The Wild Ones | ✔️

Distractions and Attractions

Candace nervously twirled the loose string of her skirt around her finger as she tried to remember exactly where she last saw the money envelope. After calculating their profits and organizing it into a neat bundle from one dollar bills to a hundred; she put the money into the envelope and took it to the school office. However, Mr. Boyer wasn't at his desk so she decided to take it to his classroom--but before that, she was talking with Lenny who needed help with his math homework. She had the money then--she went to the classroom only to find it locked when she saw Rhiannon, a mousy girl who was a fellow class committee member.

"That's right," she began, "I asked Rhiannon to give the money to Mr. Boyer since she's in his reading club."

"Alright then, maybe she still has it," Emily said gently but Candace shook her head in dismay.

"She doesn't. She said that she left it inside the fund box and it was there last time she checked."

"Maybe Mr. Boyer misplaced it," suggested Emily again. Candace shook her head once more.

"He checked his entire desk and his office, but it isn't there," Candace's voice shook slightly as she tried to hold back the tears. The class had worked so hard to raise the money, and it had all gone to waste, she thought despairingly.

"Don't worry," Emily said calmly, "We'll help you look for it."

She gave her a confident smile and let out a mental sigh of relief. Now, she had something else to worry about instead of Kyle. She peeked at him under her lashes and quickly looked away when he caught her. Shit. She swore. If she was around him for another second, she was 99% sure she was going to give in. She glanced again and shivered at his sincere gaze. 'I take that back. 100%.'

"Well, I'll go try and find Rhiannon, Brent can go ask Lenny if he remembers anything, Candace can go look around Mr. Boyer's office a bit more, Naomi can go help look for Lenny, and Kyle," Emily faltered as she tried to figure out exactly where he needed to be in order for her to be as far away from him as possible. "You can go to the exit of the school," she finished.

Everyone gave her an odd look, but she nodded confidently.

"The exit of the school?" He repeated in disbelief. "That's like 3 miles away from this building."

"Three and a quarter," Emily corrected, "you can go ask around about the money bag and do your stuff!"

"Right," Kyle said as he raised an eye brow bemusedly.

It wasn't difficult for him to figure out that Emily wanted to maintain distance from him. But damn. 3 and a quarter miles? But if it was space she wanted, it was space that he would give her. After all, he wasn't the type to give up after a rejection. 3 rejections, said a voice in his head. Whatever, he hurriedly thought. Honestly, he was hurt. Not only had his ego been bruised majorly, but when she said those words-no, the way she just looked at him; it caused his heart to rip into pieces.

But there was one thing he knew for sure, he would always wait for her. Sooner or later, he'll find out why she was so adamantly rejecting him; and whatever the reason, he'll still care for her. Never in his life, has he ever felt so sure about anything. He quickly glanced at Emily again who was looking everywhere except him.

"Alright then," Emily concluded, "Let's get on our way and when we find out anything, make sure to inform each other!"

With that, she immediately dashed out of the room leaving them in the dust.

"Well then," Kyle resignedly said, "I guess I'll be on my way as well."

Even though her main concern should be the money, Naomi couldn't help but be more interested in why Kyle and Emily were behaving so oddly. She glanced at the others, and they were giving each other the 'what's going on' shrug before leaving as well. She slid off the table she was sitting on and walked briskly to the door hoping Kyle hadn't gotten too far. She had loads of questions she wanted to ask him.