The Casanova's Class Clown

Chap. 30: Chase

CHASE...

They were found at the crack of dawn.

The rays were just breaking through the thin holes of the forest's foliage canopy when Alex Rivers, a spritely ginger of the SSD, found them almost completely by accident.

Her night began when a police officer started announcing the instructions to be followed by the civilians, warning them not to go as far as a certain limit from the wreckage. The group that had been sent out comprised of police and a multitude of volunteers, the latter mostly included high school students from DDA, which were all members of the SSD, and the search team had been spread out since a little over ten thirty, a few minutes after the explosion was reported by those who lived nearby.

While everyone was listening intently on what they can and shouldn't do, Alex was busy following the end of a trail of ants as they crossed the trunk of a fallen tree.

She was among the SSD students and was the only one who managed to have fun while trying to locate a pair of batch mates who had survived the ungodly car accident. The smile came instantaneously after the report that the bodies weren't anywhere to be found, and stayed there even as she was digging through shrubs and pulling sleeping animals out of their homes in search of her friends. She found that much more interesting than listening to a stranger garbed in blue. She was never a big fan of blue, honestly. Red, she liked the most, but she had no idea if her hair had anything to do with it. Maybe it did.

The fire ants climbed down to the damp earth, and began entering a microscopic entrance wedged between a medium-sized rock and the ground. She was about to pull the rock away, wondering what was inside as though it were a treasure chest yet to be opened for millennials, but instead jerked back away from the stone at the sudden touch of a palm on her shoulder.

"ADHD kid. What the ever-loving shit are you doing?" It was Cardy.

She grinned back at her batch mate, but before she could answer, he raised an open palm up to silence her.

"Never mind. I knew it was a bad idea to ask you to come along. I'm telling Matt or Gemma or whoever to take you home."

"No!" He was about to turn away when she stopped him by the shoulder. "I wanna help Emma! Please! I'll do better, I promise!"

She liked Emma. She had a special interest in the class clown with her ability to make her laugh at her jokes. Usually, Alex couldn't keep enough attention to listen to the end of a funny story to get the punch line, and Emma knew that, so whenever the parkour girl was around, Emma would chime into a very, VERY short joke that even she'd be able to follow and still laugh at. Emma was thoughtful enough toward her and everyone else around her, and with just that, Alex would search all night long.

He looked back at her quizzically, glared, actually, and brushed her hand off his shoulder.

"And?"

She tilted her head to the side. "And what?"

He washed a hand over his face. "Only Emma?"

If she was a pup, her ears would've perked up, but she wasn't, so she nodded sincerely instead. "And what's-his-face too. I'll try and look for 'em both."

Cardy sighed. "Fine, but I'm telling everyone not to babysit you."

She grinned when he walked away—the big softy—then only just realized he was headed toward a group of seniors shooting her concerned looks. Ohhh... That's why. He didn't want her to burden the mission or other people.

She waved dramatically at her onlookers with a flourish, then shot them her biggest grin yet.

They shared a look while waving back, then Cardy reached them and started talking.