they didn't feel like sleeping, they hadn't even bothered to shut the blinds or turn off the lights. Their devices stayed next to them as they dinged with new messages constantly.

Mrs. Singh sat in her office at the school well past school hours as she had been there on call with Mr. Ajayi and helping make phone calls to parents.

By the time morning came around and the sun rose, the teachers were exhausted. It wasn't until two in the morning that either one had remembered about the Email they wanted to send out to the students so they had to do that, all while staying on the phone with Mrs. Singh - who pitched in to help.

When the students originally saw that they had an Email so early in the morning, they got concerned, luckily, once they opened it, it wasn't anything new, except the released name of the student who had been victim of whatever had happened the day before.

Morning students,
It is Sunday, July third so happy birthday to Tara Jones. We hope that you find some joy in the day to enjoy your sixteenth birthday.

Yesterday we promised we'd send an update through Email so we'd like to start off by informing you all of the events that led to yesterday. As everyone was told, another of our students from Truman was a victim. Harry Green, a year eleven student was murdered in the interior of the hotel. His body was found by two hotel guests who will remain unnamed. He was pronounced dead at the scene and brought away.

For your safety, we do ask to not be found alone. If one of you is in the room, another person who you know and trust must be there as well to ensure your safety. The second we can leave, we'll be on the bus home so that you can reunite with your families.

As always, Email or come and talk to Mr. Ajayi and myself. We will be checking on you all whenever we get the chance. When we get home, any necessary help will be given.

- Mr. Farouq