The heartstopper

Chapter 35

The rest of the day was spent with the students from Higgs and Truham sitting down in the middle of the hall on the fourth floor. They were hogging the entire hallway from all the other guests who had rooms down the hall.

The reason why they ended up seated on the floor of the hotel hallway was so that they could get any announcements from their teachers and to stick together.

"It's been announced that we'll be able to go home any day now," Mr. Ajayi announced. People started chattering, relief had flooded over them. All anyone wanted to do was to leave.

"Quiet down," Mr. Farouq spoke up. "You've all been hearing about some rumours, as well as spreading them, about Imogen, a year ten student from Higgs, she has indeed been murdered," He clarified, pausing to let everyone react how they pleased. "Her body was found earlier this morning, face down in the swimming pool,"

"The fuck!" Someone yelled.

"That's cruel!" Another person shouted.

Those who knew her were affected the worse, even if they had already been aware of her disappearance.

"Nick, you okay?" Charlie asked in a whisper. He knew they were close friends. Nick didn't verbally reply, it was too loud around them.

"What kind of sick monster would do that!?"

"I feel sick," Someone else muttered.

"We've been in contact with the driver of the bus we'll be taking back, as long as we get permission, we should be on the road in just two more days," Mr. Farouq had been in constant contact with the bus company, wanting to be certain that they'd be able to leave as soon as possible.

Even though they were encouraged to stay in the hall with the rest of the students and their teachers, they were allowed to leave, and so both Nick and Charlie, who were seated at the back of the crowd, got up and left.

Tara had the same idea, she had gotten up and quickly walked away, Darcy trailing behind. Others followed their lead, but then some stayed. Elle and Tao stayed for a bit longer, and so did Isaac. The majority of them only stayed as they didn't want to be alone.

Very few people followed the 'stay with your roommates at all times' rule. Most probably had completely forgotten about that rule.

Nick and Charlie stayed in each other's comfort, lying in their shared room when Charlie's phone rang. He ignored the sound coming from his phone as long as he could, planning to let it end on its own, but seeing as the person wasn't hanging up, he took his phone off of the charging port. It was his mom's name that glowed onto the screen. He pressed the red cancel button, putting his phone back down.

"You should talk to her," Nick said softly.

"You heard Mr. Farouq, only two more days until we'll be home," Charlie said, looking up at his boyfriend.

"She's just worried,"

"And I'm worried about you, so she can wait," Nick looked like he could break at any moment.

"Call her later," Nick sighed.

"Yes, okay, I will," He rolled his eyes, reaching up to give Nick a peck on the cheek.

It wasn't long after this that they got a few more hours of sleep. They laid in each other's comfort for hours, having dreamless periods of sleep for the first time in days.

---

On the hotel's second floor, someone wearing plain clothes walked past a group of officers, not sparing them a glance. They walked straight forwards, using a key card to enter room 204, locking the door behind them.

---

Darcy had chased Tara back to the room they shared with Elle, plopping herself onto the floor, next to the other girl.

"Hey," Darcy spoke awkwardly. Comforting people was hard. "Want to go eat overly expensive cheese from the restaurant?"

"Not right now," Tara sucked in a breath.

"Later though, right?" Darcy looked for the sign of a possible smile on her girlfriend's face.

"Sure, later,"

"Yes! Maybe we can find some people to throw it at," She forced a small smile.

"If you're going to throw it at someone, use cheap cheese," Even though she had tears streaming down her face, she forced herself to find some joy for her girlfriend.

"Good point, they don't deserve any of our Epoisses de Bourgogne," Darcy said, saying the last part in her very bad and fake French accent.

"Throw that gross, orange processed cheese at them," Tara wiped her tears.

"The one that comes individually wrapped?" Darcy grinned.

"It's perfect for throwing at people," Tara nodded.

"I have a genius girlfriend, thank you for bringing this to a new light," Darcy praised, leaning her head onto Tara's shoulder, allowing Tara to rest her head on top of hers.

"Anytime," Tara mumbled into Darcy's hair.

"What's going to happen with Imogen's stuff?" Darcy questioned, lifting her head off of her girlfriend's shoulder.

"It'll probably be brought back for her family,"

"Yeah, but before that-"

"Darcy, no!"

"But what if she had dirt on one of us and the evidence happens to be in that bag?" Darcy asked, pointing at Imogen's bag which sat at the end of her and Elle's bed.

"If so, her parents will find it and throw it out," Tara reasoned.

"But what if they don't-"

"What are you getting at? We can't go through her things, that's disrespectful. Besides, what 'dirt' do you think she's got on us?" Tara raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend's odd accusations.

"I don't know but, after sharing a room with us all week, we're still clearly not her favourite people," Darcy shrugged.

"What are you talking about? It's not like she's homophobic, she's an ally, remember?" Tara snickered at the memory. At the time, that moment had made her very uncomfortable but now, she could look back at it and see how much she's changed. It doesn't bother her nearly as much anymore.

"I guess her service is done," Darcy replied, softly. She had tried so hard to brighten up the mood a bit but now she had brought it back down.

---

Things had been oddly quiet as the hotel filled with traumatized people was nothing but a gloomy structure. All the colours that any of them had remembered from when they'd first arrived at the hotel, were now gone. Was the world always this dark? It didn't seem like it.