Taken

Chapter 5{Book 2}

RIKKI

February 5, 2014 12:04 p.m.

“Hey, Rikki,” said Bailey as I sat down at our usual lunch table. Since Kade and I had returned in early January, the jock table and my group’s tables have integrated. Before, all the jocks, Kade included, would sit at a different table than Bailey, Lacey, Tanya, my other friends, and me. Lance, Taylor, and Zayn would sit by us occasionally, but normally they’d sit at the jock table. Now that Kade and I are dating, the jocks have joined my friends and me at our table. Hailey has also joined us at our table. Before, she didn’t have many friends, but now she has tons of friends since she sits at the same lunch table as us. Crazy how these things work out, right?

“Hey, Bailey, how’s your day been so far?” I asked.

“Boring, as usual. You?” Bailey replied.

“Same, ha. Why does school have to be so boring?” I asked in general.

“No idea, but I swear, all this homework is gonna kill me,” groaned Tanya.

“Yeah,” agreed Lacey. “Don’t look forward to sophomore year, Rikki, the homework will be the death of you.”

“It’s not as bad as junior year,” piped in Taylor. “It only gets worse, ladies.”

“No,” groaned Bailey, Tanya, Lacey, and all the other sophomores at the table.

“Hey, guys,” said Kade as he slid into the seat next to mine.

“Where have you been?” I asked. Kade was never late to lunch.

“I was in the office. A rep from Michigan State was here to talk to me about a basketball scholarship,” Kade said cooly.

“Kade that’s great! Is this the first college that’s contacted you?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “Northwestern, Ohio State, Duke, and North Carolina have talked to me, too.”

“How come you haven’t mentioned this to me?” I asked. I was kind-of hurt that he wouldn’t share something that important with me.

“I didn’t tell you because I’ve been in the office all morning with college scouts. Today’s the first day they’ve talked to me. I’m guessing that for the next couple of weeks more will show up, too.”

“That’s great, Kade, I’m so happy for you!” I exclaimed as I hugged him. I just wish all of those colleges weren't so far away, I thought to myself.

“Hey, so I was wondering, if you don’t think it’s too soon, I think we should go talk to Troy in jail and see if we can find out anything on Jeff and Carlos’s whereabouts,” said Kade. Everyone at the table went silent. Kade and I never talked about our kidnapping experience in public. We knew people were curious to learn about what had happened, but we weren’t comfortable with sharing our story with anyone other than our best friends.

"I think that sounds like a good idea," said Taylor, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I kinda want to meet this creep for myself. Give him a piece of my mind," said Lance as he started cracking his knuckles.

"What time do you guys want to go, and what day?" I asked.

"How does ten on Saturday sound?" asked Zayn.

"Ten on Saturday sounds great," said Lacey.

"Okay, let's all go in the Big Pumpkin. I'll drive," said Zayn happily.

"Uh, I don't know about that, Zayn," said Kade unsurely.

"Well, I think it sounds great," I said, wrapping an arm around Kade's waist. "If we're going to do something so serious, we may as well try to have fun while we're at it."

Kade looked down at me skeptically. "I'm still not sure about this."

"Please, Kade," I pouted.

Kade remained skeptical for a few seconds, but then he caved. "Oh fine, we can all ride together in the Big Pumpkin," Kade sighed.

"Yes!" I cried. "Okay, so we'll go weasel some information out of Troy on Saturday at ten."

"Perfect," said Bailey. "I'd really like to give that jerk a piece of my mind. Maybe Lance and I could come up with something to say together," she joked.

Just then, the lunch bell rang. "I've gotta get going. I can't be late to English again," said Zayn as he rushed out of the lunch room.

"We'd better get going, too," said Taylor as he left with Tanya, Lacey, and Bailey.

"Later, guys," said Lance as he followed Taylor and the others.  

"I've gotta get to class, too. I'll talk to you later?" I said to Kade.

"Definitely," replied Kade with a smile. I turned to leave, but Kade grabbed my hand. "Oh, before I forget, do you want me to pick you up to go to Zayn's on Saturday? Then we could at least have some alone time."

"Oh," I said, finally realizing why Kade was so against driving together to go see Troy. "You wanted to be alone with me on Saturday. That's why you didn't want to ride with Zayn."

"Well, yeah," said Kade sheepishly. "There's that, and then there's the fact that the Big Pumpkin is a pretty sketchy van. I swear, that thing's gonna break down any day now."

"Oh well, you and I can hang out before we go and after we come back, and it's not like we don't already see each other every day," I reasoned.

"True," Kade agreed. "Well, I've gotta get going, so I'll see you later," he said before he pecked me quickly on the lips.

"See you later," I replied as I headed to my next class.

***

After I got home from basketball practice, I began texting Kade nonstop. We had been talking for about three hours when Kade finally sent, 'Well, I gotta go to bed cuz I have early practice tomorrow, but if you ever need me, at any time, just call me. I'll always be there for you, no matter what time of day. I love you.'

I typed back, 'Night, and good luck with practice tomorrow. I love you, too. :)' Then, before I knew it, I was asleep.