SCOTT:
to: Scott
from: Mrs Hussar
'Have you seen Heath lately? Is he with you?'
I frowned, wondering why Cori Hussar would be texting me of all people. Why wouldn't she just text Holt?
to: Mrs Hussar
from: Scott
'I haven't seen him since second period. Maybe ask Alissa?'
It made no sense to me that she would be texting me.
to: Scott
from: Mrs Hussar
'I don't want to worry her. All of his things are gone, so is his truck and his number has changed.'
Fuck.
"Aren't you going to be happy with your friends right now?" Alissa's voice snapped me out of my own thoughts.
Don't worry Alissa? Yeah right. She needs to know.
"Yeah, not really" I muttered, still trying to make sense of the situation. Heath can't have just left, it made no sense. Especially without telling Alissa or taking her with him
"What the hell Sire?" Her voice said. I snapped my eyes up to meet hers and silently willed her to shut the fuck up. She read my expression and immediately knew something was up.
"What's going on Scott?" She asked and I soon found David, Todd and Zane all looking at me too. All four stared at me with expectant eyes. I cleared my throat slightly, trying to do this as delicately as possible.
"Heath's mom just text me. Heath's skipped town" Was what came out of my mouth.
Everyone's jaws dropped and Alissa's hand flew to her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. Shit! I didn't want her to cry.
"Alissa-" I began but she held up a hand to stop me, before turning to the others.
"Heath went to beat someone up for that Harrison guy last night. He lied to his mom and didn't mention anything to me but I lied for him anyway. David tracked Heaths and Kian's phones for us and we went to the other side of town and heard everything he said. They threatened to hurt me if he didn't so he did." She said as Todd's eyes went wide and Zane's mouth flew open again.
"So what? The coward skipped town because of it?" Todd asked and Alissa laughed as she nodded.
"Yeah, the coward sure did" She said.
"So, are you two still together or?" Zane asked, awkwardly as I groaned. She simply laughed a pained laugh.
"Nope, not anymore. I can't believe he couldn't even come and talk to me about it" She said, clearly still pissed off at him.
"He's gone now, you don't have to worry about it anymore" I said in an attempt to make her feel better.
"The man I love just left town after fighting to protect me and you're just happy he's gone so you can have your chance? Fuck you Scott, I'm out" She said, grabbing her things and leaving.
No one said another word for a solid minute before Zane spoke up.
"What did she mean by you can have your chance? Did you make a move on her?" He asked, instantly accusing me.
"What? No!" I defended.
"He's in love with her" David supplied and I glared at him.
"Oh my god, he totally is" Todd said in realisation.
"Okay so what if I am? As if she's going to love me back after all that. And a love interest isn't what she needs right now okay? She needs support, she needs a friend" I said.
"No, she needs friends." Zane said.
"Yeah, she may be mad at you and she may hate Todd but she needs us all" David said as Todd slapped him slightly before looking to me.
"They're right, let's be her friends right about now." He said, surprising me by agreeing with them.
"Let's go to Heath's place and talk to his mom. She has a right to know everything that's going on." I said.
"Is that such a good idea with what just happened between you and Alissa?" Todd asked.
"She'll be at Elton's" Zane and I said at the exact same time.
"I would say we're surprised but seeing as between you two you're in love with the two of them, it's not so much of a shock" Todd said in an attempt to lighten the mood. And it worked because the four of us began to chuckle softly until we were all laughing.
"You're a dumb ass Smith" Zane said as he shook his head and Todd shrugged in response.
"I try, I really do" He said.
"Isn't it weird that we're acting all friendly?" Zane asked and I nodded.
"That girl has the worst habits of making people not be dicks" I said. They nodded but David remained quiet.
"You okay Dobrik?" Todd asked as David shrugged.
"Just some personal shit going on. I'll be fine. But if thats all we needed to talk about, I should probably go" He said and I nodded, allowing him to leave.
As soon as he was gone, Todd and Zane were both looking at me.
"What was that all about?" Todd asked.
"And how are we supposed to get home?" Zane asked.
"I have my truck. Now what's with Dobrik?" Todd answered then asked, turning his attention from Zane back to me.
"I don't know man, I think him and Liza had a fight or something. He'll be okay though" I said.
"We'll all be okay now I think" Zane said and I nodded.
"Now, we need to get to your place and get all your shit out. Don't we?" I asked.
"Scott, I have nowhere to go" He said and I shook my head.
"No, you're wrong. Let's go, we need to go to the Hussar's" I said as Todd and Zane both followed me out of the place and to Todd's truck.
"Should we go in and talk to her?" Todd asked as Zane and I nodded.
"We need to" Zane said and I nodded my agreement.
"She needs to know I told Alissa and she needs to know what he did and why he left" I explained further as Todd shrugged, turning the truck off.
I knocked on the door and we waited for Mrs Hussar to answer. When she did, I could tell she was worried and scared. She looked almost relieved to see the three of us.
"Mrs Hussar, can we come in and talk about a few things?" I asked.
"Do you know something?" She asked and I nodded.
"I think we might know the reason he left" I said as she nodded and allowed us to come into their house.
"Do you boys want a drink of anything?" She asked as we shook our heads.
"No, we should discuss this now. And I should let you know that Alissa knows. I couldn't keep it from her because she was standing there as I got your texts." I said and she nodded, holding her breath a little.
"She's at Elton's, she's safe" Zane supplied, as he had been texting Elton. Heath's mom quite visibly relaxed at this news.
"What did he do?" She asked.
"He went to the other side of town and beat up someone for another guy. Alissa lied for him but he never actually told her what he was doing. We found out what he did and it pissed Alissa off, to say the least" I said and she nodded.
"So he ran away because he got into a fight?" She asked and we all shook our heads.
"Heath left because he knew we all were going to ind out he had betrayed us." Zane said.
"And he figured telling Alissa would end with you finding out" Todd said next.
"And I think he may have suspected something between Alissa and I, seeing as she stayed at my house last night and he talked to me today." I said, knowing if anything was going to drive him away it was what I said last night and today.
"What did you say to him?" Cori asked.
"I told him he didn't deserve someone like her, not after this" I said in a nonchalant voice.
"Why are you boys making such a big deal about this?" She asked, clearly confused.
And I didn't blame her, because to her it probably just sounded like we were mad at her son for beating someone else up. But this drama with Harrison and what he was capable of was so much deeper than that.
"Because of what's happened in the past. The vantage point Harrison has on us boys could ruin us and anyone close to us. Which includes Alissa." Todd explained as delicately as he could.
"And Heath did it to protect her but he's actually dragged her into it more and he's scared because he knows what he did. That's why he left" Zane backed up.
Cori took a deep breath, not sure what to say next.
"We're sorry. We should have been better friends" I said, also unsure of what to say. But I knew as soon as I said those words, I meant them.
"I know it seems like it is but this isn't your fault, or Alissa's. This was Heath's choice to make and Heath's choice alone. I just wish he'd talked to someone or let us know he's safe" She said.
"He's an idiot but he's smart enough to call. He'll let you know." I said, pretty certain of the fact. Sure it'd be a ten second call that no one would be able to trace but Heath would call, he was loyal to his family no matter what. And Cori nodded at me as she already knew that about him.
"Thank you boys for this, it was very good of you to come and talk to me about what you know and I appreciate it, a lot" She said as we all nodded at her.
"We're sorry it had to happen." Zane said.
"And we'll talk to Alissa, make sure she keeps you updated on what she's doing" I added as Cori laughed a little.
"Thank you, I don't want to lose two in one day. Tell her she doesn't have to come back tonight but please come home eventually. Because she's lying if she says this isn't her home" Cori said and I nodded, taking the mission as a personal one.
"I'll let her know" I promised, the three of us standing and leaving.
"Now what?" Todd asked as we walked towards his truck. Zane and I realised as we shrugged that none of us really knew how to answer that question.
Now what?
NOW WHAT