The Bad Boy's Sleepover

Chapter 29

"Lola, what happened?" Her friends bombarded her with the same question over and over again until she finally answered. 

"I don't know. We fell asleep and when I woke up he was gone," Her voice cracked a notch after admitting it out loud and Hanna stroked her arm soothingly. Lola leaned closer to her friend, needing her comfort now more than ever. 

"What an asshole," Damien muttered, his voice filled with frustration. "How could he just leave us high and dry like that." 

"He was probably worried about our safety. There was someone else watching Lola's house. Which could mean someone else knows what we're trying to do," Nalini was the voice of reason and Lola turned to her in surprise. 

She was the last person Lola expected to defend Julian. 

Damien scoffed at her answer but he didn't say more. They drove in silence and Lola could make out the school's main building from afar but then Damien pulled over and stopped the car. 

"He couldn't have gone very far. I'm gonna drive around and look for him. If you girls don't want to skip school, I'll drop you off first." 

Lola's heart softened. Damien was a really nice guy and an even greater friend. And to be honest she wasn't even in the head space to go to school and listen to her teachers blabber away while she wondered where Julian was. 

Was he safe? 

Did something happen to him? 

Where the hell does a fugitive go to hide? 

"I'm in," Lola said quickly. "I can't concentrate on anything else till I find that idiot." 

"Me too," Hanna muttered sheepishly. "Plus I didn't finish my assignment so I was gonna skip Lit anyway." 

Only Nalini remained silent as everyone turned to her. 

"I have a free period but I can't skip Chem guys. And if my parents find out I ever skipped school I'd be dead quicker than you could say Hallelujah." 

Lola almost laughed, everything was currently a mess but Nalini's passion for school was something even the Gods couldn't deter. They dropped her off at school and the trio proceeded to drive around their small town, looking anywhere and no where in particular. 

They passed the local diner by the road that lead to the highway, West Point and the woods by the park but they didn't find Julian anywhere. 

Every place scouted was another tick off Lola's list of places and she was slowly beginning to worry about his safety. What if something had happened to him? 

They stopped by the gas station and bought three ice cream sticks each, the stress getting to all of them. 

Damien leaned by the side of his jeep while he filled up gas and the girls stood by the side. Lola was already on her second ice cream. 

"Do you think he would have gone to the abandoned factories by the lake?" 

Lola stood up straight as she contemplated Damien's words. There had been a huge controversy about two years ago regarding the factories and its contribution to the local lake's pollution. She couldn't remember the details but the companies there were eventually ordered to go green or something like that but they ended up moving elsewhere, abandoning their already downtrodden factory spaces. 

For some reason that area was never redeveloped and had become a hub for the local riff raff, drug dealers and homeless people. 

It seemed plausible that Julian would end up there just to buy time.