The Nerd [ongoing]

yonderly (21.)

yonderly

(adj.) mentally or emotionally distant; absent-minded

TIMS POV

Ava was supposed to be home by now.

She didn't call. I checked. About one hundred times. San doesn't get why I'm getting so nervous about this. He said her dad probably got home earlier than expected and she is just spending time with him and forgot to call us.

But that is what I'm afraid of.

Damn her for keeping her address a secret.

She isn't with her friends either. She would've called. She always calls.

Fuck. She always calls.

I put my head in my hands.

Wait.

She took one of our cars this morning.

I can be smart if I want to.

"I'm going to the warehouse!" I scream at Santiago. I don't wait for him to answer and run to my car. Shit, my keys. I run back to grab them.

"Tim, where are you going?" 

"No time." I rush back to my car to unlock it.

Before I know it, I'm at the warehouse.

I storm inside. "VELEZ!" A few members look very startled by my sudden scream and some of them have their guns pointed at my head. Once they realise that it's me, they let out a sigh and put their guns back.

"Where is Velez?" I ask, to no one in particular. 

Someone scoffs. "Where do you think?" I run to the main tech room. 

"Velez?"

DAMON'S POV

"Velez?"

A panting Tim is standing in the doorway. He looks at my dad.

"I need you to track down one of my cars." He walks over to my dad. Still panting.

My dad raises an eyebrow at him. "Which one?"

HUNTERS POV

I worried the whole night and almost didn't sleep. Why the fuck wasn't her address in her file? Velez is supposed to be the best hacker in the world.

I am startled by my alarm. I groan and turn it off. Time for school.

~

I walk towards the entrance of the school after locking my car. Elijah and Jason greet me and we walk to our first lesson. I'm pretty sure the dark bags under my eyes are very noticeable but luckily they don't comment on them.

At lunch, Jason is telling a story to Elijah. I'm not even trying to look like I'm paying attention. I haven't seen Ava all day and neither have the boys and Reagan.

"Hey, you okay?" Reagan's small hand is resting on my shoulder. I scoff. How could I be when-

"I need to talk to you." Reagan's tone got a lot more serious when she said that. 

"Um, sure." It sounded more like a question than an answer.

"Hunter and I are going for a walk." Elijah and Jason are so into the story that they don't even hear her but we leave anyway.

We walk outside. "Have you- have you been noticing anything weird lately?" Rey hesitantly asks me. 

"Huh?" 

"Um, like. Someone acting different?" Where is she going with this?

"L-like. Um." She grunts. "I don't know how to say this."

Say what? She looks kinda nervous. She's doesn't-

Right?

"I think Ava's being abused by her dad." She suddenly blurts out.

I stop walking.

"She was always ducked into her hood. And then she told me that her dad was on a business trip and she wasn't anymore. She also looked a lot happier. I noticed her way before I went up to her you know. It's just.. And then, when the intercom said her dad was at school to pick her up, she froze. Like, froze, she didn't move for like thirty seconds. And then-"

I interrupt her. "You're not the only one." 

"-she. Huh?" 

"You're not the only one." I speak, a little louder now. "One time, her hood fell off and she had bruises on her face. When she tried to run, I grabbed her wrist and then I found out she had a bruise there too."

"We have to do something." Reagan states with a determined look on her face.

"Well, yes. But what can we do?"

"Um, we could call the police on him." 

"We need proof for that." 

"Um?! The bruises?" She raises her eyebrows at me. 

"They could be from something else. Atleast, that's what the police will tell us." 

"Maybe we can find her mother?" Reagan looks hopeful. 

"She didn't tell you?" She scrunches her eyebrows. 

"Tell me what?" I sigh. 

"She told the guys and I that her mother died."

She gasps. "Omg."

We stand in silence for a while.

The ringing of the schoolbell, signaling the end of our lunch break, shocks us both out of our heads. 

"We'll talk about this later." Is what I say to her before walking to my next class.

OMNISCIENT POV

A girl wakes up with a groan and no recollection of what happened the night before. She slowly sits up straight and leans against the wall for support. She brings her hand up to rub her eyes but a nagging pain awaits her. She looks at her hand and flinches at the sight of blood. She knows it's her blood. She shakes her head a few times, getting rid of her sleepy brain.

And suddenly she remembers.

The pain.

The cries,

for help,

for it to stop.

She tries to stand up, without much luck. A lightning bolt of pain runs down her spine. She swiftly goes back to the position she was in when she woke up, breathing through the pain, trying not to scream in agony.

She remembered.

But she wished she didn't.

/hey guys! just wanted to pop in and say how much i appreciate you guys for reading, commenting and voting on my story! this chapter is dedicated to all of you. i love you all so much. i'm sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than normal, i just liked this ending i guess :) also, i made an instagram account lol (grtyvuvtcyvu)

Who do you think the girl is? Will Hunter and Reagan come up with a plan to save Ava (in time)? Or will Tim?

You'll read that, in the next chapter. (maybe)

hihi I love being dramatic. <3\