𝐔𝐍𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐘 // 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬 (𝘛@𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥)

25 - "Here I am."

"I haven't talked to her," Arden shook her head again, "But I'm sure we'll see her after class."

"I'm just worried..." Rowan admitted, "The bonfire...I've never seen Hailey like that before. But...I texted her and told her to meet at the lockers before Nicki's assembly."

She nodded, almost having forgot that Nicki's assembly was today. It still felt surreal that she was gone.

"What are we going to do about Zoe?" Arden asked her, "That was obviously her in the Cobra mask at the bonfire."

Rowan and Arden looked over at the seat where Zoe usually sat. They both seemed to realize that she was probably not coming today. If she was, she would be sitting there by now.

"And I'm pretty sure Sean was there too." Rowan said, looking back at her.

Arden's mind went back to the bonfire, and she remembered seeing a figure in a red hoodie. One that looked exactly like Sean's. And even though the hood was up, she remembered the curly strands of hair that stuck out...again, hair that looked a lot like his.

"Yeah, me too." Arden nodded, "Maybe that's why Hailey was so freaked out? Maybe she recognized him too?"

Rowan bit the inside of her cheek, looking like she was in deep thought for a moment, and then took out her phone, beginning to type something out.

"Who are you texting?" Arden asked her curiously.

"Zoe," Rowan replied determinedly, "I'm gonna find out where she is. It's time to end this once and for all."

Arden nodded in agreement, and with that, the final bell rang and all of the students filled in to their seats just as the teacher walked in. But it wasn't Ms. Dawson who normally taught their class, it was another teacher. Arden frowned a little, wondering where Ms. Dawson was.

"Good morning, I'm filling in for Ms. Dawson for a while," She started, "Let's get started."

She picked up the attendance seat and started calling the names. As she did so, Arden looked down at her notebook, her mind drifting off along the lines of the paper. She wondered where Zoe could be. And why they hadn't heard from Hailey all weekend.

"Rowan?"

She looked up from her phone, "Here."

"Zoe." The teacher called, "Zoe DeSaul."

When she got no response, she continued on with the roll. Rowan and Arden gave each other a look, both knowing it couldn't be a coincidence that Zoe wasn't here today. Arden had no doubt in her mind that it was her in the Cobra mask at the bonfire...and she wanted to know what the hell Zoe wanted.

"Brandon," the name called Arden out of her thoughts when the teacher said it, "Brandon Darrow?"

Arden's head lifted up from her notebook and a sick feeling settled in her stomach as she looked over at the desk he'd sat in, now vacant. She could feel her chest clenching as she thought about him sitting in juvie right now instead of in class.

"He got busted." A kid in class said, "He's locked up."

Laughter broke out amongst the students, but it was a distant noise in the background for Arden. Her eyes remind on the seat across from her, her mind flashing back to that night when he came to her house.

"Okay, alright." The teacher quieted the class, then continued on with calling roll, "Arden."

Arden could still feel the ache in her chest where it felt like he ripped it open that night. And she could see the scared look in his eyes as they took him away in the cop car.