Trouble- Cage the Elephant
"Trouble on my left, trouble on my right. I've been facing trouble all my life. My sweet love won't you pull me through? Everywhere I look I catch a glimpse of you. I said I did it for love and I did if for life. Did, did it for you."
-
It must have been a great big emergency if he left his shoes here and his shirt as well.
I was disappointed. Maybe he was telling the truth, and their was a thing concerning his brother, and he so happened to have to leave that instant.
What a coincidence. Once I walked outside the next day my body runs cold.
It wasn't from the weather.
Across the concrete was smeared red turning into orange. This was where Jake's car was last night. I pull out my phone, and dial his number. Something is wrong.
Voicemail.
I call again.
Again.
And again. No answer.
I walk faster, almost running to the school. I needed to see what was up. Was that blood? Maybe it was fake blood from Halloween? I overthought everything. Paranoid. Of course, I must be. I have to find some real reasoning why he left last night.
I didn't see his car in the parking lot, but maybe he's running late. I call again, awaiting for the voicemail so I can leave him a message. "Hey. Um... can you like... I don't know.... Respond. Answer my calls maybe." Forgetting I didn't even say my name I add, "It's Dawn by the way." I hang up. I might seem frantic, but he has driven me to this.
Once I reach the campus, I do not see his car at all.
He's usually here before I am.
I rush inside the building going to my locker trying to busy myself. My fingers shake fastly, my head pounding from attack. Something is wrong. I feel it in the pit of my stomach. I turn around, and shut my locker with the back of my head. I stare at the ground, the way the lines blur through my vision, makes me zone out a couple minutes.
I'm over thinking it. I have to be.
A pair of shoes come into line with my eyes, I furrow my brows in confusion as the set of shoes don't move. I look up from the floor, my eyes scanning at a young man. His brows furrowing just as much as mine. He didn't seem to be in high school. Dark hair, and bright blue eyes kept there hold on me. No backpack or anything. I start walking away from the rude guy who keeps starting at me, but I hear his footsteps follow me closely.
I walk faster, as the shoes do as well. "Dawn?"
His voice starts to register to being recognizable, but I can't place it. I look back up at him. Still not being able to name him. "Hello?" I question.
"I'm Terry. Jake's brother."
"H-how do you know I'm Dawn?"
"I'm the one who answered your phone call a couple weeks ago, remember? He has a picture of you when you call his phone."
Oh right. That embarrassing picture that I took so many months ago.
"Where is he?" I ask.
"I-" he pauses. His eyes gazing off to the hallways, taking in that we are not alone perhaps. He grabs my shoulders, pushing me into an empty classroom that no one was using this year. He locked the door, and I felt my body run cold. "I don't know." He says with a deep sigh. He turns back to me. "He usually comes home early in the morning after a run. He didn't come home."
"He- he said that you were in trouble."
"What?"
I shrug, my eyes looking down at the floor wide eyed.
Very very wrong.
"Why did you come to find me?" I ask, still deeply confused on that fact.
"Oh darling, you don't think I don't know where my brother goes late at night?" He asks sarcastically. I wrap my arms around my binder tighter than before. Still becoming nervous. "I can see it." He shrugs to himself as if he's answered his own question in his head. I leave that comment alone.
"What is going on, Terry?" I just wanted to know where Jake was. "I think I found blood this morning on the sidewalk, it seemed as if it was smeared like if someone was trying to wash it off." I recall the faint memory.
He licks his lips, his eyebrows furrowing deeper. He mumbles something inaudible, causing me to hum back at him to talk louder. Terry smacks his lips, his hand ruffles through his mess of bed hair the way Jake does. Making me miss him more each passing second. "You know he fights, right?" He asks hesitantly.
I nod, wanting him to just continue already. He doesn't, so I say, "Yes." I easily get annoyed by his slowness of words.
"Easy Cover Girl." He rolls his eyes at me, as he throws his hands in the air. Cover Girl. That's new. "Look I don't think I should be telling you this. In fact, I know I shouldn't be."
"Then why are you here?"
I can already see the similarities with both Jake and Terry. The way they hold "secrets" to themselves as if they want to tell the world, but at the same time keep it buried within them. Acknowledging the problem, but not doing anything about it.
"L..." He mumbles the rest.
"Huh?"
"Ledger." He says simply, as if it means something.
"Ledger?"
He groans loudly, looking up in the air. "The leader of the Underground."
"There's a leader?"
"There's a whole lot." He claps his hands together. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this at all. I shouldn't be here. In fact, I might end up where Jake's at right this very second." He pauses, his eyes producing a scowl, "Are their cameras on campus?"
"Just at the front."
"Good."
"Why?"
"I can sneak out from the back."
"School security is all around-"
"Not that Cover Girl." He waves it off. "Ledger."
"He goes here." My eyes widen.
"No." He laughs bitterly. "His brother does, but that whiny ass bitch barely comes to school, so I'm not worried. What I'm worried about is Ledger's birds. His eyes and ears on campus, that's what I'm worried about. I would tell you more, but I'm assuming Jake got mixed up with some rule breaking."
"What rules?"
"Now that's for sure I can't tell you."
"Why? Who am I going to tell?" My voice raising.
"Cool it. I'm not telling you for your own good. If one of his birds sees you around, and you're big mouth talks about it with anyone... such as my cousin Alice, they will know. Outside this very room."
"How come only this room you can say all these things. There could be a wire?" I cross my arms.
He laughs without humor. "Because this is the only room on campus that doesn't have one. Jake broke it a couple months ago, for whatever reason. That is why it isn't used." I try to interrupt him, but he stops me. "You don't think the school isn't in on it to, sweetheart. Ledger is everywhere. No clas-"
Two giggling teenagers walk in. One boy. One girl.
Hands intertwined.
Once they look back at Terry and I, do they let go of each other.
"Terry? What the fuck are you doing here?" The girl says.
She's way too familiar. Like I've met her before. I never seem to cross paths with her at school, but other occasions yes. Serena, the bitch that keeps on giving.
"Jake's in trouble."
"How?"
"I gotta run." Terry says, and walks past the awkward boy that I'm assuming Serena was going to seduce in this "hook-up" room.
Serena's eyes fall on me. Disgust is all over her face. I don't look long before I walk past her as well and follow Terry closely. "Wait! You were going to tell me something."
He turns abruptly. His eyes glaring. "Will you shut the fuck up." His eyes warning, as they look around the growing populations of people that walk around the halls. "Birds." He whispers.
I want to demand him what he was going to say, but I don't. Birds. All eyes could lead back to this Ledger guy.
"Terrance Dennings. So glad to finally see you again." I look behind Terry's angry body, seeing the vice principle with a very grim but smily feel to him. "You know I can call the police because you are on school campus with no visitor's pass."
Terry doesn't even care to blink, as I see his face grow into a smile. Jake and him are way too similar with mood swings. "Oh hey." He turns around with a wide smile. "Just came to grab Jake's homework for the day. He doesn't feel well."
What? Why doesn't he tell the vice principle, or in fact the police on the matter that Jake's missing. I walk closer to both of them, about to blurt out Jake's true missings, but someone pulls me back.
"Don't you think about it." Serena says in my ear. She pulls me back away from the men as they both passive aggressively annoy each other with the growing question.
Terry: How's Debby?
Principal: My wife?
Terry: Yeah. How's her back? Her legs doing okay?
There conversation soon rains out of my ear, as Serena whisper in it. "You will ruin everything." She pulls back, a scowl plastered on her face. "You don't deserve him."
"And you do?" I challenge her.
"More then you."
"I see no logic. You cheated on him then lied about it." I tell her the ugly truth.
"Well I'm not the one who gets to pick and choose when I want him and when I don't."
"What are you even talking about? That is reversed." She's confusing me by the second.
"Yeah okay. Pretend that you don't remember."
"Wh-"
"You are a selfish bitch. Now Jake will be dead because of you." Her eyes are stoning of tears. The guy that came in the room with her, pulls her back. "Why did you push him!" She yells to me. "Just do what you have to do or he will be dead!"
Birds. She's the one telling me to be quiet, but here she is crying about nonsense. I don't know how it happened, but my eyes start to sting. Tears fall for unknown reason. Only that this is somehow my fault. Or at least that's what Serena's saying.
I pull out my phone, and dial Jake's number again.
Voicemail.
"Hi. Um." I take a deep breath. "Just can you please bring him back." I practically sob into the voicemail. Hanging up almost immediately after the words are said.
Someone else pulls at my arm, and I almost scream. It's Terry again. He takes in my tears, but doesn't make a note of it. "Last thing." He whispers." Don't tell Alice. She will just try to get in the middle of things, and get herself into trouble."
"I-"
"Don't tell her." His voice harsh.
He walks away after that, down at the back of the campus. Leaving me confused and further broken. Jake's gone for whatever reason.
And it's my fault.
---
Mini A/N: Yikes! Sorry it's a little late, but college apps are soon to be due, and so much shît is going on, but don't worry I will never forget about this book.